The Lap Steel is Reborn

[WhiteStrat]

I promised I'd post some pics after I refinished my lap steel, and here it is. As a refresher, this is a 1944 Epiphone Electar that I bought for $162. The body was split in half--literally two pieces--so at a bare minimum, I had to fix that. It played so sweet, I'd have been happy with it as it was, but I'm a tinkerer. So after putting the body back together, I took off all the hardware, stripped then refinished the body.

I left the headstock (with some refurbishing) because I didn't want to part with the original logo--and I wasn't about to attempt to remove and replace it. I also made a new tortoise shell cavity cover, as the old one had shrunk and warped and no longer had any screws in it. All the other hardware (pup, pots, tuners, wiring, etc. is original.)

I said I'd try to take "in process" pics, but I was so into the work I forgot to. So I have the original eBay pics (in the next post) then my after pics are in the next post.

[WhiteStrat]

As it was when I got it. You can see the body split in the first pic. The two pieces of the body were being held together by the pickup cover. It was a very clean split though, right on an old glue joint, so it was easy to fix.

[WhiteStrat]

And here are the after pics:

[solaris1982]

Looks fabulous now. You certainly did quite a job on it. Hope it plays as well as it looks! Did you do any work to the neck?

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by solaris1982

Looks fabulous now. You certainly did quite a job on it. Hope it plays as well as it looks! Did you do any work to the neck?

Thanks!

I'm a novice when it comes to playing slide--but this just makes me want to play. It plays & sounds that good!

[pohaku]

Very, very nice! Looks great. Nice two tone effect with the headstock. I like it!

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by pohaku

Very, very nice! Looks great. Nice two tone effect with the headstock. I like it!

Thanks pohaku. I appreciate that. I was loving the maple so much, I almost stripped the headstock too. I was gonna look for an old logo to put back on it. But as much I was re-birthing it--I still wanted that original logo to stay put. Then the designer in me (oops--that's what I do for a living!) realized that the dark headstock would balance nicely with the dark tortoise shell on the other end. So I just added some stain to fill in the checking on the old finish, shined it up, and sanded the rest of the headstock carefully right up to the front edge. I'm glad I did, too--keeps the best of the old with the new.

[lpdeluxe]

Nice job. I love seeing old gems resurrected. Just because they've gone out of style doesn't mean they don't have something to contribute.

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

Nice job. I love seeing old gems resurrected. Just because they've gone out of style doesn't mean they don't have something to contribute.

Thanks. Now I have to do it justice and learn to play a bit. I've seen some of your posts regarding playing slide--and they've already helped. So thanks again!

[apl]

Well done.

[Zaphod B]

Love it. Great job, WhiteStrat.

[WhiteStrat]

From A to Z...thanks apl and Zaphod B!

[lpdeluxe]

Originally Posted by WhiteStrat

Thanks. Now I have to do it justice and learn to play a bit. I've seen some of your posts regarding playing slide--and they've already helped. So thanks again!

I appreciate that. Enjoy the lap steel.

[guitar zero]

Strat, I'm impressed. How did you fix the big crack? Looks like it was never there.

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by guitar zero

Strat, I'm impressed. How did you fix the big crack? Looks like it was never there.

Well, it was a clean break. A thin but even coat of wood glue on both sides, and clamps every which way but loose! Seriously, I clamped it side to side to close the split--three clamps: two for the bouts and one for the waist. Then I put two clamps on the ends of the split (top to bottom) to keep the two pieces flush with each other So a total of 5 clamps--all w/softer block so they didn't make marks in the guitar.

I did the glue up with the old finish still on, so all the excess glue that squeezed out dried on top of the old stain. When I sanded the old finish, off came the excess glue.

I half expected to need some filler on the glued up split, but after sanding it, it was as tight as you see it there--so I got lucky.

And that's the story of my adventure in glue land!

[antichef]

Looks fantastic! Now I'm going to be depressed when I look at my Supro

[WhiteStrat]

zero--

it occurs to me that you might have thought it was just a crack--which would have been harder to fix. To preface my above post: it was a thorough break--the guitar body was in two pieces. That's what it made it so doable--I could coat the whole break w/glue and put it back together. Sorry for rambling...

[guitar zero]

Well again, it looks awesome. Can I come over and play it?

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by guitar zero

Well again, it looks awesome. Can I come over and play it?

Sure you can. Anytime...

[COOLCAT]

thats a cool instrument...so now its all purdy you goin to post some new tune with some LapSteel? I always loved the sounds of those.....slider. sliders rule.

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by COOLCAT

thats a cool instrument...so now its all purdy you goin to post some new tune with some LapSteel? I always loved the sounds of those.....slider. sliders rule.

Yep, I sure am. Soon as I work out a tune that highlights my very limited slide chops!

BTW--off topic here, but I must quote you from another thread: That lap steel was a cheap anecdote for gear lusty feverhead! (I love that, and I'm stealing it, and you can't stop me!)

[solaris1982]

Originally Posted by WhiteStrat

Yep, I sure am. Soon as I work out a tune that highlights my very limited slide chops!

BTW--off topic here, but I must quote you from another thread: That lap steel was a cheap anecdote for gear lusty feverhead! (I love that, and I'm stealing it, and you can't stop me!)

You should write the phrase down and mail it to yourself...but don't open the envelope until coolcat takes you to court.

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by solaris1982

You should write the phrase down and mail it to yourself...but don't open the envelope until coolcat takes you to court.

I wonder if coolcat will let me pay him with pizza and beer for the phrase. He can be called the PE (Phrase Engineer) but then I'd own it! Yeah...that's the ticket.

(Was he part of that thread? Will he even get what we're talking about?)

[solaris1982]

Who cares if he was part of it...it's still hilarious!

[mrface2112]

Wow, that's a fantastic job you did on that. Nicely repaired and nicely refinished. Did you use any prestain on that? I would think that with maple you'd almost HAVE to (and it looks so good that I assume you did)......but i had to ask.

Now we need to hear how she sounds.


cheers,
wade