The Steel Guitar Forum

Completed new 12 string Lap Steel for 2012. This is serial #20, 3/8" string spacing, 23" scale...
Dom

That's going to be a VERY wide neck......

ditto what howardR said!!!! i think 8 might be the most strings i would use 3/8ths spacing on unless you just cant deal with anything but that. what kind of 12 banger pickup are you going to use with such a wide spacing? i dont know of a commercial made one that will cover 12 spaced that far apart?

is that oak..or ash or what?

good luck on your build! i want to make some more this upcoming year.

The wood is oak.
From string 1 to 12 it is 4 1/8".
I love my 10 string with 3/8" spacing so I figured I'd just add two more.

I will be using two rail type 6 string P/U's
Thought about going to 5/16' like my ShoBud, maybe
next time.

Dom

I told myself I wasn't going to build anymore lap steels, but checking out your post is giving me the itch to do it again!
Nice work.

Dom:
That must be your 10 string next to it. It looks like the 10 string was made from two pieces of wood laminated on top of each other which is a one way to get the headstock thin enough for the tuners you are using. It looks like you will be using a single piece of wood for the 12 string. Is that so?

Looks great!

Steve Ahola

I will be using 2 pieces laminated together as well for this one. (It's actually the same 6FT piece of wood cut in two)

My 10 string tuning is really great and gives me most intervals and chords I need. With ONE exception:
It is difficult to play an augmented triad (+5 chord)

It is the basic A6th tuning on the middle strings
But with two lower strings to give me and E6/9 and two re-entrant strings at the top to give me diminished and seventh chords..
Low to Hi = G# B C# E F# A C# E G Bb
the G and Bb are actually lower in pitch than the "E" third string.

My 12 string will add 2 more strings to give me
G# B C# E F# A C# E G Bb D F#
The top 3 strings form an augmented triad.

"WHY NOT JUST PLAY PEDAL STEEL?" you might ask.
Being a pedal steel player as well, I do miss all the complex chord options, but I love the portability of the lap steel.

Dom

My least favorite part of the project is sanding and shaping... Dust on my clothes and dust up my nose!



Drilling holes for strings and Tuning machines


The body is a two piece assembly

Will this be truly a "Lap Steel" or will you have to put it on some type of a Stand? With such a wide neck it might be hard to play on the bottom four strings in all positions on the neck.

I mostly use a stand with my 10 string, although it works fine on my lap.
This 12 string body is actually smaller in width than my 10 string, although the string span is 3/4" wider.

Billy Tonnesen wrote:Will this be truly a "Lap Steel" or will you have to put it on some type of a Stand? With such a wide neck it might be hard to play on the bottom four strings in all positions on the neck.

I don't understand why it would be any harder to play in all positions on 12 strings as opposed to 6 strings?

Of course I don't have a bar that will span all 12 strings at once, but the tuning is not made for that anyway. It's very intuitive because the center strings are used mostly, and you either shift the bar up get augmented or diminished chords or shift the bar down to get a "V" chord or "Sus4"
Dom

Holes for tuning machines










The Bridge is just a 1/2" dia. steel rod

Is the fact that some strings pass over both pickups going to be a problem with output levels?

Even though you did a great job routing the pickup
cavities, these may help in the future.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... e_Set.html

Though you can't tell by the photo, actually no strings pass over both pickup rails, I am wiring it up now and I will add more pics.

That is fun to watch the progress. Thanks for the action shots in the shop - mighty cool. I look forward to seeing more.

Putting it all together... It sounds great, so the proof of concept prototype is a success!
The tuning is fantastic, and I already found some amazing licks I hadn't even imagined posible.




Making the custom fretboard


Tomorrow it's off to kinkos to laminate the fretboard

A6/E6 extended tuning
12 string Hi to Low F# D Bb G E C# A F# E C# B G#

I just started messing around with it last night and couldn't put it down. (Lost sleep but well worth it)

The top 4 strings are "re-entrant" and it's very intuitive if you are used to E9 Chromatic. Alternating from string 1 to 5 and 2 to 6 gives you some very fast familar pedal steel licks, not to mention all the lush aug5, flat5,& diminished chords available.

I ain't getting any chores done today! I'm exploring this tuning...

A6/E6 extended tuning
12 string Hi to Low F# D Bb G E C# A F# E C# B G#

I just started messing around with it last night and couldn't put it down. (Lost sleep but well worth it)

The top 4 strings are "re-entrant" and it's very intuitive if you are used to E9 Chromatic. Alternating from string 1 to 5 and 2 to 6 gives you some very fast familar pedal steel licks, not to mention all the lush aug5, flat5,& diminished chords available.

I ain't getting any chores done today! I'm exploring this tuning...