Western swing In the early 1930s, the newly-electrified lap steel guitar was adopted by musicians type of dance music known as "Western swing", a sub-genre of country music combined with jazz swing. The design of this instrument and the way it was played underwent continual change as the music of the genre evolved. In the 1930s, Leon McAuliffe advanced steel guitar technique while playing in the western swing band Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. In October, 1936, McAuliffe recorded "Steel Guitar Rag" with Wills' band on a Rickenbacker B–6 lap steel with phenomenal record sales. Steel guitarists felt a need to change tunings for different voicings, so leading players added additional necks with different tunings on the same instrument. The added bulk meant that the instrument could no longer be managed on the player's lap and required placement in a frame with legs and marketed as a "console" steel guitar. Prominent layers of that era, including Herb Remington and Noel Boggs, added more necks and eventually played instruments with up to four different necks.
Western swing In the early 1930s, the newly-electrified lap steel guitar was adopted by musicians type of dance music known as "Western swing", a sub-genre of country music combined with jazz swing. The design of this instrument and the way it was played underwent continual change as the music of the genre evolved. In the 1930s, Leon McAuliffe advanced steel guitar technique while playing in the western swing band Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. In October, 1936 McAuliffe recorded "Steel Guitar Rag" with Wills' band on a Rickenbacker B–6 lap steel with phenomenal record sales. Steel guitarists felt a need to change tunings for different voicings, so leading players added additional necks with different tunings on the same instrument. The added bulk meant that the instrument could no longer be managed on the player's lap and required placement in a frame with legs and marketed as a "console" steel guitar. Prominent layers of that era, including Herb Remington and Noel Boggs, added more necks and eventually played instruments with up to four different necks.