Best UK lap steel makers

[Ken Byng]

I would say that Barry Gaskell, who built my single 10 lap steel, and Maurice Carroll have built the two best lap steels that I have clapped eyes on.

[WineRider]

Ken,
Thank you very much for your comments Now I really have to get to grips with the grips.

Maurice

[andrew]

Hi Maurice

Thanks for your comments - I agree with everything you are saying. Building lap steels is more a labour of love than a serious business proposition, there simply isn't the market to support it, and particularly not in the UK - I might fare better if I were based in the US. The prices I charge are very much on the low side for the work involved and if my brand were better known I would definitely charge more. I am however the eternal optimist and persevere in the belief that one day everyone will want one.

I've had similar reactions to you when I've spoken about lap steels to people - I've even met serious musicians who have reacted as though they've just seen an alien landing when I've shown them one.

Concerning my website, I had kind of assumed that it already worked for different devices as I built it using wordpress and I thought that that would take care of that. I have to confess I didn't fully test it. On the subject of optimisation I have done nothing - I tried reading up on it once and found myself drowning in treacle - didn't know where to start and didn't really have the time. But you are right, it's something I need to work on, just finding the time and knowing where to start.

Are you French or ex-pat Maurice? Lived in France myself for a few years - in the north for a while around Lille, but mostly in Reunion Island.

I've had a look at the steel you have on one of the other threads in this forum - I agree with Ken - great looking steel, very professional job. The picture only shows the top - I was wondering, what solution did you use for the legs? Are you machining your own hardware?

Cheers, Andrew

[Arcada]

One small comment about your site, it could do some optimisation and have you thought about making your site iphone friendly, because by the start of next month Google will be docking web postion if the site cannot be read by all iPods, iPhones, Tablets et all.

Concerning my website, I had kind of assumed that it already worked for different devices as I built it using wordpress and I thought that that would take care of that. I have to confess I didn't fully test it.

From what I can see http://www.sugartoneguitars.com is mobile friendly (responsive design).

I very much doubt Google will be dropping any non-mobile friendly sites very far in the rankings just yet, there are simply too many big sites not quite there yet (the BBC news site only went fully responsive last week). What they've started doing already is marking mobile-friendly sites as such, on searches conducted on mobile devices.

My advice for anyone who thinks they may be affected is to make sure the use Google Webmaster Tools, and read up on the advice they give on the subject.

[WineRider]

Good morning Marc,

You could be right on the way Google react, my co-founder of winedrive.com is the whizz for me at doing my winerider site and he has a slightly different idea to you, as far as I am concerned web optimisation and all the latest mobile devices leave me in the cold. I have a mobile phone and a desktop computer...I think that puts my Techie thoughts where I am in the world...a dinosaur I think would be an apt description.

Hi Andrew,
I am a Brit. who first came to France in 1967...that a long time ago, but only moved over permanantly in '94. I live down in the southwest on the borders of the Deux Sevres / La Vienne, it's the bit of France that was run by the Brits through marriage of Henry and Eleanor, very rural.

WineRider aka Maurice

[sabatica]

Ahhh Maurice you build lkpsteels too. LOL. Thank you for your personal message. I responded and reminded you there should be no need for personal attacks.

Anyway there is a considerable amount of accurate setup required for playing. No we all know there is no truss rod etc. But string spacing, nut, bridge and pickup height, volume and tone pots are key factors and of course, Maurice's favourite the # of strings.

wood Fretboard not necessary if pre-fab made ones possibly laser etched or laminate not only look nice but in the long run make the builds faster and cheaper. http://www.sugartoneguitars.com/new-alu ... retboards/

Andrew I commend you for trying to sell lap steels' at an affordable price to some but if you were to offer a lap steel' UK made for £350 that had 12 strings I'm sure people would buy that over a £100 Chinese piece of rubbish.

I for one support UK lap steel manufacturers if they recognise that it is quite a unique instrument and has even more unique requirements and builds that need to be considered.

One love. Keep the revolution going.

[andrew]

Hi Stefan

I have had it in my mind for some time to develop a student model for £400 - price will be brought down through simplicity of design and by using an oil finish instead of lacquer. That development is still a fair way off due to other commitments.

A £350 12 stringer is simply not going to happen though.

Cheers, Andrew

[WineRider]

OK everyone,

I have been thinking this over, what was the bare costs before I started work on my latest creation...it has frightened me, to be honest.

1. piece of unfinished cherry: £ 40.00
1. piece of unfinished Walnut: £ 5.00
8. Tuners: £100.60
1. Pickup (medium price) £ 79.00
8.Thru body ferrules: £ 8.50
8. Retaining ferruls: £ 10.25
1. set of strings: £ 9.69

That is a total of £253.04 before I even started making the templates out MDF, hand routing, finshing making the fretboard inseting frets and fitting into the base. Finishing the wood to a very high standrad and then spending 8 days of linseed oil/turpentine oiling the wood. Two weeks of work for me by hand spending anything from 4 hours to 8 hours a day. If you total the hours it would be in the region of 76hours over the two weeks.

The lowest wages here in France is SMIC which is €9.45 an hour which equates to £6.90 per hour, a total of man hours is £524.40 plus the parts of £253.04 therfore the guitar should be priced around £778.44

Now how can someone make a LSG for £300.00??????????????????????????????? Impossible, that is why most builders are getting it made out of rice labour.

[Ken Byng]

£100 for tuners Maurice? They can be had far cheaper on eBay. Likewise the ferules. The parts might come from the far east, but they can be excellent quality. The labour cost can't be overcome, unless you outsource it. However, you would have to be able to order in significant quantities and that is the major stumbling block.

[WineRider]

Hi Ken,

I appreciate what you have said, buying on E-Bay, and yes I know you can buy them cheaper I recently bought some from Guitar N Blues (based in Nantes) and they worked out at €35 euros a set of 6. They were Wilkinson copies I would think and they aren't too bad. I went for the more expensive ones for me They look no different, they hold tune and they are shiny I was trying to prove a point...badly I think, but I hadn't realised just how expensive it had actually been to build my 8 string.
Stewart McDonald used to do tuners for steel guitars in sets of 8, but his latest catalogue doesn't list them any more. I am not going to make a 12 string though 'cos I can't play eight properly

Maurice