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Topic: Building a own Lap Steel |
Christoph Sattler
From:
Ruesselsheim, Germany
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 1:36 am |
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Hello,
My name is Chris and I´m from Germany. I´m a beginner in
learning Lap Steel Guitar and have a cheap Harley-Benton 6-string lap.
( no satisfaction to play this instrument )
Who has experience in do-it-yourself building a lap steel guitar?
I want to build a 8- or 10- string Lap.
Big problem: in Germany I only can buy 6-string fretboards and bridges.
Does anybody know a supplier, who is shipping steel guitar parts to
Germany???
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Fred Shannon
From:
Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Christoph Sattler
From:
Ruesselsheim, Germany
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 3:12 am
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Hi CrowBear Schmitt!
Thank You for Your answer. I searched in Ebay unsuccessful for these Dynaglide kit. Now I will contact Mark Vinbury - perhaps he will sell one kit directly to me.
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Joseph De Feo
From:
Narberth, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 3:29 am
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The kit you are looking for is a
DYNALAP 8. I just received mine last night
and I have to say  WOW!
For the price I paid, the workmanship on the
wood was far above average. The same goes
for the hardware and P/Up. I was going to
buy a cheep production lap, but canceled the
order when I saw this one, and I found out
about it thanks to the Forum 
I hope this tells you what you need to know.
Buy it, buy it.
Keep pickin, Joe |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 5:54 am
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I have built one lap steel and nearly finished with my second; two more on the drawing board.
most parts can be found at http://www.stewmac.com
they are a guitar parts supplier offering many usable pieces to build a lap steel.
I make my own fret boards.
I also make my own nut from stainless steel square stock and a bench grinder.
the anatomy of lap steels can be very simple. I use a single coil pickup from Seymour Duncan; the pole widths match perfectly the string spacing.
bridges are tougher to come by. Stewmac has some that can work.
the biggest part of the job is shaping, sanding, and finishing the body.
it's a fun project and the results can be surprising (in a good way).[This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 23 March 2005 at 05:55 AM.] |
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Farris Currie
From:
Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 7:51 am
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Question,40yrs.ago i played lap steel,homemade with a STRING TONE hand changer,A E C# i think it was,are there any place to buy those these days.seen 2 guitars on ebay with them,but more than i could afford.any information thanks
farris |
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Carlos Polidura
From:
Puerto Rico
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 9:27 am
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I also own an 8 string Dynalap. Great guitars for the money. I'm in the finishing stage of completing the custom case for the guitar.
Carlos Polidura |
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Gary Anwyl
From:
Palo Alto, CA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 9:41 am
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Here's a website with instructions for building a simple lap steel:
http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/
It's a German website. In the resources section there is a list of European suppliers of guitar parts. Stewart-MacDonald is a guitar parts supplier based in the US that ships to Europe.
[This message was edited by Gary Anwyl on 23 March 2005 at 09:43 AM.] |
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Gary Anwyl
From:
Palo Alto, CA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 11:24 am
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Christoph, I just re-read your post and realized that you were planning on building an 8 or 10 string lap steel. The Stew-Mac link isn't very useful since they mostly have parts for 6 string guitars.
You can make your own 8 or 10 string bridge. It's pretty simple since it doesn't have to be adjustable.
Also, depending on your string spacing, you may be able to use a "blade-type" pickup. These have one or two metal blades instead of six individual pole pieces. Stew-Mac carriers humbucker and single coil style blade pickups made by EMG.
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 1:09 pm
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I just now remembered a place that has pickups for steels. they have eight string pups too. Charley Christian style pups, lots of interesting pups for laps and pedal steel, and others too.
I recently bought a Chicago steel pup from them. havent used it yet, but it's nice and wide and looks great.
they are expensive tho.
I just reviewed the web site. not only do they have eight string they have seven string and ten string. what more could anyone want.
http://www.lollarguitars.com [This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 23 March 2005 at 01:11 PM.] |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 1:11 pm
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I just now remembered a place that has pickups for steels. they have eight string pups too. Charley Christian style pups, lots of interesting pups for laps and pedal steel, and others too.
I recently bought a Chicago steel pup from them. havent used it yet, but it's nice and wide and looks great.
they are expensive tho.
http://www.lollarguitars.com |
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