How to build your own lap steel?

David DeLoach · From: Tennessee, USA

For the first time in my life, retirement is on this side of the horizon. Likely 1 - 5 years away depending on a couple of things.

One thing I'd like to do when I have more time is to try to build my own lap steel.

I've seen some of you guys build some great looking lap steels. What advice do you have for a total beginner? What - if any - special tools would be needed?

I see 3 major areas to tackle:

1. Body, bridge, nut, tuners, fretboard, jack/pots, pickup(s), etc...

2. Electronics (volume pot, tone pot, jack, pickup(s), etc.)

3. Paint/finish

Thanks!

David
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Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

This is a recent thread over in the builders forum. https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=397920
It's all about what you want. I like this build, because it is completely utilitarian. A person could spend years acquiring the tools and skills to build something that looks like a Clinesmith or a Bigsby, in the end it does'nt sound much different than something like this. That being said I would much rather own a Clinesmith.

You can find so many premade parts, just about everything in fact. There are prewired harnesses etc. The steel body is the toughest part and will take some kind of saw, a drill or possibly a router and lots of sanding. I think the biggest questions are how many strings, what scale length and move on from there. It is fun to look at reverb or google images and just imagine, how could I build that?

I would love to see more lap steel builders posting pictures of there projects over in the builders forum, but the group here seems pretty exclusive.

George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

I highly Recommend you join a "MakerSpace"

MakeNashville.org is a good one,
Address: 620B Davidson Street | Nashville, TN 37213
Phone: 615-450-6253 | Email: info@makenashville.org

I did a quick google search and found several in the Nashville area.

These facilities , have millions of dollars of high tech equipment all for 75 dollars per month.

For those who are not familiar with MakerSpace type facilities, Think of it like a GYM , you pay a monthly fee to gain access to all of the various machines.

Some of these machines , such as CNC and Metal Mills and other dangerous to operate machine will most likely require you take training classes before you will be allowed to operate them.

For the fancy machines that you will want to use, these facilities also will have the expensive software used to operate them, as well training on the software side of design.

These modern robotic machines are what all of the major and minor manufactures use now of daze. Fender - Paul Reed Smith - Gibson - GeorgeBoards to drop a few names.

It requires a learning curve but well worth the effort. If you find that you like to make things, the possibilities are endless.
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David DeLoach · From: Tennessee, USA

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

Wow some awesome advice so far! Really interested to see what you end up building with your free time.
I would also love to hear some more recordings, you are a great player and I know you have worked up a bunch of arrangements. keep it swampy

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

Jeff Highland · From: New South Wales, Australia

Rather than tell you what to do I'll offer suggestions as to what not to do, as these are commonly seen on DIY Youtube videos.
-Don't use fretwire
-Don't radius the fretboard or nut
-Don't use a radiused Tunomatic bridge.
-Don't use a radiused wraparound gibson bridge.
-Don't compensate bridge saddles
-Don't use a top load Squire Strat style bridge

just my pet peeves
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Mark Mansueto · From: Michigan, USA

I'm a hobby builder and I've built a bunch of lap steel guitars. IMO a solid body lap steel guitar is the easiest type of guitar to build since the neck is thick and flat. There's no need for an actual fretboard or truss rod or fancy tail piece. In it's simplest form a lap steel guitar can be made of strings stretched over a 2x4 and threaded rod so it depends on how far you want to go. The only power tools I use to make the body are a table saw, jig saw, router, belt sander and drill motor. There are lots of wiring diagrams for all of the standard guitar configurations online.
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David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

Consider the location of the volume and tone controls carefully, not to inhibit strum or palm harmonics at the upper frets, while keeping the volume control handy enough for swells.
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David Knutson · From: Cowichan Valley, Canada

And don’t forget the wood! Find a hardwood dealer and spend some time going through the stacks. If you’ve already figured out your rough dimensions, you could find the perfect piece of maple or walnut or . . . . that really moves you. Then also get some cheap pine or whatever for mock-ups. You know . . . measure twice . . . .
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Per Berner · From: SkÃ¶vde, Sweden

I'd say start by investing in this book, but ignore his idea of using a compensated and radiused bridge (which is utter nonsense) – everything else is just what you're looking for.

https://www.amazon.com/easy-Build-Your-Steel-Guitar/dp/3901314091/

Greg Forsyth · From: Colorado, USA

As for the wood, you might go to your local cabinet shops and see it the have scrap lumber that might suit your purpose. A lot of shops would gladly give you some wood just to get it off the scrap pile.

