Show or Tell Us About Your Favorite Lap Steel or NP Console

Jeff Spencer · Post by **Jeff Spencer** » 3 Apr 2017 5:06 am

Like others have said. This is the 'go to' steel when 6 strings is all I need. I have GB Frypan. Twin neck Maton, customer laps, Rickenbacher, etc. LOVE this tone and playability of this baby. Only payed $20 for it too. It was my first!! Made in Australia by Moody

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 3 Apr 2017 6:55 pm

Lots of beautiful steel guitars here !!

I have to say that my 7-string Rick frypan is my favorite, with my 7 string bakelite next.
Still have a 7 string Gibson, late 30s with eh CC pickup, that has an interesting sound, since I rescued it after a friend gave it to me, falling apart...
Last (& least) is a '54 Dual Pro, that I don't like at all !!

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 4 Apr 2017 11:11 am

Here is my '57 Ultratone. Reportedly less than 30 were made.

It is a restoration. A couple years back I obtained this body, which had been harvested for its original pickup, electronics, and Kluson Deluxes.

I installed new Gotohs similar to the original Klusons. The pickup, mounting ring, jack plate, and knobs were from Gibson. Three new CTS pots, a couple capacitors, a Switchcraft jack, some wiring, and it was good to go.

A Geib case and a set of Plexiglas headstock and bridge covers completed the project. This is a great-sounding guitar. The combination of the solid mahogany body and the humbucking pickup make it sing like a Les Paul. An added bonus is the 'bucker makes it quiet as a church mouse in rooms that make a single coil hum.

Phillip Vaught · Post by **Phillip Vaught** » 4 Apr 2017 12:10 pm

I have an old roy smeck 6 string harmony, but my real pride and joy even though i did not put a picture of it on here is my Georgeboards s8 2014 #001 colorshift console steel with alumitone pickup deluxe 34 stand, this is a sustain machine and sounds awesome...the person that plays it needs to improve his game though.

Larry Carlson · Post by **Larry Carlson** » 4 Apr 2017 12:21 pm

Tony Lombardo wrote:Thanks Johnie and Larry. I'm glad you like her. I look the way she looks. I just wish I played better. She deserves that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.
With my lack of talent/skill I quite often feel sorry for my guitars.
I can often picture them growing legs and running away screaming....... $:\$

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 4 Apr 2017 12:31 pm

Beautiful job on the Ultra Tone Jack !!

Joe Burke · Post by **Joe Burke** » 4 Apr 2017 7:21 pm

So fun seeing all these lap steels. This Supro is my favorite 6 string. Sounds perfect to my ears.

Larry Lenhart · Post by **Larry Lenhart** » 5 Apr 2017 7:07 am

Here is mine and the more I play it and get comfy with it, the more I like it !

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 5 Apr 2017 7:26 am

My favorite lap steels are the ones I paid less than $300 for! Seriously. The Guyatones, Teiscos, Valcos, and this Gibson Century 6 that I've had for several years. I've learned my lesson. High dollar, fancy guitars are not always the most comfortable to play IMO. I'm more comfortable with an old beater.

Allen Hutchison · Post by **Allen Hutchison** » 5 Apr 2017 2:25 pm

Here's one of mine - they're all favourites!

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 6 Apr 2017 6:08 am

Bill Creller wrote:Beautiful job on the Ultra Tone Jack !!

Thanks, Bill. It was a relatively easy, inexpensive, and ultimately rewarding project.

Doug Beaumier wrote:My favorite lap steels are the ones I paid less than $300 for!

Agreed. The one I play most of the time is a black Century identical to Doug's. I snagged it for about $285.00 on eBay.

Rescue guitars can be a terrific bargain. The blonde '57 Ultratone pictured above is a case in point. The body was $118.00, the tuners were $30.00, the pickup was $78.00, the pickup ring, pots, caps, knobs, jack, and jack plate were about $70.00 total. It wasn't until last summer when I splurged on the mint Plexiglas headstock and bridge covers that the $300.00 threshold was exceeded.

