Help me design a console steel

Paul McEvoy · From: Baltimore, USA

Hi there,

If you have some experience with lap steels and wouldn't mind pondering some ideas I have about building one:

I've been eyeing a pedal steel for a long time and was leaning towards buying a U12. But the money will be tight for a while. In the meantime I've been playing a Rogue 6 string in C6 tuning. I can make a couple twangy sounds and I'm working with some videos and really love it. I've also been reading Andy Volk's lap steel book and pondering lap steel as it's own thing (I never really understood that) and wondering what I could do with just a lap steel. Knowing that whatever I learned could transfer ultimately if I did get a pedal guitar.

I've been pondering building a double (at least) neck lap steel for myself.

What I'm thinking is an 8 or 10 string neck on the inside. I'd like to maximize this neck for behind the bar bends. In the Volk book Billy Robinson mentions making all the strings paralell to facilitate bending and slants, so I was wondering about doing that. I'm not totally sure what tuning I would lean towards, but probably a c6 of some variety.

On the far neck I was thinking about using a 6 string with a Dusenberg Multibender. Mostly inspired by this which I would be happy to pull of as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLOOmtvC9Hc&list=RDnLOOmtvC9Hc

As I think he's using an open tuning, I'd lean that way. Maybe make it a Baritone neck and tune it to open C? I'd lean towards using the Lollar Supro pickup on that neck.

Just wondering if that seems like a reasonable plan. I was wondering if there is a place you can buy cast head pieces for the tuners. George L Pickup for the inner neck?

I'd ponder three necks if given a good reason but this seems like it would have a good bit of bang for the buck.

I'd welcome your thoughts.

Thanks
Paul

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Take a look at the kit parts from Georgeboards, Paul. You can assemble a double neck using the wood of your choice for a very reasonable cost if you're at all handy (unlike me).
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James Kerr · From: Scotland, UK

Hi Paul.
Nothing like ambition I suppose, but try not to bite off more than you can chew, yes all those goodies you mention are out there, just remember all of them cost mucho dollars and you will end up with something no one else wants if your ambition fails.

I listened to your example of what kind of sound you are aiming for and it seems like you want every note to be a full 3 or 4 note chord as with a Pedal Steel, to me that kind of sound is just a mush which kills the tone of the Instrument, you might be better off buying an entry level model of the Pedal Steel Guitar which gives the sounds you want to hear, a bit more work with feet & knees rather than just two hands, but less building.

Here are three examples of my Instruments, two different Twin necks and a single 6 string with Dobro. I have plenty more I built myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C887hDEukm4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhuDtZUn2SY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWVll5SxZ7M

James.

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Jimmie Hudson also sells generic Stringmaster necks, 1, 2, or 3 (maybe more).
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David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

These three are broad, generalized, but you can add them to your list (or not!)

1) It is much easier to make room for 10 strings initially then not use them all then it is to make the multi-$hundreds decision "Wall if I just had one more strang!" Much of the time that "one more" isn't the insty-success you were hoping for, but at least you know. Extra tuners can rattle but it's an easy fix.

2) I have long thought that the one major-improvement thing I would LOVE to have on some gorgeous, kinda-pricy 8's and 10's I have/had would be a moveable pickup. Any kind of after-construction mod would look a little... gamey(?), shall we say. And I might very well find a good spot and never move it again, but while I love the advantages of a real solid hardwood/aluminum/steel treble & sustain-to-burn construction, I sometimes have to dig into too many of the treble-cutting tricks. Which affects the volume balance of the fundamental string tones. Just the fact that many Fenders had two PU's and the Sierra 8 non-pedal could be had that way (multi-peeps had to ASK multi-times, surely?) says something.

I want plenty of middy-midrange and volume out of the unwound strings, but everything above 8Khz has gotta go. Pickup placement could be a very useful tool, as can be heard on a Fouke all-aluminum guitar - which ought to shatter teeth, but doesn't. A single-coil Truetone's polepieces are a full 2" from a Fouke bridge, whereas on an MSA SuperSlide, an entire humbucking pickup fits even closer!. I do know I'm kinda mis-using guitars designed to "fit the mix" where PSG's live in country music; but that's what pipe-dreams are for: WAAAH!

3) A really basic yet handy idea is to simply put a channel where the bridge goes, that can hold a 1/4" - 7/16" rod of... well that's the point. Anyone with a mouse and hacksaw can modify their guitar with bridge rods of brass, bronze, aluminum, "nickle-silver", steel, delrin, nylon, ultem, umm, WOOD, poly-styrene/propylene, whatEVER. When it wears, rotate*. I made a swifty no-cut no-damage doodah for the MSA Super, and I've currently got an anti-zing brass rod in there.

4) Yah I know but while tone & volume controls are so handy it goes without saying, I'm even toying with the idea of installing doubled, preset-able 2-switcharoo tone/volume control sets a la the Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar setup. One legacy of the crystalline, ultra-clear, high-output sound of an Alumitone in an MSA Zooper-Zlide is DANGEROUSLY hair-trigger knobs.

*(The ROD, doode. And the MOUSE -> COMPUTER and the HACKSAW -> BRIDGE ROD.)

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Mick Hearn · From: United Kingdom

I like playing lap steel better than I do pedal steel. I am using a twin 8 National, but as has already been said more strings would be handy on the C6 tuning. with the C6 tuning I use the high G a lot, but there is also a reason why Buddy Emmons dispensed with this and replaced it with a D. Both strings very handy.

I have an old ZB student with the pedals stripped which I tune to C6 and has the high G as well as the D. The really low string is not a lot of use to me so this is gone.

I have nearly finished doing up an old Rickenbacker triple neck which has 8, 10, 8. The 10 string I will go for the C6 with high G and D. Another neck will have E13. Not too sure of the third neck but for my style A6 would probably be favourite.

Also check out Reece Andersons tuning for 12 string.
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ShoBud 6139, Remington Steelmaster D8, National D8 Console x 2, George Boards Lap Steel, National New Yorker.

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