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Topic: best standard electric for lap steel conversion |
Ben Sims
From:
New Mexico
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 2:44 pm |
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I've been thinking about what kind of standard electric guitar I could get that would be best for setting up for lap steel with a nut extender or possibly with one of Loni Spector's Rednecks. Strat or tele (hardtail or tremolo bridge - is there really much difference?) Or maybe something with humbuckers or P-90s? Solid wood or hollow body? Anyone have any experiences with standard guitars they've liked set up as lap steels? What would be your ideal guitar to set up that way?
Ben |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 3:19 pm
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Well I don't know whether it is ideal or not-but if you haven't already then you should pick up the latest album by Jerry Douglas, "The Best Kept Secret."
On the lap steel stuff, along with a Harmos, he uses a converted Tele (the majority of the time).
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Mark
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 3:32 pm
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I tried out one of Loni's Redneck (a converted Strat) and was pretty happy with the amount of tonal possibilities three pickups gives you. However, I love the sound of a Tele.
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 4:19 pm
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I have a Redneck converted Strat, and if I could do it over again I would have prefered a Tele body. The reason is that I keep bumping into that upper cutaway when playing up the neck, so I think a Tele would work better. Could always add a middle pickup and a 5-way switch if those 'in-between' sounds are important to you.
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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AJ Azure
From:
Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 5:02 pm
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| I coverted an Ibanez saber body guitar with a very flat neck and body. it screams. I was thinking of getting a 7 string to convert. |
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Loni Specter
From:
West Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 11:39 pm
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I have tried the RedNecks on many Fender type bodies, and I do prefer the Tele for it's flat back and fater tone. I also like a 'hardtail' (non-tremelo) Strat for the pickup variety. I can see some players will have issue with the Strats long upper horn. Steinar knows what he likes for sure, the great player that he is, but I wager someone with smaller hands won't be bothered. The only other issue with a strat is that the bridge block on the tremelo unit must be imobilized, as theheavier string tension will pull the tuning out. I use a block of hard wood between the block and the cavity wall.
As you know every guitar sounds different and pickup choices are subjective.
Right now I have several guitars I keep with a RedNeck installed; The red tele on the website with the Lollar Horseshoe, A custom made tele with two P-90s, another with a early Duncan Broadcaster pickup. I've made complete guitars for Harry Manx (strat with Lollars) and Greg Leisz (Tele with Duncans)
Good luck with your project!
Loni www.lapdancerguitars.com |
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Tony Dingus
From:
Kingsport, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 7:20 pm
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I've got a Johnson strat with the tremlo bridge that I use with a taller nut and it works fine. I usally use the neck/middle combination, I love it. I want to get a Tele sometime too. I remember Paul Franklin using a tele at one of the Knoxville shows back in the 90's, he had it tuned to C6 and burnt the strings off of it. Has anyone tried one of the cheap First Act guitars that Walmart sells?
Tony |
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Kris Oka
From:
San Francisco, CA, USA
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 8 Jan 2006 2:02 pm
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Before I finished building my lap steel, I was noodling around on my strat copy, which I modfied with one of those extension nuts (the simple, angled kind, not the U-shaped kind) - ran into some problems with that:
the string spacing on that extension nut is much wider than the width of the neck - the lowest and highest strings are actually hanging outside the edges of the neck!
That also caused a very crooked angle from the tuner of the lowest string to the extension nut, so the string sometimes jumps out of its groove.
The worst problem, though, was, that the extension nut was designed for a guitar with a flat fretboard (like an acoustic), but my strat copy has one with a rather small radius (= very curved), so the extension nut only sits on the central part of the fretboard and original nut, and hangs in air at the edges (probably not great for sustain...).
Seems like a Gibson-type guitar (which has a flatter fretboard and wider neck) might have been a better choice - but on the other hand, with Gibson-style stop-tailpieces and bridges you can't adjust individual strings' height - so there's no way to get all of the strings on the same level (like you could with a Fender-type bridge, provided those srews for raising the riders are long enough - qhich they might not be for the outside strings).
Roman
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 9 Jan 2006 4:56 am
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| The Danelectros are my favorite for slide, though I have never tried one as a lap steel. I can't imagine a cooler, greasier tone though. Masonite rocks! |
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Andy Zynda
From:
Wisconsin
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Posted 9 Jan 2006 6:28 am
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Telecaster, no question.
Danny Gatton used to shove a butterknife handle under the strings at the 2nd fret and use his 53 Tele for a lapsteel when he needed one for recording. I tried it, and I like it. Sounds a LOT like a stringmaster.
2 cents,
-andy-
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Eric Dunst
From:
Brooklyn, New York, USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2006 7:56 am
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| I once saw a guy using a Chiquita travel guitar as a lap steel. He was playing in c6 and sounded great. Not to mention that the size and dimensions are much closer to a lap steel than a standard size guitar. It might be worth a look. |
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