| Lap Steel Guitar |
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There are three main types of lap steel guitar:
Lap slide and resonator guitars may also be fitted with pickups, but do not depend on electrical amplification to produce their sound. The boxes of lap slide guitars were developed, particularly by Weissenborn , to take advantage of the space available below the neck, as the neck did not need to fit the hand. Weissenborg also produced models with both one and two necks. Resonator and electric lap steels normally have only one neck. DESCRIPTION The main feature of a lap steel guitar is that the strings are raised off the fretboard a lot higher than on a regular guitar. Like regular guitars, there are electric and acoustic lap steels. An electric lap steel guitar is typically rectangular in shape, and features only the Guitar neck. A photograph of one model is available here: {Link without Title} Acoustic lap steels vary and can be just a traditional looking acoustic with raised strings, or a variation such as a hollowneck acoustic lap steel. A photograph of a hollowneck lap steel is available here: {Link without Title} See Also: Lap slide guitar PLAYING The lap steel is typically placed in one's lap or on a stool while seated; it is not held upright like a standard guitar. The strings are placed much higher above the neck than on a standard guitar, and are not pressed to a Fret when sounding a note. Rather, the player holds a metal slide in one hand, which is moved along the strings to change the instrument's pitch while the other hand plucks or picks the strings. Due to this method of playing, the instrument can play a limited number of Chord s, and is thus better suited to playing Melodies . The Pedal Steel Guitar - and to a lesser extent, the Dobro -are usually played in similar fashion. HISTORY The lap steel probably began in - in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. The lap steel, Dobro and Pedal Steel Guitar are associated most closely with Hawaiian Music , Country Music and Bluegrass , though some players have used them in Rock Music , Jazz , Blues , and other Musical Genre s. Notable lap steel players
MANUFACTURERS ''This list is incomplete. Please add to it.'' SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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