Tone bar

[pugsley]

Hi guys, I'm looking for suggestions on tone bars, and more specifically light tone bars that still give a nice tone.

The problem i have is that i work in a saw mill, and the job is very demanding physically on the hands, and what i have found is that when i use my Dunlop Lap Dawg tone bar (which i love), my hands start to feel like they are going to cramp up after a short time. So instead i use a Diamond Bottlenecks slide, which does the trick.

But, i still like the shape and grip of a tone bar, and would like to find one that is lighter and less abusive to my hands. The Lap Dawg that i have weighs 5.1 ounces. I see that Shubb produce a tone bar with a wooden handle, but i don't know how much it weighs.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[Ian McWee]

Hi pugsley!

Hopefully this answer will appear on the thread (...long story...) but you have a couple of choices here that should help you ~ firstly, we make crystal glass bars that are lighter than steel bars and allow for a nice 'sticky' grip. Alternatively Eric at Tribotone sells his plastic 'Nick Manoloff' bar that would work fine for you & are also renowned for 'stickiness' in the hand.

There are also a couple of 'ceramic' tone bars doing the rounds that are VERY light in weight - lighter than our glass bars & Eric's 'Nick Manoloff' bar ~ but tone-wise they leave most players unimpressed.

Hope this helps pugsley!

Slide On!

Ian (D.B's)

[growler]

HI Pugsley
When I got my Weissenborn at the beginning of this year I went through all the tone bars, Lap Dawgs, Shrubbs ,the only one I have not tried yet is one of Ian's glass bars .
I have the Shubb GS -1 bar you have mentioned, the one with the wooden handle , this is by far the most comfortable of all the bars going as far as I'm concerned, it feels very nice to hold. The only problem , and it is a problem that many other owners of this bar have mentioned also ........ its too light .
I have one of the Tribo -tone bars as well, this is a very nice bar , the no noise from the strings you get from using this bar is excellent. For me it has taken some getting used to, I find it quite small for my hands And I find it difficult to hold when it gets a bit greasy.
This is all a very personal thing finding the right bar that will work for you, I went through the same thing with trying to find the right bottleneck that worked for me on my resos........... I have a draw-full of them,
I find you just have about 2 out of all of them that you just stick with, and use.
Out of all the Lap steel bars and tone bars I have I tend to go back to using the old favorite ........ the Shubb SP2


Regards

Growler

[robn]

Hi Pugsley,

The Shubb GS is pretty light and easy to hold.

www.thomann.de/gb/shubb_gs1_guitar_steel.htm

I use one for dobro playing. I have a section of my index finger missing and the wooden handle is easy to hang on to. The tone is not going to be as "perfect" as heavier bars but for playing in a band it really doesn't matter - the bar is perfectly adequate for the job. And it is a great advantage not to have the bar fly across the stage

I have a custom one made by Gary Swallows (he is the GS in Shubb GS) that has a bullet end and a sharp end - but I have found that I only use the sharp end so the standard Shubb version is also fine for me.

I've tried a could of MIchael's Tribotone bars and they are also easier to hold onto than a steel bar, A great choice if you want a bullet shape rather than a railroad shape. The tone from those bars was excellent.

Robin

[melp]

Hi Pugsley,

When I started to play around with lap style a few months ago I started with a Shubb RR1 and a Dunlop steel bullet.
Of the two I preferred the Dunlop bullet, main reason is that I seem to be able to control it better, but it was difficult to hold - mine is a 919 which is 4.5ozs (127gm) and 2 3/4 inches long.

It seemed quite heavy, which is what I thought the problem was.
I then got a Diamond bottlenecks crystal tone bar, this is about 80gm, thicker and a bit longer, its about 3inches. This was much better for me.

I have tried one other steel bar, the Brozophonic bar, this is also 3 inches and 150gm. So I found that it was not the weight that was my problem, but the length. With a 3 inch bar it fits into the base of my finger and is much more secure.

So now I use the crystal bar and the Brozophonic, they are both fine for me and give a different tone.

I am a beginner so I have not got onto some of the more advanced techniques, such as slanting the bar, so I will see how it goes with each bar. I echo Growlers advice, try a few, pick a couple and stick with them. I find that you get more consistent progress that way.

cheers

Mel

[ken1953clark]

Hi Pugsley,

As Mel says it might not be the weight but comfort that matters. I can't deal with bullets no matter what the weight, it kills my wrist and I don't feel in control. After much trial and error I use the Shubb Pearse SP1, i think its still about 5oz but its got the 3 finger grooves and a cutaway bullet tip which gives you all the advantages of both types of steel and fits my hand perfectly.
www.shubb.com/sp/

When the arthritis is too bad I just use a large glass slide on my thumb which works quite well.

[pugsley]

Thanks for all of the responses guys, very helpful.

As you say, it's best to try a few different options and find out which one suits the best.

For now I think i will try the Shubb GS as i prefer a tone bar with finger grooves, and it seems to be lighter and one of the most comfortable tone bars.

But you have given me many opotions to ponder, which is great.