The new songs - A hypothesis

[Eddie Fox]

Greg Leisz’s playing is very different from Paul Franklin’s. He’s more bluesy than country and uses more gain in his tone. I like it.

[Eddie Fox]

It's funny when I read that the fact there is a steel player is going to be country.

Many of MK records have pedal steel and are not country at all. Privateering has pedal steel on many songs and none of them are country!

Let me dream for heavens sake! PF has been completely wasted on recent albums, in fact you couldn't tell there was a pedal steel on it/them.

That's true, one wonders why MK really needed a pedal steel to just play atmospheric sounds...

Greg Leisz has a big curriculum with rock stars, and most of the things he did are most of the times that way too, so I guess we should expect the same use of the instrument.

The funniest thing is you guys are discussing Pedal Steel, and yet in Guy's diary Greg's playing regular guitar, so he maybe just another (overkill and expensive) additional guitar player like Robbie McIntosh to strum a couple of chords on a couple of songs commissioned from America for that sort of job.

He was just learning the chords to the new songs I guess

[KnopfleRick]

Greg Leisz’s playing is very different from Paul Franklin’s. He’s more bluesy than country and uses more gain in his tone. I like it.

Sounds interesting, thanks! 

[Klaus74]

Hello again. First a big thank you all, for your expectancies and wishes.
Yes, pedal-steel is a big thought in case of the new songs, but what about bottleneck or slide-guitar-style ?? For my taste, it also will be cool to hear that sound-flavour again, likely with slide-master Sonny Landreth.
Landreth is also a class of his own and i like his guitar-work and sound. Mark, so please don´t forget to invite Sonny Landreth in your studio for finest guitarplaying.

[dustyvalentino]

Richard also played some cool lap steel on Daddy's Gone to Knoxville

[MagicElliott]

Paul Franklin is on STP, RPD and Privateering, if I recall well, and he is not doing any country think of them, just creating atmospheric sounds and some nice solos and touches here and there.

I think this is why MK wants that instrument on his records.

Agreed. It’s hardly for steel solos like “Daddy’s gone to Knoxville.”
I always think the same about John Mc’s wife Heidi Talbot.
Both MK and Jerry Douglas played on her record but you can barely tell at all.
Same with Bap Kennedy. Mark played on his song “Please Return to Jesus”- a very simple two chord song and again, you can’t really hear him.
But that’s the way they wanted it.

[JF]

Richard also played some cool lap steel on Daddy's Gone to Knoxville

and Belle Starr, Old pigweed, In the heartland, All that matters...

and even pedal steel on live versions of My bacon roll, OES, Redbdud tree... and of course during Meet & Greet

[dustyvalentino]

I think some of those examples are dobro as opposed to what is commonly referred to as lap steel, which is an electric instrument initially associated with Hawaiian music.

[Jules]

I think some of those examples are dobro as opposed to what is commonly referred to as lap steel, which is an electric instrument initially associated with Hawaiian music.

The dobro is also played like a lap steel, let's see the great Jerry Douglas!

[dustyvalentino]

Yes, the point I'm making is that what is known as "lap steel" isn't just any guitar played on the lap, but a specific instrument in its own right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lap_steel_guitar

Yes, a dobro can be played on the lap, and yes they are often made of steel, but we would usually call them a dobro and not a lap steel.

Hope that make sense!

Maybe a small point but as someone who plays both (and pedal steel) I think the distinction is important!

[Jules]

Yes, the point I'm making is that what is known as "lap steel" isn't just any guitar played on the lap, but a specific instrument in its own right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lap_steel_guitar

Yes, a dobro can be played on the lap, and yes they are often made of steel, but we would usually call them a dobro and not a lap steel.

Hope that make sense!

Maybe a small point but as someone who plays both (and pedal steel) I think the distinction is important!

So Lap Steel is electric, ok.

In this case, it looks like Greg, the new guy in the band, plays all the variaties of it, dobro, lap steel, and pedal steel. Also guitars, mandolins etc.

[Jules]

However, the wiki link you provided says this:

There are three categories of lap steel guitars:

Acoustic lap steel guitars: These are traditional acoustic steel-string acoustic guitars modified to be played on the performer's lap.[13] The modification is to raise the strings higher off the fingerboard than a traditional guitar, which can be done by inserting an adapter on the instrument's bridge and its nut.[14] This prevents the steel bar from hitting against the frets.[14]

Dobro-type guitars or National guitars: These are typically acoustic steel guitars with a large aluminum cone under the bridge, called a resonator, that increases volume output.[15]: 109  Wood-body resonator guitars are called "Dobros" and steel bodied ones are called "Nationals".[16]: 38  The types do not sound the same — the Nationals are brassier and are usually preferred by blues players.[16]: 38  Either type offers round necks (Spanish) or square necks (Hawaiian).[16]: 38  Square necks are sometimes necessitated both by the use of thicker strings and by the increased force the instrument is subject to as a consequence of its raised strings.[10][17]

Electric lap steel guitars: Describes instruments that are specifically designed to be played horizontally and feature an electric pickup so that they do not require any resonance chamber. Guitars in this category may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, and include instruments made from rectangular solid blocks of wood.[8]: 13  Some may be small enough to be played on the lap; others may have more than one neck (making the instrument heavier), and may be built on a frame with legs, which is then known as a console steel.[8]

So the dobro played horizontally by Jerry Douglas is one kind of lap steel on its own 

[MagicElliott]

However, the wiki link you provided says this:

There are three categories of lap steel guitars:

Acoustic lap steel guitars: These are traditional acoustic steel-string acoustic guitars modified to be played on the performer's lap.[13] The modification is to raise the strings higher off the fingerboard than a traditional guitar, which can be done by inserting an adapter on the instrument's bridge and its nut.[14] This prevents the steel bar from hitting against the frets.[14]

Dobro-type guitars or National guitars: These are typically acoustic steel guitars with a large aluminum cone under the bridge, called a resonator, that increases volume output.[15]: 109  Wood-body resonator guitars are called "Dobros" and steel bodied ones are called "Nationals".[16]: 38  The types do not sound the same — the Nationals are brassier and are usually preferred by blues players.[16]: 38  Either type offers round necks (Spanish) or square necks (Hawaiian).[16]: 38  Square necks are sometimes necessitated both by the use of thicker strings and by the increased force the instrument is subject to as a consequence of its raised strings.[10][17]

Electric lap steel guitars: Describes instruments that are specifically designed to be played horizontally and feature an electric pickup so that they do not require any resonance chamber. Guitars in this category may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, and include instruments made from rectangular solid blocks of wood.[8]: 13  Some may be small enough to be played on the lap; others may have more than one neck (making the instrument heavier), and may be built on a frame with legs, which is then known as a console steel.[8]

So the dobro played horizontally by Jerry Douglas is one kind of lap steel on its own 

Those accounts are enough to make me drool. I would love a wall of steel guitars just to look at.

[dustyvalentino]

So the dobro played horizontally by Jerry Douglas is one kind of lap steel on its own 

It is, and you break these things down a million ways but for ease of reference in musician terms you would usually just say lap steel (electric), dobro (acoustic).

In dobro for example you could have a steel guitar like a National, or a wooden guitar, a square neck like Richard has, or a round neck. Where does it end?

The main thing is a lap steel (electric) like on Daddy's Gone to Knoxville, sounds very different to a dobro like on All That Matters and that's why it's useful to make a distinction. In my opinion anyway.

[dustyvalentino]

Oh, and one person in the world plays a Pedobro which wouldn't usually be relevant but is of interest on this forum!