Gretsch Electromatic G5715 Lap Steel Electric Hawaiian Guitar (Black Sparkle) Expired

I would recommend against it unless you're specifically trying to learn steel guitar. 1) People will usually play these in open tuning, so the basic chords you learn will have different structures 2) it's going to sound bad if you try to play music meant for a "regular" guitar on this 3) the technique won't really transfer, as you wouldn't hold this the same way as a "regular" guitar. This might not be the best analogy, but it would be similar to joining a softball league as a pitcher, with the expectation that it would advance you towards your goal of becoming a competent baseball pitcher. You might accumulate some marginally useful information, e.g. some of the overlap in the rules; however, it's ultimately different enough that very little, regarding your technique as a pitcher, would be of value on your journey to becoming a baseball pitcher. Hope that helps.

For anyone that is interested in learning lap steel, but not ready to put down this much money on a whim. I think the Rogue RLS-1 is a fantastic value for a hundred bucks. I picked one up a few weeks ago and I'm really impressed with the sound.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/f...d-gig-bag#

They are very different instruments. A standard guitar (either electric or acoustic) is played by holding the strings against the frets with your fingers to change the pitch of the notes. Lap guitars, such as this one, typically don't even have frets (though there usually are markings that show where the frets would have been were it a standard guitar). Rather than pressing down the strings with one's fingers, the pitch of the strings is altered by pressing a steel cylinder (thus "steel guitar," though other items are sometimes used) against the strings at various distances from the nut (the "top" of the strings). Typically the tuning is different as well, most often being a major chord in the open (nothing touching the strings) position. This is because using the steel to change the pitch does not allow one to meaningfully vary the amount each string is shortened in relation to the other strings (as is done with the fingers to form chords on a standard guitar). The steel is slid up and down the strings, generating the "twangy" sound associated with this instrument, pausing at the spots where the pitch is the desired sound. One more thing: a standard guitar can be used as a lap guitar, but a lap guitar can't be used as a "regular" guitar. I hope this helps.