21 strings

[azureskys]

Im doing a project in which ill have an acoustic instrument here its going to have 21 strings basically a rectangular box 32 inches long 12 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches deep, im going to use 24 inch scale, i know thats alot of strings but thats ok , i guess you could call it an acoustic steel guitar . what im wondering is what kind of tuning would be best for this thing if anyone has any ideas please let me know what you think, what guages would you use from low to high?If i can find my cord for my camera ill post a pic or two to give you an idea of what im working on, any advice or critique is welcome , thanks for looking . Russ

[pastor bruce kiser]

yes! i'm all for it. send pix --this should be interesting.i love
to see instruments "off the beaten path" now and then.
saw a group perfoming on tv the other a.m. and they had a steel like yours but only 6 stings . so what? make music! one of my new
projects lately is converting a dickerson (magnatone?) lap
to a 3-pedal/2 klever pedal steel! blue flake already on it -some
hardware made too.just takes a while amid other projects.church is first always around here so everything in its place.anxious to see the big21 .hope soon!
pastor bruce

[michaelm]

I don't know why you would want so many strings, but as far as the gauges go, that's pretty standard information. There are lots of charts on the web, here's a link to one:

http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.php

Here's a link to plans for a little bit different steel guitar project. It has twelve, not twenty-one, strings, but an unusual tuning scheme, which might give you some ideas:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25633227/Bu ... eel-guitar

HTH.

[richard37066]

Hey, Russ -

A couple of points to ponder.

If you attempt to tune higher than a G# on the high end, you'll run into string tension problems. Although D'Addario, for example, lists the smallest diameter string at 0.007", the breaking strength of the string is very low. You'll never be able to tension these smaller diameter strings in the 25 to 30 pound range without breaking them.

The realistic range over which you can tune is in the neighborhood of 3 to 3½ octaves or so. The upper end is limited by available string diameters and breaking strength and the lower by how "muddy" you're willing to accept the tone.

Given the above, you'll find that your copedant will contain groups of notes a semitone or wholetone apart. The "grips" necessary to pluck an open-voiced chord will then be prohibitive - the span of your fingers might well reach up to 7 to 11 string spacings, typically. No small feat if you're trying to play a three-note chord.

In my quest for a copedant to a 12 or 14 stringed instrument, I ran into these same problems when I attempted to "fill in the gaps" between major and minor third intervals over a span of merely 2½ octaves. It'll give your right hand a workout.

Might I suggest that you lay out those 21 strings on paper, assign a note value to each and then imagine how you'd play various chords. I strongly imagine that, if you're willing to limit yourself to simple intervals, you'll be OK. If, for example, you want to reach some of the wide-spaced, three-note things found in a typical E9 tuning, then I think that your right hand will severely limit how much that you can do - not to mention the necessary increased length of bar.

I fully understand where your head is trying to take you - and I commend you in your thinking - but the practicality of the matter may just torpedo the effort.

Richard

[azureskys]

i guess sometimes i need a wakeup call , time to rethink my project here, i have no idea why i chose 21 strings 10 or 12 might be a wiser choice, Richard your comments are well taken thank you , maybe if i can grow more fingers i might try it but for now id better stick with something more pratical.I have the cabinet or box built and its standing on 4 legs and looks good if i do say so myself , top is pine and sides and ends are oak, not a pedal steel but it ll be acoustic maybe a pickup later or mic might work but as for right now its acoustic.ill post some pic s soon Russ

[Georg]

Russ, maybe you should try to marry a steel with an Autoharp. Mine has 36 strings, and if I could "bar it" it would be perfect for "big chords".

[azureskys]

Georg now thats an idea , ill look into it . Russ

[Paul Lafountaine]

Hey Russ, assuming a 3/8" spacing for the strings, if you don't want to slide the bar up and down your bar will need to be 8"'s long approximately. But, you probably will not need much movement across the fret board Eh!. HAHAHA!

Paul

[azureskys]

i got a better idea now , ill string about 50 strings across the top of one of my vehicles and when im going down the road the wind can play me a tune, call it a wind steel huh

[Dave-M]

Build a horizontal harp .... play grips with both hands and no bar ... LOL. Got enough strings front to back to play in any key!