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.
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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
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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!
I used to have a pre-wired acoustic pickup for it but that seems to have gone missing.
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).
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:
Good things:
[edit]
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.
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.
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.