Building an eight string lap steel

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 13 Nov 2010 5:00 am

Here are three phases of building an eight string lap steel guitar. I just wanted to share these pictures of the instruments I am building. I have one finished and two more on the work bench. Just thought you might enjoy seeing them.
Thanks Tommy

This is the rough cut out of solid maple.

This is the finish cut out.

This is the one that I have finished already. This one is out of solid mahogany, stained with mahogany stain and six coats of clear top coat. This is a 24 in scale with a Lace pickup. Cut in the shape of a Fender Champ so it fits in a Champ case.

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 13 Nov 2010 7:38 am

Tommy,

That is "sharp" !!

Would love to have one.

RT

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 13 Nov 2010 7:47 am

Hi Roy, if you are interested, let me know. Thanks, Tommy

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 13 Nov 2010 8:05 am

That is the way Fender should be making them today. Nice job!

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 13 Nov 2010 8:17 am

Thanks for the compliment. I put a lot of time in sanding and finishing. A lot of thought has gone into the design, It has taken me several years and a lot of time to perfect this.
Thanks again, Tommy

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 14 Nov 2010 11:11 am

Nicely done, Tommy. Do you use a router or hand tools for the tuner cavity and the indented sides ?

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 14 Nov 2010 11:36 am

I use my router for the tuner cavity and the sides, some hand work with wood files and rasps. I have a power belt sander, and I do a lot of hand sanding. I start out with 50 grit sandpaper and go all the way up to 220 grit.
Thank you for your interest.
Tommy

Kekoa Blanchet · Post by **Kekoa Blanchet** » 14 Nov 2010 12:30 pm

Very nice work, Tommy! Where did you get the tuner pans?

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 14 Nov 2010 6:19 pm

I buy them on E-Bay when I can find decent ones at a reasonable price. I am trying to come up with a way to make something similar, but have not gotten that far yet. So in the meantime I rely on E-Bay along with many others that are also looking to buy them. Thanks, Tommy

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 14 Nov 2010 7:34 pm

That's really nice, with a proven, sensible design to fit a case too!! That shape looks great in mahogany.
And the fret board is a nice design also.

Eric Davidson · Post by **Eric Davidson** » 15 Nov 2010 6:02 am

Very nice! Is it difficult to get correct intonation? I bought one on ebay which is very nice but my intonation is off a bit. This one looks great though!

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 15 Nov 2010 7:43 am

Eric Davidson wrote:Very nice! Is it difficult to get correct intonation? I bought one on ebay which is very nice but my intonation is off a bit. This one looks great though!

I have a question about intonation. I'm new to lap steel / dobro, but have played guitar for a long time.

I always thought that incorrect intonation would cause a STANDARD guitar to be out-of-tune in one chord, but in-tune in another chord. For example, if your guitar is in-tune when you make a C chord, but is NOT in-tune when you make a D chord, then your intonation needs to be adjusted.

It would seem to this newbie, that if a lap steel is in-tune when played OPEN, then it would be in-tune anywhere along the neck, provided your bar is held straight.

Can someone explain intonation, in regards to a lap steel / dobro?

Eric Davidson · Post by **Eric Davidson** » 15 Nov 2010 8:28 am

I could have used the term intonation incorrectly. What I meant was that on my Fender Lap steel I play right on the fret to be in key but on my other I have to play quite a bit behind the fret to get the correct tone. Is that because of intonation? Im a newbie as well

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 15 Nov 2010 12:12 pm

Intonation to my understanding occurs mostly on six string acoustic and electric guitars. It is my belief that some of this is due to the inaccuracy of the two bridge spacing in accordance with the fret markings. If it happens on a lap steel my first guess would be these two problems. In one of Jeff Newman's courses he talked about this being a common problem on a pedal steel because of the stain put on the instrument but on a lap steel this should not be a common occurance.
Thanks for your comments
Tommy

J. Wilson · Post by **J. Wilson** » 15 Nov 2010 5:18 pm

Tommy Adams wrote:It is my belief that some of this is due to the inaccuracy of the two bridge spacing in accordance with the fret markings.

Can you expand a bit? This part of the equation always confused me and since I am undertaking the building of a 6 string lap steel I am a bit worried. There must be a formula out there somewhere...

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 15 Nov 2010 6:11 pm

Hi J,
The spacing of the two bridges has to do with the fret board, for instance, if the fret board going left to right, from the beginning up to the twelth fret is 11 1/4 inch, you have a 22 1/2 inch fret board, therefore the center of each bridge would have to be precisly place at 22 1/2 inches. If it measures 12 inches, then you have a 24 inch scale fret board and the two bridges have to be centered at 24 inches.
I hope this helps you. I have learned this over the 50 + years that I have been involved in guitars and stringed instruments.
Tommy

J. Wilson · Post by **J. Wilson** » 15 Nov 2010 6:19 pm

Thanks Tommy! That is a good explanation and makes sense.

Tho, I don't know if I would be brave enough to make my own fretboard. I am thinking of buying one premade. Is this a good idea?

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 15 Nov 2010 7:03 pm

I have always bought premade because they are not that expensive and it saves time. I have never tried to make one either.
Good luck
Tommy

Mark Roeder · Post by **Mark Roeder** » 16 Nov 2010 10:32 am

i bought some Fender style from Jim Palenscar. They are very nice...

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 17 Nov 2010 4:27 pm

I've made lap steels with adjustable saddles, and the intonation can be improved over that of an instrument with a single, straight saddle.

Tommy Adams · Post by **Tommy Adams** » 20 Nov 2010 4:11 am

Thanks for all the response, it has been interesting and I have learned some things for other people. hope it has been interesting to you too. This is a hobby to me and I enjoy doing it. I enjoy seeing other instruments that hobbiest have made. Thanks for the information on where to get parts.
Happy picking,
Tommy

Stan Schober · Post by **Stan Schober** » 20 Nov 2010 6:55 am

If you still want to make your own , there are multiple online fret calculators.
I use this one myself.

http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/fr ... rptclc.htm

The Steel Guitar Forum

Building an eight string lap steel

Building an eight string lap steel

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Intonation

Re: Intonation