The Steel Guitar Forum

i have seen several pictures of some bigsby lap steels does anyone know how many were made

I only know of two lap steels made by Bigsby. One is owned by Chas Smith and the other sold on eBay in 2007 for $5,000 USD. There may be others out there, but those are the only two I've seen.

Where are these "several pictures of some lap steels" you've seen?

I know of six lap steels in addition to the apparent "prototype" guitar PA built for himself and showed to Joaquin, who then ordered the first D8 ( mid 40's ).

I've seen first hand the exceptionally fine craftsmanship that Todd Clinesith is doing with his
single neck Bigsby lap steels.

I had the opportunity to show one to a gentleman from Florida that was attending the TSGA Show and he purchased it on the spot.

It's definitely a guitar to be evaluated and appreciated.

There's a new Bigsby guitar book available - I bought a copy for about $30 on Amazon and it's huge. I'll check to see if there's any information regarding his lap steels.

i meant the pictures of the one on ebay and i dont remember where but one time on the internet i saw a picture of another one.

I found this picture on the Subway Guitars web site. The guitar is listed as a Bigsby lap steel. It looks right, but I wonder if it's an original Bigsby product... or if someone later put it together using Bigsby parts?

Ray Montee wrote:I've seen the Todd Clinesmith single neck Bigsby lap steels.

I asked about lap steels long ago and have heard nothing on the matter since.

What's the skinny?

What Clinesmith LAP steels?
...What's the skinny?

but I wonder if it's an original Bigsby product... or if someone later put it together using Bigsby parts?

Those look like Bigsby parts, but it doesn't look like a Bigsby guitar and neither does its case.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ght=bigsby



More pics at link

Chas, look at the inside edge of the birdseye platform, it has that same decorative "cut" as the multineck Bigsbys. I believe that's all Bigsby but if not an original Bigsby lap steel, it could be one of those things made out of a chopped off triple necks. Either way, it's either the only known single neck 10 string Bigsby lap steel or chopped off of a 10 string multineck Bigsby generally not known before.

...now the one John posted here and that I was just graciously sent pix of looks to be a new steel by Todd, yes?

Todd, are you making laps?

Ron, that one is a '51. Here are the other pics from the earlier thread that I linked to.

Todd is making single neck Bigsby's......

I delivered two to the TSGA Shin-Dig, one of which was sold on the spot.

Todd Clinesmith is making some amaizing reproductions of the Bigsby steels. He bought all the remaining stock and leftover parts from Paul Warnik (who bought all the parts from the Bigsby family - I believe) and has worked with machinists and craftspeople to have the new parts made based on the old parts specs. You should take a look at them if you haven't seen them yet - they are quite beautiful.

Clinesmith Guitars

The lap steels that were brought to the TSGA are also equally beautiful and are his own basic creation - but they are modeled on the images of the bigsby lapsteels seen with Joaquin Murphy. There are 2 images of him with a bigsby lapsteel. I have seen them on the forum before - but I can't seen to find them right now.

In the two images there are differences in the guitars - perhaps even a different guitar entirely - hence the two models that Todd made.

I got a chance to pluck on them in Dallas, they were lovely.

The single neck that John Billings posted pics for is a loose Bigsby neck casting, perhaps removed from a multiple neck guitar, and attached to a new birdseye board. The new board is longer to fit the controls. Notice that holes needed to be drilled through the board to get to the string mounting holes.

The Subway Guitars single neck is more what a Bigsby neck removed from a Triple might look like.

But, I can neither confirm, nor deny, that either is original or made from parts -- either original or newer castings.

Chris, did you read the comments at the link I posted? I have no way of judging, but some there felt it was an original. Either way, I wish it were mine!

Yes, I saw the comments, but i know of a single neck that was made fourteen months ago with newly cast parts that looks essentially the same. So, I cannot tell. The new single neck even has the impossible to find slothead bridge mount screws.

The guitar John posted a link to is an original Bigsby single neck guitar. This was the one on ebay a few years back that Brad was refering to.It was originaly purchased by a woman in Downey and her kid was selling it . The two holes in the headstock arefor the plunger tuning changer that has been seen on a few other singles like this one:

I contacted the guy at Subway last month about that steel and it was not his. That was obviously pulled of a console guitar. You can see the mounting holes up by the top of the peg head where screws would mount the platform onto the endplates. The neck looks moded in several ways. This could be one of the cut up consoles we have heard about.

I am currently starting a line of single neck guitars. I have just been keeping it quiet till all of my ducks are in a row. About in 3-4 weeks time I'll make an announcement here , with photos. Chas Smith graciously let me take specs off his rare D-8 in 2007 . I finally received my first castings about 6 weeks ago. I built two prototypes and sent them down with Ray Montee, who showed them off for me ... thanks Ray. Here are a few photos of the prototypes

Is a great shop. The owner's from my old neighborhood in Philly, but it definitely has that Beserkely vibe. He's a genius for cheapo clones that capture the essence of an instrument, be they J Basses or Alembics. Somewhere on his website is a photo of Freddie Roulette playing a triple neck National, which must be the store's since Freddie plays a doubleneck. I think he has a barn full of parts he's selling off, too.

Todd, your stuff looks truly magnificent. The quality shows through the photos, and I can tell you agonize over every piece of wood you select.

Todd Clinesmith wrote:I am currently starting a line of single neck guitars. I have just been keeping it quiet till all of my ducks are in a row.

...glad to hear the good news!
I'm sure these will be a huge success.

Todd, that is one sweet looking baby!!!

WT, Thanks for the comments. I am glad you had a chance to try them out in Dallas. All metal parts are cast aluminum, besides the tuners and screws of course. Exactly... this is my own creation but based on Joaquin's D-8 lap in a single neck version.
I will be building these out of Eastern Hard Rock Maple for the most part curly and Birdseye maple. Tho I tried one of the prototypes in Oregon Claro Walnut to see if there was any difference in tonal qualities, and I did not notice any. It was a very dense piece of Walnut. I will make a more affordable version using other woods besides the figured Eastern Maples, such as Walnut, Eastern Rock Maple( No figuring) , Myrtle and possibly a few other local woods. Oregon has some of Americas finest woods.

Ron Thanks for the comments and the enthusiasm. I have a list of people who are wanting to know when my single necks will be ready. I am not usually the type to email a list of people for promo purposes but , I will, and I'll include you if you wish.
Matt Thanks, You are correct. I always think my agonizing over attention to detail will take a few years off my life, but hey if it's just a few years it should be worth it.
Jussi, Thanks as always.

More on this in a few weeks.
Todd

Those look great Todd! Love the cast hardware too

Oregon has some of Americas finest woods.

Absolutely, you have tons of great choices right in your back yard!

Interesting.I have an eight-string steel nearly identical to the one from Subway's site in Doug B.'s post.Anybody have a link to that page on the Subway site?Or have information about that particular steel?I always thought mine was from a chopped-down multi-neck,but the one in that picture looks like it might be the long seperated siamese twin of mine.