Customer Reviews

Lap Steel Guitar

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If you're captivated by the fat whine of a Supro steel, the cutting cry of a tripleneck Fender Stringmaster, or the mellow twang of a Weissenborn hollowneck acoustic, you'll flip over Lap Steel Guitar. Author Andy Volk has interviewed or profiled more than 40 great players of all styles -- including Hawaiian, country, Western swing, gospel, Cajun, and roots rock -- and gathered info crucial to anyone who wields a tone bar. Such masters as Leon McAuliffe, Don Helms, Herb Remington, Jerry Byrd, Freddie Roulette, Aubrey Ghent, Greg Leisz, David Lindley, Bob Brozman, Cindy Cashdollar, and Debashish Bhattacharya share their secrets with Volk, who organizes the resulting treasure into a fun, yet instructive read. Just the tuning charts -- which Volk has codified for every player -- are worth the price of admission, but we also learn how these masters approach their music and what gear they use to get their sound.

Volk devotes another section to guitars, serving up juicy details about classic Oahu, Bigsby, Rickenbacker, and National steels, as well as modern creations from the likes of Asher, Bear Creek, and Harmos. The 296-page tome is crammed with historical images and excerpts from catalogs, and its 38 pages of color photos will have you scouring local pawnshops for an old steel. A discography maps a lifetime of essential listening, and the thorough index allows you to quickly locate facts about specific players, instruments, and tunings.

The lap steel guitar is an incredibly expressive instrument that covers a wide range of genres. It is the signature sound of what most us think of when we think of Hawaiian music. The lap steel cries and moans in country music, wails in roots and rock, and reaches the sublime in east Indian raga. Because the sound that comes out of it is so closely linked to the hands of the individual player, no two players sound completely alike.

Andy Volk's "Lap Steel Guitar" is a well-written, thoughtful, and highly engaging book on this very unique instrument. The interviews of notable players are highly entertaining and very informative (most often giving the tunings used by the particular player) . There are also beautiful color photographs of instruments dating from the earlier part of the 20th century to the present, with descriptions of the unique qualities of each instrument. Also of note is information on manufacturers of lap steel guitars and accessories, and other sources of information about the instrument (including the excellent Steel Guitar Forum - www.steelguitarforum.com).

I highly recommend this book to all players and enthusiasts of the steel guitar!

Andy Volk has authored the definitive book about lap-style and console steel guitar. Simply titled "Lap Steel Guitar", this book includes interviews with, and profiles of, more than 35 of the greatest electric & acoustic steel guitarists of the past and present in the Hawaiian, Country, Western Swing, American Roots, Cajun, Sacred, Rock & Roll, and World Music idioms as well as 40 color pages containing photographs of some of the most desired vintage steel guitars and new instruments from many of the best contemporary builders, as well as comprehensive information about steel guitar tunings.

It's a deep book with a lot of useful information, beautifully laid out and well organized. It contains great interviews with famous and obscure musicians, all of whom should be better known thanks to this book.

Andy's book deserves to be up there with Lorene Ruymar's as a standard reference for steel guitarists. The two books compliment each other well and are a must-have for every steel player's library.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the non-pedal steel guitar.

Being an amateur steel guitar player, I just had to have this book.
Well, I'll say it is great. It will interest any music lover, it'll take you from the birth of the hawaiian steel to the 21st century.
The interviews of steel players give an incredible amount of informations, on the instruments, AND on the life of those professional musicians who bring so much to our lives.
I would say the very well documented part of the book is supplemented with a big human dimension.
It'll bring you insight on why a musician has to keep on picking and hit the road to play another gig.
And than, if you're hooked to that, the list of steel makers and CD's at the end of the book will give you many possibilities to spend your spare money for years !
Great book.

Lap Steel Guitar by Andy Volk is a superbly written, well researched guide to non pedal steel guitar. It covers all styles played on the instrument. (western swing, Hawaiian, rock, etc.)There is also an enormous amount of material in the book on equipment (instruments, amps, bars, etc.) and playing technique. Anyone with even a casual interest in lap steel will find this book both informative and entertaining. The one complaint that I have about this book is its editing and proofreading. There are numerous errors throughout the books in the areas of grammar, usage, mechanics, and style. These errors are a shame. A book this good should not be saddled with such minor league editing and proofreading.

What a wonderful book !!!

The author gives the reader a guided tour of one of the world's most intriguing instruments ... the steel guitar.

Mr. Volk's treatment of the past, present and future of this expressive instrument is detailed via a host of interviews, photographs and essays.

Most folks think of Hawaiian and Country music when a steel guitar is mentioned. This book will show you just how diverse and popular the steel guitar was/is in many different musical genres ... past and present.

Andy Volk has done a masterful job showing us all that the electric "Lap Steel Guitar" is ... still alive and well.