The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi guys,

just registered, and already have a few questions...

I'm about to start building a lap steel - my first (though I have some experience in tinkering with 'regular' electric guitars); I already have some materials, but I'm still at the planning stage. Checked out a few online instruction sites, found this one particularly useful: http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/

Here are the things I've already decided on:
P90 pick-up (have one, it's fat, yet not muddy - should work well);
22.5 in. scale;
bridge end: strings go through body, then over a bone saddle (like on an acoustic guitar) mounted on a piece of rosewood (to gain enough distance from the body);
nut: constructed very similarly to the bridge - a piece of bone from from an acoustic guit. saddle (thinner than a regular bone nut). Any comments on those decisions?

OK, here come the questions:
I've got this piece of African mahogany (an unshaped blank from a bass neck) sized 830x100x30 mm (that's about 32.7x3.9x1.2 inches) - length and width should be OK (I want to add a 'body wing' for the electronics), but what do you think about the thickness - will 1.2 in. be sufficient for preventing bowing of the neck, and giving a good tone? I do have a fretboard blank (0.27 in. thick, maple) that I could glue on for extra stability...
About tuners: I have some 'regular' Kluson-type tuners, as well as tuner units from an old acoustic/classical guitar - which would be the better choice (I think cutting the slots for the classical-type tuners would be easier for me than reducing the whole head-plate thickness from the orignial 30mm/1.2 in. to the required 15mm/0.6 in.; making a slanted/tilted head-plate is totally out of the question with my wood-working skills...; I'm a bit concerned whether the nylon posts of the classicalguit. tuners would hold the steel strings of a lap steel, though (since they are made for nylon strings with much lower pull). Any experiences from others?
Last question (for now ): Look at this: http://cgi.ebay.at/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7369717985&rd=1&sspagename =STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1
I think that's a pretty cool construction (just imagine higher action, a pickup, and leave away the 'body', and you've got a lap steel...) - what are your thoughts about placing the 'head' on the wrong end of the guitar - would that work with a lap steel? It would make tuning easier, but would the tuners interfere with your right hand, or dig into your thigh?

Thanks for bearing with me through that long post!

Roman
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 27 November 2005 at 12:18 PM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 27 November 2005 at 04:00 PM.]</p></FONT>

Roman, the 1.2 thickness of your wood might work with the 22.5 scale, but thicker would probably be better.

The bone and bone nut and bridge material will also work, but most builders use metal for both. Aluminum or stainless steel.

The plastic cylinders on your classical tuners will probably slide off, leaving bare metal posts suitable for metal strings.

You might consider buying one of the new cheapo steels with legs on eBay and put you pickup and Kluson tuners on that. My .02. Billy

Thanks Billy!

So I guess I will use the maple fretboard - that would add some thickness to the neck - giving about 37mm / 1,45 in., and I guess it would also look nice with something dark on it as fret lines (hmm, have to ask my brother, who's a joiner by profession, how to make dark inlays into that...).

About the bone as nut material: I have seen that on a few custom-built contemporary lap steels while surfing the web; I presume bone might give a warmer (though less sustained) tone, compared to metal; also, I don't feel that confident about working with solid steel material, and the aluminium profiles I have here just felt too flimsy. My other idea was using something like a Telecaster bridge, but I think a rosewood-and-bone construction would look nicer, classier (and there's no way to fit that P90 into a tele 'ashtray').

Thanks for the info about the classical tuners - never noticed they were metal underneath the nylon.

About getting a cheap Artisan-type axe and fitting it w/ better hardware and pick-ups: yeah, thought about that - but, the ones without legs cost about 150 Euros (without shipping!) here, the ones with legs at least 200; and if buying from the US, I'd have to add about 50 to 79 USD (the latter is a quote from Musician's Friend...) for shipping plus 27% customs duties and VAT (applicable to BOTH shipping and price!); and all the while I have got this nice piece of wood (as I said, a neck blank for a bass - I used to be a bass player a long time ago...) lying around, waiting to be put to good use...

Keep the ideas coming, guys!

Roman<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 27 November 2005 at 04:21 PM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 27 November 2005 at 04:22 PM.]</p></FONT>

your mahogany wood will give your guitar a beautiful sound for sure.
I built a lap steel with mahogany. the thickness I used was 1 5/8 inches thick.

with a 22.5 inch scale you should not worry about too thin a neck.
best wishes on your build.

Your piece of wood will be strong enough even if you gouged out a cavity for electronics. KEEP YOUR DESIGN AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE. You will learn enough from your 'first' one to make your second even better.

I can't imagine how tuners on the back end of a Lap Steel would make tuning easier.