Full set up guide

[Philip James]

Is there a full set up guide for a lap steel that anyone can point a link to?
Thanks

[Allan Revich]

Is there a full set up guide for a lap steel that anyone can point a link to?
Thanks

Setting up a lap steel is a lot different than setting up a fretted guitar. So your question would seem to make a lot of sense on its surface. But there are a lot of things involved in setting up a fretted guitar that are either unnecessary or impossible on a lap steel.
Fret dressing, neck relief, string height adjustment, for example. Even intonation is nearly always completely in the playing, except perhaps for fret markers, which once set aren’t really something you’d normally adjust. Add to that all the different tunings, and number of strings, each of which require different string gauges, and you start to see that it’s not really possible to come up with a universal guide.

I think the closest you could get is to choose a tuning, and then choose string gauges to use.Then just make sure your instrument is in good playing condition.
Tunings: https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
String Gauges: https://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.php
Playing Condition: Electronics function and sound as they should. All fittings are securely fastened.

[Brian Evans]

There might be kind of gross setup things to check, but as mentioned there isn't much to adjust in a setup. You might check to see that the bridge is square to the neck, flat straight across (some entry level lap steels have adjustable bridges for some reason) and the scale length is correct to match the fretboard. Some pickups can be adjusted for string balance and general distance from the strings. The nut might well be the trickiest part, the strings need to be equal distances apart and the top of the strings need to form a flat plane. If one string is lower than the others it might buzz with a light bar feel close to the nut.

[Philip James]

Yes, that was the thing I was looking for the hieght of the strings across the nut as mentioned in a flat plane.
I'm totally new to the lap steel, and my newly acquired Richenbacher NS definitely the low string is way below the other strings and possibly the 3rd a little lower too.

[David Ball]

You can fill that low nut slot using baking soda and superglue to bring it up to the level of the other strings. There are lots of articles/YouTubes etc. on how to slot a nut where the tops of the strings are on the same plane. That's the key thing on steel guitars and why there are things like graduated rollers on pedal steels. Getting the tops of the strings even to where the bar hits all of them evenly is the goal.

Dave