Hector Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 hi everyone, while waiting for the hardware for the mahogany strat, I got bored and started another one. this time its a lapsteel (25" scale length), semi hollow, made out of some spruce I found in the trash, a imbuia neck that looked awesome when I got it, but it turned out to be kinda yellow, light yellow , and ugly. not like the other board I got that was very dark and pretty. and a mahogany body (just because I couldn't find any more wood to recycle! lol) and this is what I got done so far. the electronics will be just a humbucker, tone and volume pot. http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/HK...rs/lap%20steel/ what do you guys think? any ideas? thanks for your time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 I love semi-hollows, this looks great! How are you doing the hollowing, by template or free-hand? How much wood are you leaving between the hollowed section and the outside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Keep updating this build. I'm think of building a lapsteel. I assume the neck positioning to the body can be different from a regular guitar. Will be following this build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I love semi-hollows, this looks great! How are you doing the hollowing, by template or free-hand? How much wood are you leaving between the hollowed section and the outside? hi jon! thanks a lot! I did the hollowing free hand, that's why its not perfect, but i'm pretty happy with it. I left about 15mm of wood there. I'm still thinking about the depth, for now i routed 30mm of the body, that is 40mm thick. should I take out some more? is a 5mm (of flat sawn mahogany) back strong enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Keep updating this build. I'm think of building a lapsteel. I assume the neck positioning to the body can be different from a regular guitar. Will be following this build. Yeah, the neck positioning can be different because you can place the bridge way back almost like in a bass. that way the neck will look shorter and It will look better for a guitar with such small body. some people also use a shorter scale lenght too. I'll try to update this ASAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 hi jon! thanks a lot! I did the hollowing free hand, that's why its not perfect, but i'm pretty happy with it. I left about 15mm of wood there. I'm still thinking about the depth, for now i routed 30mm of the body, that is 40mm thick. should I take out some more? is a 5mm (of flat sawn mahogany) back strong enough? I do not have very much experience with sem-hollows to give you a dead-set answer. The two I have done I left 3/8" (about 9.5mm) left of thickness, both were flat/rift sawn. Now if the grain were vertical, I'd go a little thinner. But from personal experience on taking some light weight ash too thin that wasn't quarter sawn, it didn't stay flat at all. I would say leave it as is. And great work on the free-hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I was wondering. On a lap steel slide guitar neck are frets used? Is it easier to play with the frets for positioning? Are frets utilized in any way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Usually there are fret lines, but no frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 (edited) hey! got some work done today. cut the f-holes, and I'm still deciding if I cut two more or not. any suggestions? In that case I'm gonna have to reinforce the top between the 2 f-holes. what do you guys think? sorry about the low quality pics... cel phone camera... more pics here http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/HK...rs/lap%20steel/ Edited March 8, 2007 by Hector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 I think it looks beautiful as is, great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 (edited) Whoops, double post. Edited March 9, 2007 by Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Looks awsome! But i have a question what about fret access? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Looks awsome! But i have a question what about fret access? It's a lapsteel. We don't need no stinking fret access! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Looks awsome! But i have a question what about fret access? It's a lapsteel. We don't need no stinking fret access! This maybe a retard question but whats a lapsteel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Looking at the guitar neck it seems very wide. Is it just that the body is smaller than a regular guitar? What is the width of the fretboard? A lapsteel is my next project and am curious about the fretboard and this build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 This maybe a retard question but whats a lapsteel? When in doubt, use a search engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPA or death Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Think Ben Harper. He plays one (or many) made from Koa. Beautiful to look at, and hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted March 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Looking at the guitar neck it seems very wide. Is it just that the body is smaller than a regular guitar? What is the width of the fretboard? A lapsteel is my next project and am curious about the fretboard and this build. You're right 2x! the neck is wider than usual (not tapered) and the body is smaller than a regular guitar. Today I made and glued the peghead overlay, I don't know what wood it is, a friend gave me some pieces and he'd been told that it was brazilian rosewood, but I'm not sure. I don't think it is. is harder (broke one of my saws) and smells diferent too, but looks kinda good, don't you think? here's a pic I'm gonna use the same wood to build the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 I put frets on mine just so that I could feel what it was like to hammer frets into slots... I haven't made a proper guitar neck before, and I knew I couldn't really "screw it up" on a lapsteel since the frets wouldn't actually be used for fretting. It makes for good visibility on a fretboard that would've otherwise been tricky to get contrast on (it's neither dark nor light). Fret access? Whatchootalkinbout? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 GregP Is that some kind of whammy bar you have going on there on the bridge? I would also think the so called fretboard really isn't necessary; all is needed is some markers under the strings to give you an idea where the frets are. I was thinking maybe for my build I'd use purpleheart for the top and just mark out fret positions under the strings. The bottom half I would use something else like clear spruce or mahogany etc. Hmmm. This could be very interesting build. Plus I was thinking of using a Single Coil in the neck position and a Humbucker at the bridge. Is this a bad idea for a lapsteel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Ok, i am just about to plan out a lap steel - this threads reminded me i have been after one for a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 I just ran upstairs and drew a rough body shape on some scrap swamp ash and cut it out. i also found a neck blank thats a bit too warped for a guitar, a flamed maple top with a bit too much bark incursion for a guitar and a telecaster in peices with a bridge and pickup i can use. the lapsteel project begins!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 I keep pondering a lap steelish thing, but then I get sidetracked, and start pondering a baritone reson instead.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFW Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 (edited) GregP Is that some kind of whammy bar you have going on there on the bridge? It's a B bender, takes the B up a half step for a perfect fourth interval between the G and it. Really country-y down southy home style sound, though I've only heard it on the Unforgiven II by Metallica. Or maybe it drops it down... It's a B Bender nonetheless. Edited March 11, 2007 by DFW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Yup. It's an Epiphone EZ-Bender. Doesn't have to be just on a "B" string, and you can adjust it for either a perfect half or a perfect full stop. If you've got a good touch, you could set it for full and then just train your hand to stop at half, but that's not really the idea. The idea is to be able to have a "brainless" bend that you can rely on. If you wanted to train your hand up, you're better off mastering various positions and slants instead. On a guitar, if you set the bender for a full stop instead of half, you get a country-ish interval (dunno which) against the high E instead. The country-ish sound of either approach is familiar to people who have heard a particular country lead guitar sound (typically done on a Telecaster) that emulates pedal steel phrases. The idea with my build was to give me one or two "pedal steel" effects on the lap so that I can spoof pedal steel parts. In theory, the plan works and is successful as a design. However, mine's actually sitting there useless... I decided to learn C6 tuning instead of a more "accessible" open G or similar. The way the strings are set up in C6, the bender doesn't give me any immediately useful bends. Once I get bored, I'll be building a different 8-string lap steel, which will become my C6 instrument, leaving me free to put a more suitable country tuning on this one. The frets are not at ALL necessary. If you really wanted, you could take a Sharpie and draw your "frets." Like I say, I mainly did it because "hey, I wonder what seating frets feels like?" It had the side benefit of making it nice and visible and also gives the instrument an extra touch of class. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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