ShatnersBassoon Posted May 4, 2022 Report Share Posted May 4, 2022 Soo…another build! A friend of mine has asked me to build him a lapsteel. He played the carbon fibre build I did a year back and really liked it. As he’s fairly new to lapsteel I have done some research and decided on a 24 scale, with parallel strings. He has bought a few things for the build including https://reverb.com/uk/item/45369548-combo-palm-bender-roller-bridge-r-r-b-1?utm_campaign=INTL-GB-Shop_unpaid&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google And some Warman FireBuckers. These are firebird style pickups, with a blade design so should work nicely with the wide string spacing. That’s my thinking anyway. Also no pole pieces to worry about being misaligned! I have a piece of oak that will work nicely for this build. So far I have slotted a piece of corian to use as the fingerboard. I’m filling the slots with some black mica powder and CA glue. The board will be recessed in to the wood. Anyway…this should be interesting! On a slightly different note, Lapsteel players don’t get enough love, there’s some serious musicians out there 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 5, 2022 Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 corian... I knew it the minute I laid eyes on it. I built solid surface coutertops for a year or two when I was younger. is very interesting material because it's hard as a rock but if you heat it in an oven you can bend it all over the place. have often thought of doing inlay with the stuff... but it comes in half inch sheets and you really don't see it thinner than that. Not sure cutting it with a bandsaw would go over well... esp for the blade. should make for a very interesting fretboard. good to see you back at it sir. cheers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted May 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 5 hours ago, mistermikev said: corian... I knew it the minute I laid eyes on it. I built solid surface coutertops for a year or two when I was younger. is very interesting material because it's hard as a rock but if you heat it in an oven you can bend it all over the place. have often thought of doing inlay with the stuff... but it comes in half inch sheets and you really don't see it thinner than that. Not sure cutting it with a bandsaw would go over well... esp for the blade. should make for a very interesting fretboard. good to see you back at it sir. cheers It cut surprisingly easy, considering it’s hardness. It’s properties are interesting! One thing I have noticed with Corian is that it actually isn’t particularly stable. Whatever bends form in it don’t tend to spring back like they would with wood. I tried making a neck with it, it failed…even with a bit of carbon fibre behind it it warped. It’s a cool material but not really the best choice for anything structural in my opinion. It’s also rather heavy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 5, 2022 Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 7 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said: It cut surprisingly easy, considering it’s hardness. It’s properties are interesting! One thing I have noticed with Corian is that it actually isn’t particularly stable. Whatever bends form in it don’t tend to spring back like they would with wood. I tried making a neck with it, it failed…even with a bit of carbon fibre behind it it warped. It’s a cool material but not really the best choice for anything structural in my opinion. It’s also rather heavy! well... as I recall they make special saw blades and special bits for it because the heat generated by a reg saw blade/bit can warm it enough that it will bend... and once it cools it is going to maintain that shape. that said... those tools aren't really worth it to the casual user. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted May 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 Interesting! I wonder if that was part of the issue Mike? Maybe I didn’t use the right tools. It’s weird because that neck was straight…and like a week/few days later it had a 0.25mm up bow in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 5, 2022 Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 6 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said: Interesting! I wonder if that was part of the issue Mike? Maybe I didn’t use the right tools. It’s weird because that neck was straight…and like a week/few days later it had a 0.25mm up bow in it. well... maybe maybe not. usually you'd notice that within an hour or two of cutting it... and it has to get pretty hot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted May 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2022 The piece of oak needed jazzing up a little so I attempted to recreate a kind of figured timber look with some gold mica powder and epoxy. Had to manipulate it a little as it was drying to get the grain lines. Anyway, reasonably pleased with it! It does look rather ‘loud’ for want of a better word, so I might try putting a ‘burst’ on it with some spray paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted May 22, 2022 Report Share Posted May 22, 2022 Lapsteels are cool. Did this one a while back for a friend. mk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted May 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2022 Very tidy! That headstock design is pretty much what I have planned too. It just seems a better idea to tune from the top with a lapsteel, although I’m sure there are differing opinions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted June 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 Had a rethink and came to the conclusion that the gold wood effect was a bit loud. I was also having a bit of a problem with the epoxy. So I have dialled it back a bit! Friend has a much loved dog, so decided to include him in the proceedings. Changed the plan for the fingerboard too. Switched to the Padauk. The certano bridge and bender is looking rather snazzy. Good stuff. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted June 13, 2022 Report Share Posted June 13, 2022 bender - don't see a lot of those i imagine due to the expense of the hardware. piqued my interest... i sure hope you'll do a recording of it at the end. been wanting to try one for the longest. dog looks great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2022 My friend picked up the completed lapsteel a few days ago. He’s very happy with it, which makes me happy. Im not in a rush to use Padauk again though! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 That looks great. And yeah, padauk is very.......orange! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 1 hour ago, ScottR said: That looks great. And yeah, padauk is very.......orange! SR With me the problem is the more to do with the fact that it’s really messy to work with. Unless everything is really well sealed then it just bleeds out everywhere. Heavy too. I actually really like the look of it, but there are better options I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 3 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said: With me the problem is the more to do with the fact that it’s really messy to work with. Unless everything is really well sealed then it just bleeds out everywhere. Heavy too. I actually really like the look of it, but there are better options I think. Exactly. I was being cryptic. It loves being orange and wants everything else to be orange as well. the furniture, carpets pets, and adjoining wood. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 5 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said: With me the problem is the more to do with the fact that it’s really messy to work with. Unless everything is really well sealed then it just bleeds out everywhere. Tell me about it. I did that one guitar with padouk top, fingerboard and head plate. The body is ash and neck neck is maple. It was a bit tricky to prevent the light colored backside from getting stained when sanding the sides! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted December 1, 2022 Report Share Posted December 1, 2022 that deep red is very lovely... so inspiring. keep up the excellent work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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