Terry Barnett · Post by **Terry Barnett** » 6 Apr 2017 8:23 am

May not be my all time favourite, but close. Made in Winnipeg in the late 40's. The original pickup was four pounds of steel and copper wire...and steam driven. My pal Wayne Link hooked me up with this Bill Lawrence pickup, which slipped right in, and away we go. Sounds great, plays great, and it's a little taste of home.

Jim Newberry · Post by **Jim Newberry** » 6 Apr 2017 11:44 am

I've got some great ones (35-36 Rick B6, 1941 New Yorker, etc.) but my fave is my Clinesmith I got a few years ago.

Michael Hillman · Post by **Michael Hillman** » 7 Apr 2017 8:12 am

My favorite lap steel, Koa, longer scale, really a pleasure to play, hear it in this Christmas video from a couple of years back:

https://youtu.be/c5XlSyu0ltM

Sorry the picture (and the player) are not better

Michael Hillman

Jack Aldrich · Post by **Jack Aldrich** » 7 Apr 2017 4:33 pm

I loe all of my non-pedal steels, and my D8 Canopus is my workhorse, but I love my Asher Alan AKaka Special 8 the most.

Peter Garellick · Post by **Peter Garellick** » 7 Apr 2017 8:44 pm

Aloha all,

Here's my favorite electric lap steel. I's the Kay Hawaiian DeLuxe c 1939. 25" scale, Rickenbacker style horse pickup, mahogany stair-step design, radio knobs....it has incredible sustain, super clean tone. It weighs a ton! Great guitar...sorry for the confusing picture...it's resting on a Stringmaster Quad.

Peter

Ben Elder · Post by **Ben Elder** » 7 Apr 2017 11:37 pm

This sad Weissenborn Style 4 was submerged in water, left to crack, warp and shed its finish and rope binding and then suffer the indignity of having its inside sprayed with black paint and likely used as a tiki-ana photo prop.

It's not the loudest W out there but Gott in Himmel! the overtones!

This came from Marc Silber in the late eighties and I had vague notions of at least making a wall hanger out of it. (Between my inquiry about it and Marc's actually digging it out of his estimable inventory, he decided it was rougher than he remembered and cut the price in half--from $100 to $50.)

A few years later, a friend, Buck, from New Zealand thought that he and a luthier partner might like to make reproductions and would I lend this one to study, given that it was almost in pieces as it sat.

I agreed...and it sat...and sat...and sat under the luthier's bench (whose name I won't mention but it rhymes with Hell Fate) until my friend took it to another luthier, Gordon Zettwitz (R.I.P.) who completely rebuilt, restored and refinished it.

Because of its precarious previous life aquatic, the wood has developed more stress cracks (not too visible here) but they've been tended to and seem to have been stable for several years.

This all took place when, can you imagine, photos were preserved on film and paper! I'll have to dig through my boxes of Weissenborn-iana and make some scans.

James Kerr · Post by **James Kerr** » 8 Apr 2017 11:41 am

My 1964 Guatone D-8 I absolutely love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKZQFcoHu9o

James Kerr

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Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 8 Apr 2017 1:02 pm

Nice, James. I have one exactly like it. How did you determine that it's a 1964?

James Kerr · Post by **James Kerr** » 8 Apr 2017 1:13 pm

By the switches I think, after that it was rocker switches.
James.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 8 Apr 2017 2:21 pm

Mine has rocker switches:

My earlier one had the other kind of switches:

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 12 Apr 2017 4:33 am

Thanks to everyone for the photos and comments. Beautiful instruments.

C. E.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 12 Apr 2017 6:14 am

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 12 Apr 2017 6:52 am

Tristan, at 5, learning to play a 1949 Silvertone. His favorite steel at the time.

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 12 Apr 2017 12:03 pm

The 49 Silvertone with the P13 pickup is the one I am sorry I let go.
Just like the one pictured above.
Amazing tone. I paid $85 for it back in the day.

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