Homemade Guitars Showcase

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 18 May 2008 7:17 pm

WOW!!! and the D-8 is really bitchin'. The 1st one appears to be bronze, which weighs the same as steel, ummm, but then, Guitarzilla weighs 105# in the case. Which makes for a real joy in the airports.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 18 May 2008 11:04 pm

Chas, could you post a soundclip of those instruments, please. I'm very curious about the pick-up at the nut end. Theoretically, for instance, if the string is divided 2:3 you'll have automatic harmony in 5ths, as is provided on a hammer dulcimer, and you will have natural harmonies at various places on the fingerboard, but during the slide from one note to another you'll encounter a lot of disharmonies. The brain, however, seems to cope with a certain amount of disharmony as long as harmony is achieved at specific parts of the music, otherwise in jazz, for instance, or in blues and gospel, where you have different sliding notes from different sources (vocal/instrumental) at any one time there's a lot of disharmony going on, which doesn't always sound disharmonious/disharmonic.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 19 May 2008 9:04 am

if the string is divided 2:3 you'll have automatic harmony in 5ths, as is provided on a hammer dulcimer, and you will have natural harmonies at various places on the fingerboard, but during the slide from one note to another you'll encounter a lot of disharmonies.

Alan, that's exactly it. The 12th fret divides the string length in half, the 7th fret is 1/3, the 5th fret is 1/4, the 4th is around 1/5 and so on. Where things get "interesting" is the slow "roll", into a long delay, between the frets. I recently did 4 nights with a noise band, really, a noise band. One of the places we played explicitly told us that if they hear anything that sounds like a melody or a rhythm, we're out of there. When I do a slow roll between the frets, I can make a sh*t storm.

I'm not able to post a soundclip, at the moment, but I'm using the 1st 6 bass strings, tuned CCGCGC, and when I'm rolling them into the delay the slight pitch raise (tremelo) on the right side of the bar is up when the pitch on the left side is down. When this goes into an Eventide H8000 (my talent simulator), the combination of the 2 makes for a very full sound.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 24 May 2008 11:14 am

Leonard Zinn has one made of a real frying pan. He played it at one of the conventions a few years ago.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 5 Jun 2008 12:53 am

her's the latest steel that french fo'bro' tony quedeville has built
what looks like a tremolo bar is actually a locking lever

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 5 Jun 2008 2:09 pm

Wow, really neat! I like the carving - especially the fretwork! It's almost Tahitian! And the lower bass point is similar to a lot of Knutsen instruments. Very attractive!

Does he have a website and/or sell internationally?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 5 Jun 2008 5:01 pm

What does the locking lever do ?

Michael T. Hermsmeyer · Post by **Michael T. Hermsmeyer** » 5 Jun 2008 5:16 pm

This isn't a "steel" but it is my dad attempting to play my Toilecaster Prototype #1. Pretty Crude...

Here's a better shot...

With parts I had laying around, it cost about $12.00 to build, LOL.

Then here is prototype #2, yet to be finished... and has cost a little more, LOL. That's Solid Oak, Baby!!!

Terry Farmer · Post by **Terry Farmer** » 5 Jun 2008 7:52 pm

Here's a couple of my homebuilts. The wood one is a Koa/Aluminum sandwich with one of Rick Aiello's early horseshoe pickups. The solid aluminum one was designed short for travel. (and no, the tuners are not in the way of the bar hand. They are way below the strings) Rick poured the casting for it and furnished the H-Shoe pickup. I've since purchased a 10 string SuperSlide and put one of Rick's new "Fountain" pickups in it. If you think I might have a thing for Aiello's pickups, you would be right. Simply the best available in my opinion. All three guitars sound great.

Darrell Urbien · Post by **Darrell Urbien** » 5 Jun 2008 7:57 pm

Wow, really, really cool!

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 6 Jun 2008 12:40 am

Here is what Tony is experimenting Allan

G
E
C > ++D
A > ++B
G
E
D
C
A
G

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 6 Jun 2008 5:18 am

Those are very cool Terry

Matthew Prouty · Post by **Matthew Prouty** » 6 Jun 2008 6:54 am

Here is mine. Left handed, made out of Brazilian cedar and Brazilian Rosewood laminate headstock with a Brazilian Rosewood fret board. I actually made it in Brazil

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 6 Jun 2008 7:56 am

Terry Farmer wrote:Here's a couple of my homebuilts...

