1Q22 Challenge - LapSteel - Tele-scopic

Tele-scopic

I bought some bits to make a lap steel a while ago, thinking that it would make a nice project when I had got me new shed all kitted out.  That time has come and I also noticed this challenge.  Perfect timing.  It's a sunny day so here's what I have amassed so far (I also have tuners and a jack socket):

I am currently trying to decide whether to use two thin bits of hardwood which are quite heavy but together give me around 45mm of body to put the controls in, or to use two much lighter reclaimed fence posts which are 45mm square but would have to be glued together down the middle.

I bought the nut, bridge and string mount as a 'kit' but I have only now discovered that the nut span is significantly shorter than the bridge and string mount:
 
To me, this would make the strings sit in a v shape rather than being parallel and cause all kinds of tuning problems (even more than my usual!) when using a slide.  Does anyone know if this is the case?  I have a spare tele bridges that I could use instead - or I could feasibly make a metal bracket with a few notches as a new nut.  I'd welcome some suggestions - thanks.

WezV

I love a lapsteel build.


Heavy isn't too much of an issue, so i would stick with the hardwood.  You can go a lot thinner than 45mm if you wan't to reduce the weight

The tapered string spread won't cause tuning issues.  It works fine on a fretted guitar.  You can go wider and make your own nut.  I tend to go closer to parallel on lap steels

downbytheriver

Yup I love lapsteel builds too - looking forward to watching this one. 

I generally find it quite easy to mod and improvise - as Wez says, The spread won’t hurt much but I also tend to go close to parallel. 

Bridges and nuts are easily made from corian, angle brass or steel (or even aluminium) - the joy of lapsteels is that anything goes! 

Tele-scopic

Thanks for the great advice.  I can't believe that I'd never really noticed that the bridge and the nut were different widths on most guitars ...  I've just spent a while measuring my guitars with a growing sense of disbelief.  I have learned a great thing today

I'll have a go with the hardwood plus the tele bridge and the nut from the kit as that will give me the most parallel spread.  I love that a lap steel is basically a plank with bits - just my level of expertise!

idiotwind

Tele-scopic said:

I love that a lap steel is basically a plank with bits

Ah, so you've seen my lap steel?



I used to have a pre-wired acoustic pickup for it but that seems to have gone missing.

Tele-scopic

Brilliant @idiotwind! ; Thanks for sharing - it gives me hope ...
Here's a summary of what I did this morning:
I realised that the tele bridge and the nut would not be parallel so taking @downbytheriver 's advice I made a new nut out of a very cheap combination square that I had never got around to throwing away.  I used tin snips and then bent it using a vice and pliers - the centre channel really helped the bend.  I will file some string grooves and drill some screw holes in due course:


I then used a router (I had never used one before except for connecting to the Internet - IT joke there) to make a shallow channel for the fretboard to fit in:



I also made a groove for the nut with a depth to match the height of the bridge.  I realised a bit too late that it's always best to have guides for the router, but hey, it's a learning process.



I'm going to use @WezV 's suggestion and just use one hardwood plank - I reckon I can always make a small elevated control panel at the end if the pots won't fit (and I'm sure I've got some small ones somewhere).

Tele-scopic

I realised fairly early on that I hadn't left enough wood on one side of the fretboard to make things easy for myself, but I thought I would carry on trying to make it all and learn some more lessons. I got to here:



Most of the lapsteels that I had looked at had a flat headstock on the same level as the fretboard, so I cut a section out of the plank (really badly with a table saw - in a mad moment forgetting that the cut would be much further than the bit of the blade that I could see) so the tuners would fit.  When it came to fitting the strings they needed much more of a break angle, so I made an extra string guide out of that trusty ruler.  The rubbish table saw cuts then made the whole headstock pull upwards with the string tension.



Undeterred I am going to start again!

Lessons learned:

• Leave more room around the areas to be routed so it has a level surface to work on.  Always have some guide wood for the edges.  Use a forstner bit to take out the majority of the waste first.
• Cut the headstock the other way to provide a break angle.
• There was not enough height room for the controls/jack socket to be side mounted, so the control cavity did not need to be so close to the edge.
• Practice a bit more with the table saw ...

Good things:

• It's been great to have a project to use the router to make cavities
• I had a noiseless DiMarzio Area T pickup with a dodgy grey wire that I had acquired in a swap.  I managed to resolder it and the electrics all worked first time.  I remembered to drill a hole for the ground wire to get to the bridge.
• I could play it enough to work out that I didn't need to rest my slide hand on the wood by the side of the fretboard, so I can remove that in the next version, but leave some for my picking hand.

TTony

Any build from which you learn new things, is a good build!

[edit]

If you’re going to use the router, get some bearing guided cutters.  They make following a straight edge really easy.

Tele-scopic

Thanks @TTony - I knew when I signed up that it would be a learning in public experience!  I've had a bit of a break but I started again and have got up to here:



With the bits as a mock-up:



The drilling for the wiring channel didn't go straight and came out early so I thought that I would have a wood or plastic skunk-stripe to hide the damage.  I crafted the headstock to give a string break angle and more of a Supro feel:



I also routed out the control cavity slightly more successfully, but still had to go around the edges a few times and so the cover will be large, but hey, that don't matter none:



I'll tidy that up with a chisel later.  I've been using chisels a lot more this time, rather than reaching for a power tool and I think that has helped.

Tele-scopic

I used Boiled Linseed Oil to finish the wood (I think it is walnut - I bought a few off-cuts of various types of wood from a timber merchant ages ago) and put everything on.  The ruler-nut collaped down the centre channel as I was filing the string grooves so I put the nut that had come with kit on instead.  It seems to work fine.  I cut up an old scratch plate and back control cavity cover to make the pickup/control surrounds:




I should have put the jack socket at the top, rather than the bottom as it makes adjusting the tone knob a bit tricky with a jack in.  I've also realised that it needs a bit of padding on the underside to raise the tuners, as it cannot lay flat on a table without twisting them out of tune.  It's fine on my lap.  I've got an old computer keyboard rest that can be cut up and should do the trick.  The tuners are meant to be for six in-line, so it is a bit of a faff to tune up, but not too much hassle.  I now undertand a bit about C6 tuning - with a major chord flat on the bottom 3 strings and a minor chord flat on the top three strings.

My top-tip from this whole process has been to store all the bits for this build in a Lidl storage box!  As I was constantly taking things on and off and then temporarily losing them, or being unsure which screws were for which bit, I used the box and each individual compartment and my life became so much easier.

Tele-scopic

After a short hiatus to catch and then get over Covid I think I have finished my plank with bits.  I tweaked some of the hardware and added the padding underneath.
   



It stays in tune and the intonation seems fine.  I have spent a few happy hours trying to play along to Arcadie by Daniel Lanois and am getting the hang of wobbling the slide to get the chord in tune.  So I made a small and cheap pedal board to go with it:


Dyna Compressor, then the Mooer Slow Engine which gives auto volume swells, Mooer Mod Factory for a bit of chorus, Donner Yellow Fall Delay,  Mooer Trelicopter tremelo and the Mooer Shim Verb which has a useable room reverb (but not much else if you ask me!)

It's been a great process for me - learning and practising some wood work skills, realising how much tension the strings exert, learning from my mistakes and taking my time.  Having a proper shed allowed me to leave everything out and come back to it without disrupting the rest of the house.  I've also enjoyed reading all the other posts from makers and modders who have documented their builds and been honest about successes and failures.  Thank you for the opportunity to share my project and for the help and advice along the way.

downbytheriver

Looks good!