Last time, I talked about building a lap slide with my limited woodworking skills. What I didn't talk about was how after I built it, I used it a for a while and then I let it gather dust for a few years.
I think in my head, I was going to use it for David Lindley-type applications, but I began to realize that the only David Lindley song I might try is "Mercury Blues" but after attempting that song (which I don't do well), I had trouble finding more applications.
Dust gathering.
I tried some blues-type songs, but I could get those kinds of sounds, and with far more ease, by retuning a regular electric guitar and using a bottle-neck slide technique a la Duane Allman or Bonnie Raitt. So if I could get the needed sound out of a regular guitar, why did I need a lap slide?
Dust gathering.
Then I tried to use the lap slide for country-type applications. Yeah, it added a nice layer of slide guitar on some songs or recordings, but if I really wanted that country sound, I needed those cool intervals that pedal steel guitars have. But I wasn't able to get those intervals on my G or E chord-tuned lap slide.
Dust gathering.
What was left? Hawaiian music. Historically, this was probably the first use of electric slide guitars way back when. It was fun to play "Aloha Oe" for the first 100 times, but after that, it got a little stale.
Dust gathering. For 6 years.
New Tuning!
I was looking for something else on YouTube, and I came across this video of some guy tuning his lap slide to a C6 chord. He was able to get those cool pedal steel intervals, plus the Hawaiian sound from this tuning. As the name states, the guitar is tuned to a C6 chord, or a regular C chord with an A (the 6th note in a C scale), low to high: CEGACE. Strummed by itself, the guitar has that dreamy Hawaiian feel to it. But by picking the 3rd and 6th strings together or the 2nd and 5th strings together, you get those great pedal steel intervals!
String Gauge
I was on holiday when I found the video, so not only did I have to wait to get home to retune and play my lap steel, but I also had to go out and buy 6 individual strings to get the right gauge, (15, 18, 22, 24, 30, 36) for this unique tuning. I thought I could get away with a regular set of strings, but the tension would be too slack or too tight. A regular tuning spans two octaves, and the C6 tuning is just over two octaves. The custom gauge of string helps to keep the proper tension across all the strings, if not, the weight of the slide will pull the strings out of tune too.
Speaking of Slides...
Up until I got into the C6 tuning, I was using my regular, hollow, finger-style slide on the lap slide. After a while, I bought a big bullet slide. Its weight helped with the tone, tension, and tuning while playing the lap slide. I did find its weight and its size to be a little unwieldy, especially if I wanted to angle the bar so it was only touching one or two strings. Eventually, I bought a Shubb-style slide. The contours on the sides make it much easier to maneuver the slide while still having sufficient weight to get the right tone. I am also using a thumb pick to get the right attack on the bass strings.
Education
I found some YouTube videos, some websites, and an ebook that are helping me to rethink the fretboard with this new tuning. It is like learning a new language, but it is a lot of fun. I am getting some of those sounds on the old songs my dad used to listen to on country radio. I've used this tuning on some of the songs I play with the band, but far in the background, as I am still working on the proper voicings and tone. I still get the "tortured cat" sound from time to time, but I am getting better.
The Moral of the Story
If you have a slide guitar and you want to breathe new life into it, retune it to C6 and expand your horizons!
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