The British Steelies Society

Hi chaps, i've given up on the idea of making my own lapsteel due to shortage of spondoolee and lack of knowledge and skill...i will eventually buy myself a decent guitar when funds allow...but for now i intend to upgrade my SX...[i know throwing it in the bin is an alternative ] i have got a new nut/bridge and tailpiece from a gretsch lapsteel...are there any measurements i should take into consideration ie scale length[whatever that means?] etc i'm also after a mellow jazzy sounding pickup! any recomendations? i shall be changing the string guages as suggested by basil too! i may even ditch the chrome cover as its a pain in the rectum when it comes to changing strings, although i think it does look nice!...so any advice from the experts will gratefully be accepted...cheers terry aka telboy!
-

so no advice or tips from anybody then?

telboy wrote:so no advice or tips from anybody then?

telboy- Wish I could help,sadly I dont know much about lap steel
I read recently about a Steel builders site,cant think where,if I come accross it Ill post it up here for you.
Im sure that Richard (Zebedee) will respond with some help whan he sees your request, he knows these things.
best of luck
Dave.

Does your SX have a Strat-sized pickup? Not easy to get a warm jazzy sound out of those, but you could try a Strat-sized double-blade humbucker, set not too close to the strings, and be prepared to roll off the tone control. Think DiMarzio Cool Rails, GFS Lil Killer, or something like this ... never tried one but at £16 it's worth a pop!

blimey its like waiting for a bus, nowt for ages then 2 come along at once thanks for the replies chaps...rickb that pickup looks like it'll do the job and for £16.99 you cant go too wrong thanks again! am i right in thinking "scale" is the measurement from point A [the nut] to point B [the bridge?] i only ask as i wanna make sure i get the positioning of the new nut/bridge correct 1st time cheers terry

The best way to think of scale is the distance from the leading edge of the nut to the centre of the 12th fret multiplied by 2. That will get you there. Measure twice, nay, thrice to be sure.

*looks for 'finger-wagging old geezer' emoticon but has to do with 'geek' instead*

thanks rickb...so as an example...nut to 12th fret =12"...x2=24"...therefore the bridge goes in at 24"??? would it matter where the tailpiece goes??? [looks for thicko emoticon ]

Your hypothetical calculation is correct, sir. Tailpiece location doesn't matter as long as the string paths are straight (ie in line with the 'playing' portion of the strings) and that you don't create a needlessly sharp angle for the strings over the bridge.

The 'thicko' emoticon has gone... I think I wore it out. Ker-tish.

rickb, once again many thanks for your help, and even i can understand what ya saying, must be that sarth london vibe im origionally from eltham se9 just up the road from where you are? cheers terry

You can make nuts and bridge/tails easily (hacksaw and files) out of angle stuff, best sunk into the wood of the guitar if you can rout it out. Aluminium does well as it's easier to cut. Drill and countersink for screws, at least three at 10 guage (four at 8) for the bridge/tail. Notch the string locations gently and try to deepen the cuts as the string guages increase so they are all level on top. The bridge/tail is best out of angle material that is wider than it is high (say, 1 inch high by 2 or more wide) then you can notch/slot the back edge for string anchorage and the winding from the ball end won't reach as far as the bridge top. Rout a deeper groove in the body underneath that back edge, for the ball ends to sit in. For the nut, use angle stuff the same height and put the fretboard over the "return". Flattop nuts and bridges made this way are simple and better on a steel guitar, than using stock electric guitar bridges with seperate saddles, for transferring vibrations to the wood.
Good luck, Tony.