Newby questions

[Brad Kopp]

New to lap steel. I have an old Gibson and newer Recording King lap steel. The RK is pretty cheap or sloppy construction but is what it is. I’m formulating a plan to build a LS myself (I’ve built a couple banjos).
Why do most Lap Steel not have adjustable bridge for intonation? Can I use a bridge and saddle from a Les Paul clone? I guess I’d have to raise it up from the body somewhat, with a shim? To get the strings higher to raise above the standard guitar fret board height ..
On my Recording King a couple strings need slight intonation corrections, can that even be done?

[Per Berner]

A Les Paul style bridge is curved – a steel guitar should have completely flat bridge. Intonation adjustment is necessary on a fretted guitar, but not on a steel where the pressure is the same on all the strings thanks to the bar. If the distance from the nut to the bridge contact points are the same for all the strings, a steel stays in tune as long as you hold the bar perpendicular to the strings. So no need to use an adjustable bridge at all. A hard-tail strat type could be used, if adjusted to be fully flat with equal string length – but it adds nothing but cost.

[Greg Forsyth]

Check Ryan's website. He makes fine sets for good prices.