New Project Maybe? 10 String E9 Lap

[Paul Lafountaine]

Well we are having great weather this long weekend in Northern Ontario, by the way, Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian brothers. Winter is just around the corner and it is almost project building time. I am kinda torn between making another C6 or building E9 lap steel. I'm asking for opinions on the pro's and con's of E9 tuning on a lap steel. Also, to make this interesting I would like to build this according to suggestion provided by forum members. As a few examples, people could suggest types of body materials and we could maybe vote on that. Same with materials for the bridge and nut. Do the strings mount through the body or the bridge. These are just a few suggestions. Put you thinking caps on. If you think my idea of a community build is nuts, let me know. When it is done no matter how well it turns out, we could vote on giving it to a person who can't afford to buy a lap or give it to a non-profit organization to raffle off.

Paul

[azureskys]

Hey Paul , Ill go for that what can i do to help? Whose gonna do the building?

[Paul Lafountaine]

I'm looking at doing the build myself with the input from the forum members. I am not looking for donations of materials or anything like that. I will supply the materials. Just advice on materials and design. As I said a community effort. We all decide on how the guitar is built from conception to completion. NO! it will not be solid titanium! HA!HA! I just figure this maybe an opportunity to hone my skills and maybe help someone or a non-profit organization. As I said in my first post we take suggestions from members and vote on designs to come up with we think makes a great guitar.

Paul

[Bent]

Hey Paul..interesting thing about your thought of a community effort. I like that! Now you have opened yourself up to 100's of opinions, surely enough to make your head spin. But I am sure you already have it more or less in your head what you want to do.
I have one suggestion.... Go for C6th. E9th, I believe, is more for pedals. I could be wrong with my limited knowledge in both music and lap steel.

If you want traditional sound, I believe you should use real bone for the nut, no? I mean, go to your butcher shop and buy (get for free) a real beef bone and start carving. In the bridge end, I would use a walnut bridge with a 1/4" round brass rod embedded in it. It can be grooved for the strings.

I suggest you make it an 8 string. More versatility since the pedals are not there.

How's that for a slew of suggestions from a guy who don't know beans about lap steel?
I am sure the membership will correct me as they see fit

[Paul Lafountaine]

Thanks Russ & Thanks Bent for your input. I was looking at a long boring winter and trying to decide what to do. 8 string, 10 string, E9, C6, E7, E13, what ever. It was while I was writing my first post on this subject that I thought, why build this for yourself. Share it with others and why not have others share in the build. Yes Bent, you are right C6 is probably the way to go, most common tuning to us lappers.

Lets keep the ideas flowing!

Paul.

[Paul Lafountaine]

Hey Bent, honestly I have no idea on what I will build. Yep a real can of worms and I already feel the headaches coming on. As I said a community effort. Body design, fretboard. bridge, nut, finish and everything else all decided by forum members. I think we should decide on scale length first, as that will decide the over all length. Lets try to keep it reasonable EH?

Paul

[azureskys]

hi Paul , bent has some good idea s that i might add to , what about brass for both the nut and bridge it ll ring like a bell maybe a keyless tuner , aluminum neck could be enteresting also . The e9 in my opinion is for pedals alone ,the c6 is best for a lap i think its most popular anyway and ya cant go wrong with 8 strings 10 would be doable, ya dont see many 10 string laps, i havent anyway.Just some ideas for you, 24 inch scale

[Paul Lafountaine]

24" one vote! Thanks Russ, I sure hope I didn't get in over my head.

Paul

[richard37066]

Paul -

24" is a comfortable length. I second (or third, or fourth) the motion.

Bent suggested an 8-string as being more "versatile". I must respectfully disagree with my friend on that one. The more strings you have, the more versatile it becomes in terms of grabbing various and sundry chords. Although you - and everyone else - may shudder at the thought, a 12-string would offer even more versatility. More strings, more chords and their inversions.

In thinking about the typical C6 tuning, I'm mindful of the fact that there are only a few basic chords to be readily found: - A C6th and a couple of variants plus an Am7 and an FM9. (Am I missing one?) Remember, this copedant was designed such that pedals and levers would be used to get 7ths, diminished, augmented etc.. The typical C6th is also approximately 2½ octaves from string 10 to string 1. It certainly wouldn't hurt to shrink this down to slightly more than 2 octaves across those same 10 strings. It would afford you the opportunity to add a couple of notes "in the middle" somewhere such that a greater variety of chords would be at hand. Remember, also, that in the E9 tuning there are three notes - E, F#, and G# - that are a whole-tone apart. No harm in that. Think about it.

Wood? Look at Macassar Ebony. It's sorta like a poor man's Brazilian Rosewood. Very rich but whose grain is not as pronounced as the Brazilian Rosewood.

A bud vase in the keyhead - with rose - would be a nice touch.

Richard

[Bent]

Richard, I meant that an 8 is more versatile than a 6..so no disagreement there