New "guitar"...

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

Ah, I get it. Very clever!

It really is a cool idea!

That's an interesting bridge, with a fret wrapped around it. I wondered what kept the strings from sliding till I noticed the notches in the wood.

I'd trust Frank's ability to build a lap steel partially based on the fact that he's a very accomplished lap steel player. It makes me wish I still had my custom made Chandler w/dogear P-90.

Well, the string tension holds the string in place...right now it's wearing a set of strings that run 14-18-22-34-46-58 and it's tuned low to high G-B-E-G-B-D so the strings will stay put on their own but the notches are a nice touch and keep the strings coming off the bridge nice and evenly.

This beast is a smoker for sure and the tone control provides a WIDE range from very bright to very fat and warm...I love Tele pickups for that reason!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

I had no idea Frank played lap steel or made guitars, but damn - that thing looks amazing!

Thanks...it really is a cool piece!

I knew Frank played steel but I had no idea that he in fact built his personal steels!

I put an ad up here looking for one and Frank reached out...I assumed he had one or knew a guy that had one but within a few emails he was talking about building one!

 

[tonello]

Re: New "guitar"...

I don't know anything about lap steels other than I can't play one to save my life. Good luck man. She looks like a beauty.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: New "guitar"...

Niiice C!!!
Lapsteel is great stuff to play on....I'm so rusty it is not even funny, have a mate who has a few oldies we always played on when we where younger, indeed it is not much like slide guitar...
But it is very rewarding learning to play it, plus the sound is just.....hehe how can I say this???
Addictive in some way!
Hope you can get a recording of that bad boy later on
Congrats....and Frank is a multi

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: New "guitar"...

Super rad.

 

[zontar]

Re: New "guitar"...

Cool,
Enjoy.

A lap steel may one day make it into my life as well...

Again-enjoy!

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: New "guitar"...

Very, very nice! Congrats! Is there a dowel or something connecting the mahogany to the ash? Interesting how lap steels never use a neck pickup...just a bridge pickup. That one of yours is a real beauty but it reminds me a little of the lap steel Jack White puts together in In Might Get Loud. He just nails his pickup in though! :smack: Do you think of that tuning as being a G6? Don't know what else it could be. I use a G tuning on my lap steel too but it's the normal open G I use on my regular guitars: DGDGBD. Got a few lap steels. Anyways: WAY COOL! :fingersx:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

I don't know anything about lap steels other than I can't play one to save my life. Good luck man. She looks like a beauty.

Thanks man!

Niiice C!!!
Lapsteel is great stuff to play on....I'm so rusty it is not even funny, have a mate who has a few oldies we always played on when we where younger, indeed it is not much like slide guitar...
But it is very rewarding learning to play it, plus the sound is just.....hehe how can I say this???
Addictive in some way!
Hope you can get a recording of that bad boy later on
Congrats....and Frank is a multi

It is a fun thing to play (or try and play) and it is rather addictive!

If I can get my playing where I want it I'll be taking it to a few gigs and seeing what shakes loose with it...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

Super rad.

Cool,
Enjoy.

A lap steel may one day make it into my life as well...

Again-enjoy!

Thanks guys!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

Very, very nice! Congrats! Is there a dowel or something connecting the mahogany to the ash? Interesting how lap steels never use a neck pickup...just a bridge pickup. That one of yours is a real beauty but it reminds me a little of the lap steel Jack White puts together in In Might Get Loud. He just nails his pickup in though! :smack: Do you think of that tuning as being a G6? Don't know what else it could be. I use a G tuning on my lap steel too but it's the normal open G I use on my regular guitars: DGDGBD. Got a few lap steels. Anyways: WAY COOL! :fingersx:

Thanks so much!

The mahogany to ash joint is a HUGE neck tenon!

Frank did ask me about a neck pickup...his personal steel uses one but I wanted to keep it simple.

The GBEGBD tuning is a G6, it's called Hawaiian G6 and it's a very pretty sounding tuning but I don't think i'm going to stick with it long term. I'm much more familiar A and E form tunings from playing slide guitar like open E, open D, open G or open A...I landed on the Hawaiian G6 because it's the same as open G on the 4 high strings, still have a G on the low side (all be it in a different place) and I thought maybe I'd start in a traditional Lap Steel tuning but the more I try to find things in it the more I keep going back to things I know!

I tried open E again yesterday and dug that a bit but I just think that plain old open G is better for me...it just feels like home!

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: New "guitar"...

Thanks so much!

The mahogany to ash joint is a HUGE neck tenon!

Frank did ask me about a neck pickup...his personal steel uses one but I wanted to keep it simple.

The GBEGBD tuning is a G6, it's called Hawaiian G6 and it's a very pretty sounding tuning but I don't think i'm going to stick with it long term. I'm much more familiar A and E form tunings from playing slide guitar like open E, open D, open G or open A...I landed on the Hawaiian G6 because it's the same as open G on the 4 high strings, still have a G on the low side (all be it in a different place) and I thought maybe I'd start in a traditional Lap Steel tuning but the more I try to find things in it the more I keep going back to things I know!

I tried open E again yesterday and dug that a bit but I just think that plain old open G is better for me...it just feels like home!

DGDGBD is real nice for melodic stuff. DADF#AD is nice for blues...especially Elmore James type things. Or tune up a step for open A or open E. You know that tho.

I think the bluegrass cats use this open G on their square neck Dobros: GBDGBD.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: New "guitar"...

DGDGBD is real nice for melodic stuff. DADF#AD is nice for blues...especially Elmore James type things. Or tune up a step for open A or open E. You know that tho.

I think the bluegrass cats use this open G on their square neck Dobros: GBDGBD.

The more time I spend with it the more time I think that slack key G (DGDGBD) is likely gonna be the mail steel tuning however I do like open E too (EBEF#BE) which is no surprise since those are the 2 tunings I use for slide guitar the most.

The GBDGBD is most often called Dobro G and I have found some neat stuff in that tuning and the GBEGBD (Hawaiian G6) is cool as well but they don't have the easy access to the blues boxes and licks I am most familiar with so they require more thinking and that's not the way I play best!

If I get good enough at it to justify it I can see having one in open G and another steel set up in open D or E but for now I'll just retune when the mood hits me!

 

[Guest]

Re: New "guitar"...

That is an ugly and useless instrument and I'll do you the solid of taking it off your hands so you don't have to deal with it. I promise I'll play it lovingly... err, destroy it thoroughly.

 

[appar111]

Re: New "guitar"...

Is there anything Frank can't do?

I vote Frank for president. He's awesome.