Lap Steel Opinions

  • Thread starter Thread starter WhiteStrat
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WhiteStrat

WhiteStrat

Don't stare at the eye.
Here's the premise: I'd like a lap steel.

Here's the question: Buy or build?

Buy: there's lots of cheapies out there, and I could afford a starter. Seems to me a cheaper lap steel doesn't have all the inherent risks of a cheaper guitar--some but not all.

Build: I have a robust workshop, decent wookworking skills and enough guitar parts, that all I'd be buying is the wood. Never made a guitar, but I want to, and this could be a good starting point.

So, buy or build? (And if buy--any suggestions? If build--what kind of wood?)
 
How about buying an old vintage lap? If you're at all partial to vintage gear, a lap steel is one of the few guitar categories where you can still get a vintage beauty without spending a fortune. Treat yourself, without really spending an arm and a hip.

MultiKord, Epiphone, Mastertone, even Gibson and Gretsch can all be had fairly affordably. For even less, you can pick up a "lesser" vintage model - I have a wonderful old Harmony that just sings (they go for $200-$300 these days).

In any case, lap steel is an instrument which will probably always be inexorably tied to a a musical tradition that occurred 40+ years ago. If that's the case, why not buy the real deal?

Aj
 
Fwiw, I love my cheap lapsteel. It's an Artisan model - less than a hundred bucks new. Far less if you shop around. They're all over ebay.
 
I'm in the Buy camp as well. With some exceptions, you can still pick up a decent vintage lap steel very affordably. I have a Magnatone in Mother of Toilet Seat finish. Cost me $150 and I replaced the worn out tuners with a correct repro set. It plays great. I should a bought one of those Gibson Korina wood laps 15 years ago when they were cheap (like a bunch of other gear that has now gone out of sight :eek:).
 
Who are you kidding Whitestrat -- you know you're going to buy *and* build.

So I'm the "buy first" camp. I have an old Supro student model, which is just a slab of wood with some strings and a pickup slapped on it. Sounds awesome! (also had to replace the tuners) Makes me want to build one, because it's so simple.

Also, when my son was really little (like 4) we got him one of those Les Paul PeeWee guitars -- he tried to play it over the next couple of years, but it went out of tune so easily that he got frustrated. About three years ago, we put a set of resonator strings on it, and it began its second life as a lap slide guitar - works great, too.

Anyway, get a cool cheap one, figure out what you like and don't like, and then build one :)
 
Hmm...methinks I doth smell a consensus. :D

Thanks guys. I'll keep looking. (Yes, I already have been, & I've been pleasantly surprised by the prices...)
 
Just like normal, I'm the odd man out.:D I am almost done building a lap steel (just waiting on coats of paint to dry). With that said, I would still buy one first. I would get a cheap one just to see what they are like. Having alota extra guitar parts around (my case) and likeing to build stuff drove me to building one and not buying. What I used was basswood for the body and the head, 3" aluminum channel for the neck and a humbucker in the bridge position and a single coil at the neck. The only thing I had to buy was a 2x8x12 piece of basswood for the body. I have less than $20.00 in it. I'll post pics when it is finished. I still want to do another only this time, do a nice flame top and some binding on the edges.
 
A.j. said:
In any case, lap steel is an instrument which will probably always be inexorably tied to a a musical tradition that occurred 40+ years ago. I
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Ever hear David Lindley?
 
ggunn said:
Ever hear David Lindley?
Click to expand...

Don't try his licks at home!

Seriously, tlhere ain't much to a lap steel; the real key is to get a pickup that sounds right.

My old '40s Supro has a flap of metal bent vertically to act as the bridge, with triangular slots in the plate behind it for string anchors. The Supro's coated with silver mother of toilet seat celluloid, and ugly as home-made $&!@. Cheapo tuners, knobs off a radio (they have the AM band Hz markings on them). I paid $75 for it in '82, and probably could have gotten it cheaper.

