My buddy in Norway wants me to make him a keyhead fro an 8-string lap steel he is going to build.
He says he can adapt the steel to the keyhead, so all we agreed upon was the string spacing, which he wants to be 1/4".
I need y'alls input here since since I have never had anything to to with lap before.
For example, should the nut be of other material than aluminum? The grooves for the strings (do I need grooves?) should they be gauged to the thickness of the string? ans so on...
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Keyhead for lap steel
Keyhead for lap steel
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.
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Don McGregor
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:18 pm
Re: Keyhead for lap steel
I am also be interested in seeing what you come up with. I would like to have 8 and ten string aluminum key heads without a nut. This would allow the option of using different materials for different tones. As I don't own a mill, I've been thinking of trying my hand at making some out of Cocobolo. I think you will need gauged string grooves to keep a consistent spacing, and the tops of the strings level near the nut. I'm amazed that your friend wants 1/4" spacing, but then I guess they don't plan on doing any slants or pulls. Though many non pedalers do narrow the spacing toward the nut end, I think most serious players prefer a 3/8" string spacing.
One of my pet peeves on some steels is having the tuners too close to the nut. Since slanting the bar is not that common on pedal steel, it doesn't usually matter. However, on a regular steel, I find myself using three string slants right against the nut at times, and it helps if the closest tuners are pushed back a little.
Though I am currently making nuts from 1/4", flat, 360 brass, I think aluminum is also fine for the nut. I'm using a few of Ryan Rukavina's wrap around brass bridges, and they have a groove to allow swapping 1/4" saddle rods of different materials.
I've checked around to see if anyone could make some MSA style, aluminum, two piece, stair stepped key heads milled and drilled at the proper angle for a straight string pull at 3/8" spacing, both 8 and 10 string. I had some offers a while back, but fun money is kind of scarce at the moment.
Hope to see pictures of what you wind up doing.
I always like your postings.
One of my pet peeves on some steels is having the tuners too close to the nut. Since slanting the bar is not that common on pedal steel, it doesn't usually matter. However, on a regular steel, I find myself using three string slants right against the nut at times, and it helps if the closest tuners are pushed back a little.
Though I am currently making nuts from 1/4", flat, 360 brass, I think aluminum is also fine for the nut. I'm using a few of Ryan Rukavina's wrap around brass bridges, and they have a groove to allow swapping 1/4" saddle rods of different materials.
I've checked around to see if anyone could make some MSA style, aluminum, two piece, stair stepped key heads milled and drilled at the proper angle for a straight string pull at 3/8" spacing, both 8 and 10 string. I had some offers a while back, but fun money is kind of scarce at the moment.
Hope to see pictures of what you wind up doing.
I always like your postings.
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Paul Lafountaine
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:06 am
- Location: Northern Ontario
Re: Keyhead for lap steel
Hi Bent;
I've been thinking about the keyhead you are making for your friend. I was thinking that because the string spacing is only 1/4" that the nut would only be approximately 2" long and this is assuming the same spacing for the bridge and nut. Would he not be better to make the key head as a part of the body of the lap. This way he could narrow the spacing between the tuners and have the tuning pegs come up through the bottom of the key head and not mounted on the sides. Also, if you do decide to make the keyhead similar to the ones you've made for the pedal steels, would you be better off to change the design so as to stagger the tuners so the ones on the right hand side do not line up with the ones on the left. Would this not allow you to narrow the keyhead a little and maybe us tuners with a shorter peg.
These are just a few thoughts I had and I hope they made sense.
Paul
I've been thinking about the keyhead you are making for your friend. I was thinking that because the string spacing is only 1/4" that the nut would only be approximately 2" long and this is assuming the same spacing for the bridge and nut. Would he not be better to make the key head as a part of the body of the lap. This way he could narrow the spacing between the tuners and have the tuning pegs come up through the bottom of the key head and not mounted on the sides. Also, if you do decide to make the keyhead similar to the ones you've made for the pedal steels, would you be better off to change the design so as to stagger the tuners so the ones on the right hand side do not line up with the ones on the left. Would this not allow you to narrow the keyhead a little and maybe us tuners with a shorter peg.
These are just a few thoughts I had and I hope they made sense.
Paul