The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi everyone,
I wanted to use a Lollar Charlie Christian pick up in a lap steel for a while now but hadn't the time to really pursue it until recently and I wanted to share some pics. I was going for a 40's kinda western vibe.

The Body is Korina, ebony fingerboard and ivoroid peghead.
I made the rope binding from Korina and rosewood, The korina has a coarser texture that looks a bit more rustic. I wanted the diagonal pattern to be on the side instead of the top. Boy it was tough work to bend it!!

I made the position dots a bit larger than I usually do and from ivoroid to keep with a 40's kinda vibe I was going for.
The bridge plate obviously is inspired (o.k. out and out stolen) from my favorite acoustic..a Gibson J200
The knobs are metal and lathe turned and powder coated to look like bakelite.

I used Sperzal locking tuners because a lot of folks swear by them and they are made in the USA.

The pick up? I LOVE it! I am definately going to attempt to make a sound sample but do NOT expect a Rick Alexander, or Steinar or (any other members name other than mine here)

clips!

Ooh. . .

That definitely has a "vibe" about it. . .so nice to look at even in photos. Nice work!

Can't wait to hear it,
Vince

That looks great Jason, love the rope binding too.
I'll bet it sounds great, korina / limba has a sweet tone to it.

I love the mixture of West meets Charlie Christian, Western Swing anyone??

Great work, can't wait to hear some clips!

Beautiful, Jason!

Can't wait to hear the sound samples!

Fred

Thanks guys,
Fred I wish YOU were close by to make some clips for me. I was just wrestling with a friends Zoom recorder......ugh
I'll get some clips as soon as I can.

Love the look of that build. I think that particular style would be perfectly suited for an 8 string. Great to know there are so many talented craftsman committed to building steel guitars.

Wow! That's a beautiful steel. Nice work.

How cool is that! Can't wait to hear if it sounds as good as it looks.

Peter

I love to see folks pursue original designs. Very cool concept and aesthetics, Jason! I was looking at it and thinking about what I'd do to take it even further. With work avoidance in mind and the luxury of PhotoShop, I played around with making the decorative plate at the bottom in brass and adding an "LK" brand like the old Gretsch Rancher guitars. If you really want to go over the top, you could add Western icons as fret markers?



Then again, maybe understated and classy is best.

By the way, I've really been enjoying the Transatlantic Sessions III with Jerry Douglas playing gorgeous runs and fills on your Bel Aire model on many tunes, Jason. It looks and sounds fantastic.

Very cool Jason. You have a great eye.

Thanks for the remarks everyone,
Andy, I definately was thinking the same thing with inlays and the Gretch style branding. I started a hand tooled leather palm rest but it didn't pan out. The inlays I could have went a bit flashier but I kept refering back to photos of 40's era guitars (not just steels) and I restrained myself to try and keep it line with them. I did a similar western flavor on a firebird style guitar I made for a bottleneck player with a tooled leather guard. Looking back I wish I branded that one----lots of room! But I chickened out


Trans III was great huh? Man the musicians on that are fantastic. I heard Jerry is doing Trans IV really soon. I'm hoping maybe he'll use this two pick up Rodeo I just delivered to him. It has two custom wound Lollar humbuckers. I don't have samples of that one but he said he's fixing to use it on the Christmas album he's doing now


Mike D, right back at you brother

beautiful guitars Jason

Out of interest what string spacing do you use at the bridge?

Thanks Roger,
The spacing at the bridge is 55mm at the nut it's 40mm

That's a great design, Jason. Thanks for sharing!

Jason, this is stunning work. You can be very proud.

Just trying to see if I can post the sample
download_page.php?id=91736

guess not...
Can anyone tell me how to post an MP3 file here?

maybe this...
http://www.4shared.com/file/82005782/1c ... ample.html
DOn't expect much, a friend of mine let me borrow a yamaha didgital recorder. I have never used ANY recording devise before and after hour after hour of frustration I managed to come up with this. Of course once the recording light went on I was like a deer in the headlights

Mmmm crunchy goodness!

Schwing!

Looks and sounds amazing!

Schwing...Deluxe!!!! Oh how G.A.S. burneth within me... out out damn G.A.S. out!!!!!

Thanks for the comments guys, as many of you know it's a bit nerve wracking putting something out there especially when so many members are such phenomenal players.

Sounds great Jason! What amp did you use?

Fred