I was looking at a '55 Fender lap steel at the local music store the other day -- the owner's taking it to the Dallas Guitar Show (this weekend?) to sell. This one will go for $1K (says the owner) if it's the right year -- I can't dispute him: he sold a Bigsby solid body electric mandolin for $50K and my '63 Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gent for $3K last year -- but it's not much more sophisticated than the Supro. It has a single saddle, albeit adjustable, bridge, actual instrument knobs, and a slab body, probably ash although possibly alder (if it's a '55, that's right around the time Fender was changing over to alder for sunburst Precisions).

They're a lot of fun, though. There are a zillion tunings out there: I've used C6, E7, Em etc, all on six strings.

Enjoy.
 
ggunn said:
Ever hear David Lindley?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. Awesome stuff, he's carrying the torch, for sure. But even he plays old Supros and Nationals (plus that wild Sanchez?).

For a first steel, I'd definitely say go vintage. While you still can (affordably)!
 
Another vote for vintage, there were so many sold in the 30's and 40's that there's still a lot of them around.

I've had my Rick Electro for over 30 years and that horseshoe pickup has sounded great through anything I've ever plugged it into.
 
There's an old Fender lap steel in my family. I had a vintage Gibson for a while. KILLER sound. But had to give it back to the chick and she traded it plus a banjo for a cheapo Samick mandolin. Wanted to smack her.
 
solo2racr said:
Just like normal, I'm the odd man out.:D I am almost done building a lap steel (just waiting on coats of paint to dry). With that said, I would still buy one first. I would get a cheap one just to see what they are like. Having alota extra guitar parts around (my case) and likeing to build stuff drove me to building one and not buying. What I used was basswood for the body and the head, 3" aluminum channel for the neck and a humbucker in the bridge position and a single coil at the neck. The only thing I had to buy was a 2x8x12 piece of basswood for the body. I have less than $20.00 in it. I'll post pics when it is finished. I still want to do another only this time, do a nice flame top and some binding on the edges.
Click to expand...

Sounds sweet. I'd love to see some pics when you're done.
 
JR#97 said:
There's an old Fender lap steel in my family. I had a vintage Gibson for a while. KILLER sound. But had to give it back to the chick and she traded it plus a banjo for a cheapo Samick mandolin. Wanted to smack her.
Click to expand...

Years ago I traded my POS Vox for a Kauffman and Fender lap steel, plus $100....can't remember what became of it. Man, and I knew Doc Kauffman too.
 
32-20-Blues said:
Fwiw, I love my cheap lapsteel. It's an Artisan model - less than a hundred bucks new. Far less if you shop around. They're all over ebay.
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I can't seem to find the Artisan new anywhere. Could they have been bought by Rogue? Have a look at this and tell me if looks like your Artisan reborn:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rogue-EA3-Lap-Steel-Guitar-with-Stand-and-Gig-Bag?sku=513453

It's even got a model number of EA-3; all the references to the Artisans mention EA-1 or EA-2. Hmmm...

Thanks!
 
philboyd studge said:
Years ago I traded my POS Vox for a Kauffman and Fender lap steel, plus $100....can't remember what became of it. Man, and I knew Doc Kauffman too.
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What's this? Somebody older than me??

I can remember what became of each of my axes.

One or two of the wives, now....
 
I'm planning to build a lap steel, and only so that I can get exactly what I want in a lap steel. I've already got a dog-eared Gibson P90 that I'd originally intended as an upgrade for my Epiphone Les Paul Jr. 90., so that's one part out of the way. I'll use a wrap around stop bar a la Les Paul Junior, and I'll use the tuners from one of my Gibson Les Pauls, once I get around to adding a Bigsby B5 to each, along with locking tuners. I'm also planning to wire it a la Fender Esquire, and have a 3-position rotary switch, for extra tone shaping beyond a volume and tone control.

Matt
 
WhiteStrat said:
Sounds sweet. I'd love to see some pics when you're done.
Click to expand...

Heres a couple. I still have to do the electronics, fret board inlay, and a couple other minor things. The body & head are basswood. The neck, bridge, & nut are polished aluminum. The fret board is Walnut with frets inlayed Basswood.

314526573.jpg


314526572.jpg
 
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