Hi All,
New member just recently and I thought that I might post some pictures of my earlier lap stels. These first two pictures are of my very first excursion into lap steel building. It looks really rough I know, but I found the neck, body and tuners in a trash hopper at my place of employment before I retired and I thought it had possibilities. Whoever started the project apparently bought the neck, tuners and originally it had a Telecaster type bridge on it. They had gotten a piece of Textolite for the body which is a very hard dense manmade insulating material used for circuit boards, etc. I have since put my own bridge on it. It is a through the body with a pickup I got free from a local music store. It just has a cheap nut riser on it. This is my first time at posting pictures so here goes. Sorry about the rotated picture.
Some of my earlier work.
Re: Some of my earlier work.
Here is some more. This one is made of Hard Maple and it was my second lap steel, first 8 String. It's not the prettiest thing, but it did play well. A little improvement from the first one. I was playing a GFI 10 string at the time so I made this with the same scale length and string spacing as the GFI. I put the original Barcus Berry PU from the GFI in it and it also worked well.
LaVern
LaVern
Re: Some of my earlier work.
Here is the third of my lap steel projects. I made it during the winter of 2007. It came out a little better than the previous two, though I don't care for the shape that much. I think the body has too much of a flat on the end, and I don't particularly like the neck to keyhead transition. It's made of White Ash that my brother and I harvested from my father's original dairy farm here in Erie County, Pa. I used all water based finish on it. The fret board is dyed/painted on, with pin-striping from an auto-body shop. I used mother of pearl for markers. It is a 22.5" scale length and a 3/8" parallel string spacing. It has a Wallace TT pick-up which I am very happy with, Grover tuners. For the bridge and nut I used 1/2" steel stock purchased at the local hardware store. It is thru-the-body string mount. It had a wider neck on it when I first built it but I cut it down because I was having problems seeing where the top string was while playing it. I just couldn't get used to it the way it was originally. Though I like the look before I cut it down better.
I used Red Oak for the tuner mounts, which I screwed onto the head from behind. I saw on another post I believe someone questioned whether any problems were found mounting the tuners like this. I have had no issues yet, though I know that a pedal steel may have more issues due to the raising and lowering of the strings, whereas the tension on a lap steel is fairly constant.
Now before any body asks, I don't have a way of recording or posting a sound clip, nor would anyone wish to hear my playing of one of these. I definitely can't play these things, but I do enjoy building them.
I used Red Oak for the tuner mounts, which I screwed onto the head from behind. I saw on another post I believe someone questioned whether any problems were found mounting the tuners like this. I have had no issues yet, though I know that a pedal steel may have more issues due to the raising and lowering of the strings, whereas the tension on a lap steel is fairly constant.
Now before any body asks, I don't have a way of recording or posting a sound clip, nor would anyone wish to hear my playing of one of these. I definitely can't play these things, but I do enjoy building them.
Re: Some of my earlier work.
LaVerne, your projects look great. You sure have a sense for detail and fine workmanship. I love what I see and please know that your ideas will be an asset to this forum.
http://benrom.com/
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
Re: Some of my earlier work.
Bent,
Thanks so much for your kind remarks and encouragement. After browsing around here for a while, I do say that there is an awful lot of talent, skilled craftsfolk, and creativity here. I'm am sure this forum will be a large part of my schooling when it comes to my projects. I am so amazed by what I have seen and read on here, that I am somewhat hesitant to post my pictures, but I guess we all have to start somewhere, and I haven't seen a better place yet. I do hope that I will have some good to contribute to this forum. I have one more completed project to post, and a picture of my next one in progress. I'll get to those in a bit. Thanks again and I look forward to spending time learning and sharing on this forum.
LaVern
Thanks so much for your kind remarks and encouragement. After browsing around here for a while, I do say that there is an awful lot of talent, skilled craftsfolk, and creativity here. I'm am sure this forum will be a large part of my schooling when it comes to my projects. I am so amazed by what I have seen and read on here, that I am somewhat hesitant to post my pictures, but I guess we all have to start somewhere, and I haven't seen a better place yet. I do hope that I will have some good to contribute to this forum. I have one more completed project to post, and a picture of my next one in progress. I'll get to those in a bit. Thanks again and I look forward to spending time learning and sharing on this forum.
LaVern