Help me design my first Lap Steel - Scale Length etc.

[David Keller]

I am a woodworker with all the tools and skills to build my first lap steel. So far I have gathered up the following stuff. The type of music that I hope to be playing will be a mix of Blues (Think SRV), Country and some Gospel (with a bluesy country feel)

I plan on something that looks like the stuff that Rukavina and Pettingill build. I want it to look like a guitar. This weekend I hope to put my design on paper then on posterboard.

Body - Awesome piece of crotch walnut (Pics to follow)
Pickup - Lollar Chicago 8 string
Tuners - Grover Rotomatic mid size 18:1

Now the part that I haven't figured out yet.
Scale length - ?? (What are the advanatages)
Frets - ?? (It seems that some like the look of real frets even though they are not needed)

[Bill Hatcher]

i use the real frets. i have refretted hundreds of guitars. have a stash of fret wire that i dont like the size of anymore for underarm guitars, but it works great on steels!

if i may give you a bit of advice.

use some pine for a proto type. you can actually string it up and play it! do not just draw something and then start cutting on your good walnut. you will be surprised when you make the proto and see what you might want to change a bit before you commit to the real wood. you dont have to do any finish work on the pine. just draw it out with a pencil and bandsaw it and mount your hardware. no need for any electronics either. just string it up.

dont thin out the headstock area. keep all the wood you can there!! makes a big difference in the sustain. good luck

[Don Barnhardt]

Bill Hatcher's advice about the pine is excellent. I've just finished my 3rd &4th guitars. They turned out pretty good thanks to the lessons I learned on 1& 2. They were disasters. To date I've only used shop scraps (old shelving for the bodies) 3&4 play well and I finished them with hand rubbed poly. I feel confident to start using more exotic wood now. My third instrument was a double neck. One neck was 24 1/2 and tuned in open G the other neck was 22 1/2 C6. Number 4 is 8 string 23 and I like that scale real well; best of both worlds.

[Tom Pettingill]

Building your own steel can be a lot of fun and rewarding experience.

This weekend I hope to put my design on paper then on posterboard.

Sounds like you have the important first steps figured out. It all starts with a center line, then mark your bridge and nut location for your desired scale. Everything else references off these three points.

Bills sacrificial pine suggestion is a good one. As things take shape, there always seems to be something you want to change, refine, or just didn't make the translation from paper to project.

On frets, just about anything goes as long as the contrast is visible. Your only limited by your imagination. Regular fret wire can work great and I use it on some of my builds. When I do use fret wire I tend to prefer a thin and low profile vintage style wire for its smaller footprint.

As far as scale goes, in general, forward and reverse slats can be a bit easier to do on a shorter scale when working the first few frets.
A longer scale will generally have a bit better tone, harmonics, and sustain at the cost of a little tougher slants. Thats not to say that you can't build a great sounding short scale or a very playable longer scale.
Also keep in mind that string spacing plays a big part in the slant equation too. John Ely has a cool page / angle calculator here that can shed some light on the subject. http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/instrument ... angles.php
For instance, if you use the more modern 3/8" spacing at the nut with that Lollar, you will see that a longer 25" scale beats out many iconic steels including even a 22.5" Deluxe 8.

[Ron Randall]

FWIW
I prefer raised frets. Gives a 3D visual. This helps with accurate bar placement.

String spacing is important. If this guitar is for you, copy the spacing of your favorite steel.

Put the volume and tone knobs within easy reach of the right pinky finger.

IMHO. One man's opinion.

R2

[David Keller]

Pickup - Lollar Chicago 8 string
Tuners - Grover Rotomatic mid size 18:1
Scale length - 24
Frets - Fretwire just for the looks

The jpg is a rough SketchUp drawing of my dream lap steel

[Randy Cordle]

David,
you might gain insight on how to lay your 8 out by looking at the plan jpg here:

http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageLSBG.html