These are real works of art, Terry. The way you've arranged the tuners on the frying-pan probably increases the tension on the nut by about 80%. I would think that that, combined with the metal body, would give tremendous sustain.
I love the way you've designed the circular peghead on the wooden model, and gone to the trouble of purfling all the way round. It reminds me of some of the mediaeval instruments I build.

Terry Farmer · Post by **Terry Farmer** » 6 Jun 2008 12:59 pm

Thanks Alan, Tom and Darrell. Yes, the Aluminum Shorty sustains into next week! The only drawback, being solid aluminum, is the weight. Sometime when I get a little time I'm going to mill out the back and relieve some of the mass. I don't think it'll affect the sustain much but it will sure make it easier to carry around. For the wood one, my friend Joe Delaronde helped with the design and milling of the nut, bridge and saddles. They extend down to the aluminum plate sandwiched in the middle. It also sustains quite well.

My hat's off to all the homebuilders here on the forum. There are some beautiful examples of art and design represented here!

Tighe Falato · Post by **Tighe Falato** » 7 Jun 2008 3:55 am

I went the "green" route using cigar boxes and scrap wood. Unlike the standard CBG (cigar box guitar), I build a lap steel/reso version with 6 or 8 strings. The acoustic versions have a piezo/preamp/tuner built in and the electrics have an onboard active tone circuits (overdrive, etc.). They actually sound quite good.......for a cigar box!

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Robert Colaninno · Post by **Robert Colaninno** » 7 Jun 2008 5:25 am

Here is my fretless model.

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 7 Jun 2008 8:22 am

I'm starting to see a trend / theme here ... steel players are some talented folk

Don Kona Woods · Post by **Don Kona Woods** » 9 Jun 2008 9:56 pm

I have been enjoying some of the creative abilities of you steel guitar craftsman here on this thread.

I am not a creative craftsman, but I am the proud owner of this custom made lap steel made of koa wood. Tom Reeder of the Aloha International Steel Guitar Club was the creator of this guitar and he made at least three other koa wood lap steels. He loved the design of the Rickenbacker Bakelites and so modeled his creations after them. This is a solid piece of wood with the exception of the fret board which overlays the body of the steel. The strings are through the body. It has a very sweet mellow tone.

Dark cherry color

Back view. This is a true color of the instrument

the flash on camera diminishes some of the richness of the color.

The black plastic plates are placed very similar to the Rickenbacker plates.

Aloha,

Don

Danny James · Post by **Danny James** » 10 Jun 2008 7:12 am

Thats a fine looking Ric style lapsteel Don.

Somebody beat me to it.

I was thinking seriously of building my next one with a changer in it similar to the one you have.

Oh well I probably will go ahead and do it anyway.

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 10 Jun 2008 7:59 am

Here's one I made for myself a couple-three years ago. Kind of an odd mix of Tele and Paul.

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 10 Jun 2008 8:00 am

Matthew Prouty, I really like the looks of that guitar.
What kind of black finish is that?
What pickup?

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 10 Jun 2008 8:59 am

One year I attended the St Louis Convention there was a vintage guitar show in an adjacent function hall that just blew me away. - Old Tellies, Strats, Gibsons, Amps, and a number of lap steels.

Do enough of you makers attend the St Louis show to fill up a room with lap steels? (Alan Brookes could fill half of it)

I'll bet it would be a popular room. Perhaps a section of the room could be cubicled off so one could try out a particular guitar for sound.

I wouldn't think of it in the normal vendor/sales sense but rather as an exposition. For this reason there might need to be some enticement, other than selling a guitar, to get we makers to bring guitars just for expostion (like free entry to the convention heh..heh) I can't speak for Scotty really but I wonder if he would consider this?

Anyone have an opinion?

Don Kona Woods · Post by **Don Kona Woods** » 10 Jun 2008 4:34 pm

Danny says,

I was thinking seriously of building my next one with a changer in it similar to the one you have.

Oh well I probably will go ahead and do it anyway.

I would!!

I will be seeing you in Winchester soon, but we may need a boat and oars to get there!

Aloha,

Don

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 10 Jun 2008 4:41 pm

Whoa, Mike D -- that's gorgeous! Maple over mahoghany, I presume?

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Lap steel show at the St Louis convention?