Steel Guitar Builder

Well, here I go into the world of steel guitar. Lap Steel, vol pedal, picks, bar, ordered today! Wish me luck.

Seriously, I played pedal steel about 30 years ago, and wasn't good at all. But, I believe my problem was I could only think melody lines, and not chords and positions. Now, I think that way, so maybe I can learn this instrument that sounds sooo good. Gonna get it learned first, then start working on building a double neck 8 string console.

Scott

Hi Scott , hey buddy go for it , aint no time like right now to start to learn , here s to wishin you well . Russ

IT"S HERE! And I do believe thinking chords is going to make the difference! Gotta practice those scales and chords! At least you don't have to worry about callouses with steel guitar!

Just an FYI, my wife plays piano, and we have a Behringer K1800FX amp for her keyboard, and the little steel sound GREAT into it. Plus the fact the amp has built in effects saves me from buying a reverb box! Also have an Ernie Ball VP JR pedal.

I thought I would add some info about the Rogue Lap Steel I got for those who might be contemplating buying one. The Rogue EA-3, and the RLS-1 are the same guitar, except the older EA-3 looks to have a wood nut on it, where the newer RLS-1 has what appears to be a nylon or other hard plastic type nut. It does have what I deem very good sustain, although I suspect an aluminum nut would be even better.

It has what appears to be a "pole piece" type pickup that is fully encased, and a small screwdriver "sticks" in 6 places across it. The guitar is a 21" setup. I will definitely make something longer when I build one, but the short scale makes "slants" easier.

The strings are spaced 3/8", with 3/8" above the neck.

The legs are OK, but it would be good to put some Vaseline on the threads, as they are a little tight going in the sockets the first time. Also, be sure to tight the thumbscrew collars so they want "creep", but don't over tighten. That part is all plastic. I don't know if it was on purpose or a fluke, but one of my legs has an extra insert inside it for the thumb screw collar. (I found it because the leg rattled when I got it out of the case.

The gig bag is heavy construction, has separate compartment for the legs, and a compartment for picks, bar, cable, etc. It has a few different ways to carry it, even a shoulder strap.

If you are looking to buy one of these, learn on it, and scavenge the parts for a custom build, don't plan one using the parts. There are better parts to build one out of, but for a $99 guitar, it's worth it.