The Steel Guitar Forum

Rondo Music now has their very inexpensive SX LG1 lap steel available for sale again.
They also sell a SX LGS50 lap steel stand designed specifically for this lap steel. I doubt it will work with any other steel guitars, but it's pretty inexpensive (although bulky).
Here's my previous review from April 2007.

I emailed Kurt last week and he said these were coming in. Decent looking guitar for the money. In the pics I can't tell if the bridge is put on wrong or the pickup wrong. Easier to move the pickup than to move the bridge.

The bridge is a copy of the Leo Quan Badass guitar bridge. Overkill on a lap guitar, but that is what it comes with. Too bad they screw on that huge Fender Jazz bass cover over the pickup bridge assembly. Better if they had not made two screw holes in the top of the guitar.

These look a lot better than the Artisan and look like you could trick out the pickup with something else if you liked. A rail type Pickup would solve the misalignment problems.

How can you go wrong for a C note!

Thanks for the heads up. I ordered one last night.

I ordered one yesterday afternoon and this morning I got a notice that it had already been shipped. How's that for service!

Thanks Brad.
I ordered my second SX lap with a stand. I wish I would have ordered the stand last year but I waited and they were sold out.

I put a rail pickup on the first SX and have it tuned GBDGBD. I will use the stock pickup on the second one and tune it to open D for blues.

$240 for two laps with cases, and a stand. What a deal.

And yes, Kurt emailed that the lap was shipped the day after I ordered it.

If you want a fun lap for $100, order now!

I ordered one! Can I bolt two together and get a 12 string steel?

Greg

Greg Cutshaw wrote:I ordered one! Can I bolt two together and get a 12 string steel?

Greg

If you are talking about one 12 string neck out of two guitars...No.

If you are talking about one guitar with two separate 6 string necks....maybe.

I have seen all sorts of things brought forth with the use of a router, saw and drill!

Does anyone know if the instruments in this new shipment have the same problem with the mis-placed pickup / tailpiece?

Dennis,
I'll know in a day or two. Mine is on its way.

I'm starting to regret that I didn't order the stand. Is it pretty stable?

I can't believe that I now have another guitar to explain to my wife.

"But honey, it's both cute and inexpensive."

Bob,
The secret is having SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many that they lose count.

My wife and daughter double teamed me a few years ago and made it up into my loft and counted 35.

That number has increased substantially since then!

The stand was very stable, heavy and somewhat hard to transport. It is constructed so that it only fits the SX lap steel, so if you're considering buying one to use with other lap steels, think again.

Erv...

I think my downfall is having no loft (although, I had never thought about the possibility of a frontal assault on a guitar loft ) and too many hooks on the wall in my music room.

Maybe this one will be small enough to get lost in the mix.

...Bob

My sx lap arrived today with a stand. As Brad said the stand is stable. I have never played with a stand before and after an hour, I like it and seems more comfortable than on my lap. I have two sx laps now and it is easy to pop one out and put in the other one.

The new lap's strings are just off to the right of the pickup pole center. Not as bad as the one I got last year which I put a rail pickup in it for a clean sound.

I am going to leave the original pickup in the second one, tuned open D for blues.

The sx lap that arrived today is not as finished as my first one as it has spots on top that are not sanded smooth. Side by side you can tell them apart. I am going to leave it that way as I can quickly identify which one is in D and which one in G. Of course I could paint one pink.

For $160.75(case, guitar and stand) with shipping, I am having big fun.
Dave

Dave Sky wrote: The new lap's strings are just off to the right of the pickup pole center. Not as bad as the one I got last year which I put a rail pickup in it for a clean sound.

Hmmm...

The picture on the Rondo web site shows the strings off to the left of the pickup pole centers. Given that amount of variability, maybe if I'm lucky, the one I just ordered will have the strings in the middle.

Have any of you guys who ordered the Rondo following Brad's posting received and checked out your new lap steel?

I have one coming on Friday. Just wondering what folks have thought of what they received.

Greg Cutshaw wrote:I ordered one! Can I bolt two together and get a 12 string steel?

I ordered one, too. Seems like a good candidate for adding palm levers to.

Yes, you can bolt as many lap steels together as you like. I bolted two Artisans together when they first came out and carried them around in my trunk in case of emergencies, without having to worry about a big loss if they were stolen.

Erv Niehaus wrote:...The secret is having SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many that they lose count.

My wife and daughter double teamed me a few years ago and made it up into my loft and counted 35...

I've prepared for that one. I have so many projects on the go in my den in the sub-basement that you have to climb in. But what's best of all is you can't put the main lights on until you're at the bottom of the stair well and two rooms in. I know where I left all the obstacles, so I can find my way around blindfolded. My wife refuses to go down there.

As a last resort I have the come-back, "...but I'm fixing them for someone else."

Hey,
The amazingly productive Greg Cutshaw has put up a recording and tab of Kansas City Blues using the SX LG1 and written a review and posted pictures of the instrument he got here:
http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Rondo/Rondo.html

and here:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=126392

Looks like the pickup poles line up with the strings pretty well on his.
I wonder if they have plans to make an 8 string model.

I ordered one with a stand. I have an old Gibson "wall-of-China" tailpiece I'll swap out and a Bill Lawrence L250 Blade style pickup that I'll try.


George

I received mine and have very mixed feelings.
It is a solid, substantial instrument but the finish on it is bad. In fact, it has hardly any finish at all.
The pickup is very misaligned. It is displaced towards the bass strings. I can't figure out as long as they are routing the pickup into the body, why they can't see to get it positioned correctly.

The chrome looks good and they must think that the guitar wants to fight its way out of the case because there are 5 latches on the case. Which by the way, is excellent.
If worse comes to worse, I can always throw away the guitar and keep the case!

Erv Niehaus wrote:I received mine and have very mixed feelings.
It is a solid, substantial instrument but the finish on it is bad. In fact, it has hardly any finish at all.
The pickup is very misaligned. It is displaced towards the bass strings. I can't figure out as long as they are routing the pickup into the body, why they can't see to get it positioned correctly.

The chrome looks good and they must think that the guitar wants to fight its way out of the case because there are 5 latches on the case. Which by the way, is excellent.
If worse comes to worse, I can always throw away the guitar and keep the case!

Erv...

I've been wondering about whether the pickup alignment issues comes from variability in the routing of the pickup cavity or does the cavity appear centered and some dolt drilled the mounting holes for the pickup off center?

I recall, in an earlier post that someone suggested that the alignment issue might be due to the bridge being tightened down off center in it's range of lateral adjustment. Any thoughts on that thought?

Is the finish poor because it has some localized flaws or is it generally poorly applied? Thanks.

...Bob

Bob,
There really isn't any finish on the guitar. Maybe just some tung oil or similiar.
The guitar is actually "rough" in places. Not even sanded down very well.
As far as pickup alignment, the pickup fits quite snugly into the routed cavity so there isn't really a possibility of screw misalignment.
If I install some sort of blade pickup , that should remedy the problem.

Erv:
My second SX lap is very rough also. Front, back and sides all have spots that are not sanded.

The one I bought last year is well sanded and putting the two side by side shows how poorly the second one was finished.

Therefore, the rough one is tuned in open E now as it has the blues written all over it. I will not have to worry about dings and cuts on that one. I think the rough one shows character. It looks like it has been in a bar fight or two and didn't win.
Dave