Stringthingster

For people who build steel guitars

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BJ Burbach
Posts: 79
Joined: 13 Dec 2023 5:27 am
Location: New York, USA

Stringthingster

Post by BJ Burbach »

I needed a guitar to try A6 and 24.5", but I am at my GAS quota, so ya, once again Tim got me off my butt and I cobbled one together as a test rig.

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Image I was lucky enough to stumble on a guy that converted his Fender T8 to a T6 and bought a nut and bridge. Anyway, it works great, sits nicely on the lap, great sustain and head has not snapped off yet. I always love a slotted head and I found a nice fingerboard template on reverb. Jury is out on Alumitone so far. Working on it, but really need to get back to my C6 studies.


BJ
Last edited by BJ Burbach on 3 Nov 2024 6:21 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Allan Revich
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Joined: 2 Nov 2018 7:04 pm
Location: Victoria, BC
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Post by Allan Revich »

Looks like a fun project. Enjoy your experiments.
Current Tunings:
DADF#AD
fDADF#AD

https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
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Tim Toberer
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Joined: 23 Oct 2021 11:58 am
Location: Nebraska, USA

Re: Stringthingster

Post by Tim Toberer »

BJ Burbach wrote:This was all mostly by eye, so don't look close. Just me and my power screwdriver, trusty wood chisels and a lot of sandpaper. They don't let me near power tools anymore. Wish someone warned me about maple though. Anyway, it works great, sits nicely on the lap, great sustain and head has not snapped off yet. I always love a slotted head and I found a nice fingerboard template on reverb. Jury is out on Alumitone so far. Working on it, but really need to get back to my C6 studies.
Happy 4th,

BJ
Looks pretty good! As long as it works and it's fun to build. I heard of a guy who built a guitar with nothing but a Swiss army knife. I also love slotted headstocks.
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BJ Burbach
Posts: 79
Joined: 13 Dec 2023 5:27 am
Location: New York, USA

stringthingster

Post by BJ Burbach »

So this turned out better than I expected. Changed my mind when I heard Rich and put G6 on it.
BJ
Last edited by BJ Burbach on 14 Apr 2025 3:36 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Bobby Fiske
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Joined: 4 Jul 2020 8:59 am
Location: Texas, USA

Post by Bobby Fiske »

I love the way you did the head stock. Well done!
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BJ Burbach
Posts: 79
Joined: 13 Dec 2023 5:27 am
Location: New York, USA

Stringthing

Post by BJ Burbach »

Ya, well no magic, This is total minimalist. I like a slotted head and so I just sketched it out on the wood, drilled a few holes and went at it with my Ramelson carvers, the ones with the little bulb handles that fit your palm and fixed the mistakes with sandpaper. Anyway, it sounds good. I'll play it for now.
BJ
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