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Author Topic:  Updating Rogue Lap Steel
Scott Duckworth


From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 3:03 am    
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Thinking about some upgrades to my RLS-1 type lap steel.

I've already gotten rid of the vol and tone controls, as I use a volume pedal.

Pickup... I've seen what Jason Lolar did, but that a little extreme for me. What type of Strat pickup would you suggest?

Tuners... I hate the open gear tuners that jump 2 notes when you turn them. Your suggestions as replacements?
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Michael Maddex


From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 6:57 am    
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Scott, on the Rogue pictured below, I used a rail-style strat-size humbucker with a coil tap. A mini-toggle switch chooses between single coil and dual-coil humbucker.



The output jack was moved to the front of the guitar in the photo and the pickup switch is in its place. That pickup is a Seymour-Duncan, I think around $30 from MF. GFI also has some similar pickups at good prices which I've used in other projects. FYI: The pickup cut-out in the Rogue control plate is smaller than a standard strat-style opening and I had to enlarge this one to accommodate the new pickup. OTOH, a tele-size neck pickup might be a bit small. As usual, YMMV.

The drawer pull hand rest was an ill-advised experiment and has been removed. I haven't had any problems with the tuning machines, so my only comment there is that Elderly has some nice, cheap tuners and would probably be the first place that I would look if I were looking.

Have Fun! Good Luck with your project!
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Scott Duckworth


From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 7:11 am    
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Thanks Michael!

One thing I did to mine was replace the plastic nut with aluminum angle. Sounds much better, and I adjusted the string spacing at the nut so the strings are the same nut and bridge.


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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!
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Michael Maddex


From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 9:30 am    
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I replaced the nut on another, earlier one:



The original nut on that one was actually made out of a scrap of wood and soon cracked. Here's an old thread on the subject:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=126830&highlight=

Here's a shot of the moved output jack on the one pictured above:



Good Luck with Your Project! Enjoy! Cool
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Larry Carlson


From:
My Computer
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 9:40 am    
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Hi Scott,

Great minds think alike.........or maybe we are just two old farts with the same little ol' lap steel. Mr. Green

I did the same thing with the nut as you except I used angle iron and I replaced the bridge with
another piece and just radiused the top instead of filing slots. Works well for me.

I added an Epiphone humbucker to mine. It was just laying around in my parts drawer.
Didn't have to remove much wood and filing/cutting the pickguard to make it fit was fairly easy as it is rather thin.

It was my first lap steel. I bought it to see if I liked playing lap and I kind of got hooked on it.
To my novice ears it sounds worlds better and I really like the tone now. I am always grabbing it to play instead of something else.
Only paid $75 new for it so that and a little bit of work has made it rather enjoyable to play for me.



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George Piburn


From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
Post  Posted 14 May 2016 11:23 am     GeorgeBoard Replacement FretBoards for 21
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Here are are a pair of Peel N Stick FretBoards We Made at GeorgeBoards Manufacturing for a fellow who didn't like his Vacuform Plastic ones.

I went ahead and made ones for sale in Black with white lines and White with black lines in styles of several Markers choices too.

21" scale


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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2016 9:47 am    
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Thanks for all the tips on how to upgrade these little cheapies.
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Scott Duckworth


From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2016 9:58 am    
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Well, my latest plan is to buy another one and make a base to match the outer profile and create a D6!
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Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it

I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2017 3:06 pm     Re: GeorgeBoard Replacement FretBoards for 21
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George Piburn wrote:
Here are are a pair of Peel N Stick FretBoards We Made at GeorgeBoards Manufacturing for a fellow who didn't like his Vacuform Plastic ones.

I went ahead and made ones for sale in Black with white lines and White with black lines in styles of several Markers choices too.

21" scale


These are great!

The original fingerboards are really ugly and hard to see. George's stickers look way better.

Unfortunately the fingerboard was not easy to remove - the Chinese doubleneck version does NOT have the easily removeable fingerboard, it was somehow routed in, I had to remove the frets. I'll touch it up some more soon.

The pickups are some Lollar Strat pickups I had from guitar modifications on another project.

I would recommend a better steel if anyone has the budget. But thanks to the Georgeboards stickers and parts from my collection, I was able to get this sounding OK for very cheap.




I also figured out how to use an old timbale stand as a sitting or standing steel stand.

Thanks for the tips, I still may do more work like make it string-through.
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James Phillips

 

From:
Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2017 8:22 pm    
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I put a Bill Lawrence Mini humbucker in mine & it sounds great!
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2017 8:31 pm    
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James Phillips wrote:
I put a Bill Lawrence Mini humbucker in mine & it sounds great!


That would work quite well.

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