pressie from the better half

[telboy]

hopefully some pics of the guitar and associated components?

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e80/b ... ?start=all

[Dave Nutt]

That looks to be a tridy bit of kit, the components lappear to be well made.
telboy- are you renovating it? have you played it yet?

[telboy]

Hello Dave, i did play it before the bridge snapped on me, nice action and nice tone from the pickup...but as ive said, its a wee bit messy and so YES im going to try to renovate it..., the idea was ok! but it was put together using bits of this n bits of that...i want to strip it all down to the bare plank, get the edges bevelled into a nice curve, sand it all down, then i was thinking of spray painting it a nice cream or pale blue[not decided yet], polish it all up then start to rebuild it in either 8 or 10 string setup...it all depends on available bits n bobs...ive got freindly with a guy that manages a metal working co/ so maybe i can get him to knock up some custom made parts ie bridge,nut, control plate etc...he has made me some bits recently for my SX which i have attempted to upgrade which have been perfect and I THINK have made a cheap plank of wood into a very playable guitar[ i'll whack up some pic's when iv'e finished]it also needs a rewire, so im going to replace the pots + switches...
here's a list of what i need to get for the guitar

tail end piece
bridge
pickup
nut
pots/switches[vol/tone] a question! should i use 250K or 500K?
and what i call a "tuning pan" ?[there maynot be enough timber left for a 10]
as i say im not sure whether or not to go 8 or 10 string...think i prefer 8? we shall see

[Dave Nutt]

Tel, sounds like your getting into this big time.
I played lap steel many many years ago, matter of fact it was a lap that took me from guitar through to playing pedal steel. Cant remember much about it now, purchased it from a music shop in Brum, black, 6 strings, I know I used to tune it-
E A E A C# E (thats what it told me on the wrapper) as I did my dobro in later years. It gave a fairly reasonable hula sound, and enabled me to get to grips with the bar and picks, although I was using thumb and finger picks on guitar,so that was not so difficult.
I fairly quickly went for a bargain, second hand pedal steel and never have gone back to a plank.
I have only recently been thinking of making one purely as a project, Im sure there are lots of guys out there that have done it, or are in the process like yourself. I found a few plans and build details on different websites, all looks challenging but would imagine-good fun.
Now retired (semi) Ive recently finished my workshop (only taken 10 years ) looking at the info found, I think I have enough basic woodworking and engineering skills to knock something together, how it would sound though?
It will be interesting to follow your progress and be sure to let us hear the final sound.

Best of luck with it,
Dave.

[telboy]

cheers dave, yep im gonna give it my best shot, be a shame not too...id like to get a pedal, but theyre way out of my price range...this guitar my missus bought me was a birthday+ crimbo pressie...so far ive not been able to find much info on building a 6 string lap let alone an 8 string so if ya have any info id sure appreciate it...this is alink to a site i found, but its for a 6er...
http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resource ... /index.htm

im gonna take loads pics as i progress and put 'em up on here! may be of interest to some? cheers terry

[Dave Nutt]

tel, not sure if you have seen this-

http://www.buildyourguitar.com/books/eb ... e_full.pdf

It seems to be a complete full download of the book by Martin Koch, you may have seen it, but thought I would post it up anyway.
Dave.

[telboy]

cheers dave