Steel Guitar Builder

I'm making my first lap steel. Nothing fancy for this one as I plan to experament with it some. I play the dobro some, so I plan to make the steel a 24 inch scale as a comprise with the 25 inch scale dobro and a shorter scale lap steel. Though I would like to try the shorter scale of 22 1/2 I thought the different scale lenghts might be confusing when I switch back to dobro. Anyway my real question is...is a 24 inch scale too long for c6 tuning? I read an article somewhere and the individual felt it was, but didnt say why. Dont know if it would be hard on the strings or neck, because he was using a round neck guitar and for that reason used a different tuning. Thanks, Terry.

If you match the string gauge to the pitch and string length, there should be no problem with a C6 (or other) tuning at most any reasonable string length. There are plenty of string gauge charts in books, from the manufacturers and on the web. Here's one:

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

HTH.

[quote="michaelm"]If you match the string gauge to the pitch and string length, there should be no problem with a C6

Thanks,Just thought I'd ask before I finish and found a problem.