My modified Rondo lap steel
Posted: 11 Apr 2008 8:13 pm
Hey all, I'm new to the forum and had been lurking around for a while. It was here that I read all about the rondo lap steels. Now, I'm a real tight wad with my money, so i figured the rondo plus a few modifications might turn out to be exactly what I was after.. I made the modificaitons the day the Rondo arrived, so I can't say much about the stock tone. I can say that for less than $125 shipped to my door, it's the best value I've seen for a lapsteel. Again, I'm a real tight wad, so I feel my opinion is 'qualified' when it comes to value/bang for your buck reviews.
The first thing I did was install a seymour duncan SP90 pickup. Using a dremel tool (borrowed from a friend) and a homemade template from wood and metal box strapping, I routed the pickup cavity so the p90 would fit. I've never routed out a guitar before or even used a dremel tool and the modification took me about 2 hours. I'd guess 90 minutes was spent just staring at it, planning on how I was going to do it. I could not be happier with the tone. The tone was exactly what I'd been after, if not more than I hoped for.
I replaced the tuners with grover tuners I got from ebay. The new tuners were super easy to install, taking about 20 minutes to install. The original tuners did not look like junk or anything, but I did notice one of them didn't appear to be mounted properly, as if the nut for the tuner wasn't tightned. When I removed the nut in question it completely decinigrated due to the pot metal being too thin. With that said, atleast that one tuner would have definitly been an issue down the road if I would have kept it stock. I'm a fan of grover tuners and for a cheap price ($20 from ebay) my lap steel stays in tune, not to mention I like the ratio. Also, you might notice that my tuners are at an angle? If I would have mounted them at 90 degree the old screw hole would have been visible. Eitherway, I like the look of them angled and probably would have chosen to angle them anyway. Keep this in mind if when choosing new tuners if you decide to upgrade your rondos.
Hopefully I'm not rambling too much here, but I wanted to give back to the forum. If it wasn't for this forum I wouldn't have found out about the Rondo. I serioulsy could not be happier with the end result. It sounds great, stays in tune, came with a nice case, and I've even gotten attached to the baby blue! All that for less than $225! Thats a tight wads dream if you ask me.
Maybe one day I'll break down and by a vintage lap steel so that I have an instrument thats value appreciates, but I just don't see it sounding too much better than this modified Rondo.
As soon as www.rondomusic.com gets more in stock I'm going to purchase a 2nd one and do the same modifications to it. I'd like to have a spare and one for different tunings.
Jody
The first thing I did was install a seymour duncan SP90 pickup. Using a dremel tool (borrowed from a friend) and a homemade template from wood and metal box strapping, I routed the pickup cavity so the p90 would fit. I've never routed out a guitar before or even used a dremel tool and the modification took me about 2 hours. I'd guess 90 minutes was spent just staring at it, planning on how I was going to do it. I could not be happier with the tone. The tone was exactly what I'd been after, if not more than I hoped for.
I replaced the tuners with grover tuners I got from ebay. The new tuners were super easy to install, taking about 20 minutes to install. The original tuners did not look like junk or anything, but I did notice one of them didn't appear to be mounted properly, as if the nut for the tuner wasn't tightned. When I removed the nut in question it completely decinigrated due to the pot metal being too thin. With that said, atleast that one tuner would have definitly been an issue down the road if I would have kept it stock. I'm a fan of grover tuners and for a cheap price ($20 from ebay) my lap steel stays in tune, not to mention I like the ratio. Also, you might notice that my tuners are at an angle? If I would have mounted them at 90 degree the old screw hole would have been visible. Eitherway, I like the look of them angled and probably would have chosen to angle them anyway. Keep this in mind if when choosing new tuners if you decide to upgrade your rondos.
Hopefully I'm not rambling too much here, but I wanted to give back to the forum. If it wasn't for this forum I wouldn't have found out about the Rondo. I serioulsy could not be happier with the end result. It sounds great, stays in tune, came with a nice case, and I've even gotten attached to the baby blue! All that for less than $225! Thats a tight wads dream if you ask me.
Maybe one day I'll break down and by a vintage lap steel so that I have an instrument thats value appreciates, but I just don't see it sounding too much better than this modified Rondo.
As soon as www.rondomusic.com gets more in stock I'm going to purchase a 2nd one and do the same modifications to it. I'd like to have a spare and one for different tunings.
Jody