Daniel Flanigan · From: Oregon, USA

I made a lap steel quite a number of years ago, just for the heck of it. I really just jumped right into it, and I was very happy with how it turned out. I'll give you a rundown of what I used and how I did it, what I can remember of it.

I cut the body from a Pine 2x6 I bought from the lumberyard, and I used my old Supro Jet Airliner as the general idea for the asymmetrical body shape. You might not think that wood designed for construction would be good for a guitar, but it really turned out great. Good tone and very resonant. I did spend quite a while picking out a good piece of wood, looking for the straightest board, straightest grain and fewest knots as I could find.

I used figured maple thinstock, about an 1/8" thick, for the fretboard, control plate, pickup ring & jack plate. For the fret lines, I cut shallow slots in the fretboard with a hacksaw and a miter box, and filled the slots with contrasting wood filler. I mounted the fretboard to the body by using tiny countersunk screws. You can do a whole bunch of different things for fret markers/inlays. I think I drilled holes in the usual places and filled them with contrasting wood filler, just like the fret lines.

For the nut, I used brass rod stock, about a 3/8 inch diameter. The nut design I came up with turned out to be similar to that of a Fender Champ. I flatted the underside with a file and drilled two countersunk screw holes on the top side, one between string slots 1 & 2 and the other between string slots 5 & 6. I mounted it by screwing it to the top of the body, butted up against the top edge of the fretboard. Speaking of nut string slots, I cut them with a small triangular jeweller's file, and cut them very shallow, just deep enough to keep the string in place. Carbon steel would also work for the nut, albeit rust is a concern, and some people find that brass sounds better.

For the bridge, I simply used angle iron, the angled sides of which I cut down to about 3/8" wide, screwing it to the body on one side and cutting string slots on the top edge of the other.

For a tailpiece, I used 1/4" steel rod with 6 horizontal chamfered string holes, and mounted to the body with screws through two vertical countersunk screw holes on each end.
It's kinda like a homemade stop-tailpiece.

*edit, I used 1/4" rod for the tailpiece, not 3/8" as previously stated.*

I made a string retainer using 1/4 inch brass rod, drilling two countersunk holes, same as the nut. It's positioned about 1.5" behind the nut, toward the headstock, placed on top of the strings and the screws tightened just enough to put some downward pressure on the strings behind the nut.

I also hand polished the nut, string retainer, bridge & tailpiece with ascending grits of sandpaper and WD-40, but this is just for looks, it's not strictly necessary.

As far as the wiring goes, I just used a standard 1 pickup, 1 volume and 1 tone wiring scheme, same as a Les Paul Junior. I used a Strat bridge pickup, and it sounds fine, but if I did it again I'd use a P90, or maybe a Telecaster bridge pup.

I used Grover tuning machines, but any decent tuning machines will work just fine.

I mounted my jack on the end of the guitar with a jack plate, but you could just as easily mount it on the front or back side edges or the top on the control plate. You could either mount the pickup to a pickup ring or a "pickguard" of sorts.

As for tools, I used a hand saw, coping saw, rasps and sandpaper to cut out the body, fretboard, control plate, jack plate and pickup ring. I used a hand drill for all the holes and chisels for the routes. This is completely doable, but time consuming to do properly. It would be quicker to use the new fangled power tools. It really wouldn't be easier, but definitely quicker. Either way, don't rush, take your time in preparation, layout, design and execution. I think mine took me about 6 months to complete.

