Intro

The table steel guitar is an odd instrument, in that some of its most important manufacturers don't think it exists.

Take for example the Fender Stringmaster. It had up to four necks, so it's not really a lap steel guitar, and no pedals, so it's certainly not a pedal steel. But Fender simply called it a steel guitar.

So what should we call instruments like this that are steel guitars, but are neither lap steels nor pedal steels? Who cares? The point is just to understand that these instruments are what this page is about. Probably good to also know that console steel guitar is another name for the same instrument.

The line between lap steel and table steel is fuzzy. Many lap steel guitars have legs, either folding or detachable. The line here is drawn in favour of the lap steel: If it can be played lap steel fashion, it's a lap steel. Many of these, even some tiny six-stringers, have legs that are detachable or folding, but that doesn't make it a different instrument. So here we draw the line at the point where the legs or a table become necessary for comfortable playing. That's when it ceases to be a lap steel. For the purposes of this site, anyway.

Table steels normally have two, three or occasionally four necks, and each neck has eight strings. They're mainly of historical interest, replaced by the pedal steel guitar for most creative purposes.

Tunings

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