Advice on which lap steel to buy on a budget

[SheffieldBrownie]

Hi there,
My partner has informed me he would like to venture into the world of lap steels, he is already an accomplished guitar and bass player.
However I am on a budget in terms of buying him one - and then I found your naughty list on here, which would rule out a lot of the ones I had seen.
I don't want to spend any more than about £100-140 - is this realistic? Happy to go second hand also (although I know this doesn't always effect the price much).

Does anyone have any suggestions for budget first lap steel??
Thanks
Gemma

[Uncle Roy]

Welcome to the forum Gemma,
I am sure you will get some advice from lap steel players as they come on the forum.

[JeffM]

Hi Gemma,

As you have probably read, most modern budget lap steels aren't very highly regarded but within your budget, it's about your only option.

If I had £140 and absolutely had to get something right now, I'd go for the Recording King on Ebay right now for 120.

I tried out one of these and was quite impressed for the price and it's much nicer than all the other budget models out there and I wouldn't be embarrassed to do a gig with it.

They seem to be made of reasonably nice wood and the hardware is just about OK, although it might be worth upgrading a bit further down the road - as compared to some of the others that I definitely wouldn't bother to do any upgrading.

BTW I have no connection with that auction.

[mick hearn]

I would agree with the above. The Recording King is a nice little instrument for the money and having played one would be happy with it. Steer clear of Clearwater. I had a very bad experience with one of those.

[mandosteve]

I've still got a recording king lap steel and I think for the money you can't go wrong. Got me started before I even dreamt of owning Pedal Steel (which I now do). I gigged it a few times and it was fine.

Down the line he can either buy a better Lap Steel or switch to Pedal or Dobro or what have you when he has a better idea of what he likes about the instrument.

Good luck!

Stephen