As for the design, it helps to take the time to draw up a scaled blueprint. This is what I did and it made things a whole lot easier. You'll have to decide what design elements you want to use, such as;

*Aymmetrical vs Symmetrical body design.
*Top-routed vs Rear-routed.
*Pickup ring vs Pickguard.
*Flat vs Angled Headstock.(The latter is pretty difficult to swing)
*Etc.

Don't be afraid to combine design elements of different makes and models of lap steels.

When drawing out your design, be sure to pay attention to dimensions; overall length, scale length, headstock length & width, tuning machine spacing, fretboard width, space behind bridge, etc.

As for the finish, I went with a simple walnut stain and thinned Polyurethane, hand applied. If you don't feel like thinning standard poly with mineral spirits, they sell pre-thinned polyurethane as "Wipe-On Poly". It's not the most durable finish in the world, but it's lack of extra thickness and hardness gives fantastic resonance, and it's plenty durable if you don't abuse your guitar. Obviously, if you want an opaque finish, you'll need a different finish, such as nitrocellulose, spray polyurethane, spray paint, car paint, bike paint or something else. I finished the figured maple parts with Danish Oil.

My advice would be to take your time, look at each step as it's own project, and of course, measure twice (or ten times), cut once.
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David DeLoach · From: Tennessee, USA

Thanks so much everyone! It may be a minute before I have the time in my life to attempt a build, but I'm really looking forward to trying it!
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Bill Groner · From: QUAKERTOWN, PA

It will be the most satisfying project you ever tried. Take your time, think things out and I'm sure you will do a great job David. There are a lot of great How To's in this post. Very Happy

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Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40

Michael Lee Allen · From: Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois

Nobody has mentioned this yet. I see a lot of designs with odd or oversized bodies. Many have really big "rear decks" that aren't needed. It's one thing if you're hanging your creation on your music room and never taking it out of the house. If you're going to play out with it you're going to have to transport it in something. My local builder always takes multi-ply sheets of glued-up corrugated shipping cartons and cuts out mocked-up bodies. Buyer sees if his design works and fits his body and the dimensions can be matched up to any available bag or case, if there are any. If not it's either rethink the design or build a case from scratch, if you can. Or find a seamstress who can work with nylon, canvas, and so on. I use a standard rectangular tactical rifle bag that comes in multiple colors and patterns. Rectangular because it looks less like a gun carrier than the tapered ones and is more flexible regarding headstock sizes. I also bought some NOS thick padded half-size gig bags that work well with "guitar shaped bodies". Figure out your case or bag situation in the beginning.
MLA
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John Sims · From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Here's one I just made. Check it out...

https://youtu.be/_4wT47G_hi0
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Regards,

John

Steelin' is a way of life!

1997 Carter U-12 Double Body-Natural Birdseye Maple-8p/5k, Peavey Nashville 1000 Amp, Goodrich L10K Vol. Pedal, Boss DD-3 Delay, Boss CE-5 Chorus, Behringer UMC-204HD Audio Interface, AKAI MPK Mini MK3 Professional Midi Keyboard/Controller, Gretsch Bobtail Resonator, Fender Banjo, Rondo SX Lap Steel (C6), DIY Lap Steel (Open D), a few Mojo Hand Cigar Box Guitars (MojoHandGuitars.com).

Daniel Flanigan · From: Oregon, USA

Very nice work, Mr. Sims.
_________________
I'm waitin' for the pardon that'll set me free,
But this ain't the movies, so forget about me.

Michael Lee Allen · From: Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois

Finally getting things unpacked and sorted after major events, fire in the building, major water damage in my unit, and a near-complete restoration while I was still living in the unit. The bag above is SKU # CVCP2960T-36, Performance Gear Series, VISM division of McSTAR. Should be easy to get through many gun/sporting goods retailers and online.
MLA
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"Wisdom does not always come with age. Many times age arrives alone."

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

The most important tools are your measuring devices. Get:

1. Digital micrometer.

2. 6" machinist ruler.

3. 12" steel ruler.

4. 36" steel yard stick.

5. 36" steel measuring tape.

6. Digital multi-meter

7. Digital capacitance meter (yes, I check every cap that I put in a guitar. Many are mis-marked or are bad).

Good luck!
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Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
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