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I'd
been planning to add lap steel guitars to my range of instruments since
the beginning of 2006, but I just never got around to it. In fact I made
up some brass nuts and included them in batch of plating back in early
2006 and they'd been sitting in my workshop ever since.
I had an enquiry from a local player asking if I would be prepared to tackle a custom lap steel guitar, so I made a start on a prototype, it all came together nicely, and I discovered I love these little beasts! I can't play one to save my life. My wife's comment was "I'm glad you didn't try to impress me with your steel guitar playing when I met you... you'd still be single!" but I'm enjoying making them and I do intend to learn to play, although I think David Lindley has nothing to worry about. |
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I've
included a description, photos and some specs on a couple of lap steels
as an introduction to the line, and further down the page I've added some
pics of lap steel guitars I've now made. I've standardised the specifications
to 20", 22 1/2" and 24 3/4" scale lengths. The 22 1/2" and 24 3/4"
scale length guitars have Tele style bridges, single coil and humbucker,
customised with a solidbrass bridge bar. The 20" scale length guitars have
an ashtray style Tele bridge with single coil pickup. Necks are either
Fijian mahogany or Australian oak, either with a snakehead or scarf jointed
headstock. Fretboards are either slotted PVC or fretted timber. A lot of
manufacturers use an aluminium nut, but now that I've built several using
aluminium nuts as well as my chrome plated solid brass nuts I really don't
see any tonal difference. As always other timbers and pickups will be available
as optional extras. |
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So
for this one I took the shape of the Gibson Les Paul as a starting point
and shaped the body from solid Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata). Jarrah is
a dense, heavy timber ranging in colour from pale pink through to a deep
brown. The piece I selected for this lap steel is a rich reddish chocolate
brown with an attractive grain pattern. |
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The
rectangular profile neck was made from Australian oak (Eucalyptus regnans)
with a scarf jointed headstock to give a good break angle over the nut
and stay with the Les Paul vibe. The fretboard is once again Jarrah, but
I chose a reddish pink coloured piece to add some visual contrast to the
overall look of the guitar. Whilst lap steels traditionally have a "fretboard"
with silk-screened or painted "frets" and position markers, I decided to
install medium frets and use chrome plated screws as position markers.
The body, neck and fretboard were all finished in clear semi-gloss nitrocellulose
to protect the timber but still show off the colours and grain patterns
of the timbers. |
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I wanted
to make a lap steel that would work for everything from country to blues
and rock, so I decided to use a GFS "Classic TC Alnico" Tele neck pickup
featuring Alnico magnets, 43 gauge wire and parrafin wax vacuum potting,
mounted in a chrome plated brass mounting ring. With the tone rolled back
there's lots of woody warmth. With the tone rolled up there's plenty of
brightness and chimey tone. The knobs are Gibson style bell knobs, the
hardtail Strat bridge has been customised with roller saddles allowing
adjustment for string height and intonation, tuners are diecast Schaller
style, and to keep your lead well out of the way I've used a neat chrome
plated side entry socket. |
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Some approximate specifications
/ dimensions:
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For
this one I was looking for more of a "blonde" look. Once again it's a well
made, solidly built instrument made from very nice timber complemented
with quality hardware (including the custom made chrome plated solid brass
nut!) and a great P90 pickup.
I stayed with the Les Paul shape but made this body from solid Hoop pine. Hoop pine can be a bit boring to look at, so I selected a piece with an attractive grain pattern. |
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| The rectangular profile neck is the same as one above, but for this one I used Australian oak for the fretboard as well, using a paler coloured piece to add some visual contrast to the overall blonde look of the guitar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I liked the sound of the
GFS Tele neck pickup in the jarrah (hardwood) bodied lap steel, but I wanted
something a bit beefier to bring up the tone of the Hoop pine (softwood)
body, so I decided to use an 8.8K GFS Anico Vintage Wound Soapbar P90 bridge
pickup. It's still got that range of tones from woody warmth to brightness
as you roll the tone up but being a vintage style P90 there's plenty of
growl for blues and rock lap steel guitarists if you crank the volume!
The knobs are knurled chrome plated Tele style mounted on a chrome plated control plate, the hardtail Strat bridge saddles allow adjustment of string height and intonation, the chrome plated diecast tuners are excellent quality knock-offs of Grover Rotomatics, and to keep your lead well out of the way I've once again used that neat chrome plated side entry socket. |
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Some approximate specifications
/ dimensions:
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| I've now built over fifty lap steel instruments. Most are six string guitars, but I've also built some lap steel ukuleles and tenor guitars. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Call them
whatever you like, but the bottom line is you need a steel to play lap
steel guitar! As I was developing my lap steel designs I realised I needed
to use something more professional than a spark plug socket or a Bic lighter.
Chasing around local guitar shops and looking online I discovered they're
not that easy to find in Australia, and the ones that were available were
generally the more expensive ones. I figure if I'm going to be selling
lap steel guitars I should also sell the steels, so I'm now stocking both
the AXL PG-117 and the Stevens F3304. Both are good quality steels and
not expensive. |
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The
most economically priced (ie. cheapest) is the AXL PG-117. It's non-magnetic
so I presume it's made of brass. It's 72mm long, 22mm high, 16mm at the
widest point and weighs 142g. It's easy to control and sits comfortably
in even my big paw! Unfortunately stocks of this bar won't be available
until early 2008. |
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The Stevens F3304
is slightly more expensive that the AXL. It's once again non-magnetic,
72mm long, 22mm high, 16mm at the widest point and weighs 145g. It's almost
exactly the same as the AXL steel except for a few grams in weight and
a few dollars in price. |
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