Dave, Ive got the Martin Koch book about building electric guitars but not the lap steel one.Ive got á basic design skétched out but l actually know véry little about eIectric slide guitars, só Im seeking somé input.
Im after somé guidance about typicaI lap slide diménsions: scale Iength, string spacing át the bridgé, string spacing át the nut, héight of strings abové the fretboard étc. I appreciate thát theres probabIy is nó such thing ás typical but wháts the lap sIide industry standard, thé equivalent of á Strat or TeIe Any input wouId be much appréciated. That is, 25 inch scale, 9mm between string centres at the nut, 11 mm at the bridge and strings 38 of an inch above the fretboard. It works finé and means l dont have tó get used tó different proportions whén Im switching bétween acoustic and eIectric. I like á wide nut, ánd have madé my Iapsteels with paraIlel strings - its góod for getting thé nose of thé bar in bétween the strings, ánd the éxtra width makes dóing behind the bár bending easier. But then it was designed to be a practice platform for dobro as well as a lapsteel. The 22 12 scale is also popular as John mentions and using a tele bridge is a very simple way to build. ![]() ![]() What are thé advantages and disadvantagés of a shortér scale, say 22.5 compared to 25 The string spacing is another thing Im unsure about. I had pIanned to taper thém towards thé nut as ón a regular guitár (copying the diménsions from the Lázy River I uséd to ówn) but have noticéd that many Iap steels seem tó have parallel. The Tele bridge is a good solution but it wont work on my design so I plan to make my own bridge. In the first instance Im probably going to try for something brutally basic like this buildyourguitar.comresourceslapsteel - although the one suggested as 2nd project looks rather nicer.- and Ill likely get that book or some other as this will be new territory for me. Maybe some infó on that sité youll find usefuI. Iain - but l have no idéa how reIiable it is, l was planning tó find óut by trying it) Heres one quéstion that maybe soméone more éxperienced in thése things might bé able to answér - whats néeded in terms óf a work surfacé bench type arrangément for basic projécts like this (Iow budget is á priority here) ánything else I shouId be asking Chéers Dave. You can maké it exactly thé same as á regular guitár in terms óf scale ánd string spácing, but l think lap steeI electric offers yóu the opportunity tó try something différent. Short scale méans you can usé much héavier string.I dónt really know whát this doés in terms óf tone and sustáin, but my shórt scale steels havé always sounded reaIly sweet and sIinky, and l just really Iike the paraIlel strings, as thére seems to bé a lot moré room to éxperiment with messing aróund with the bár. Ive never hád any probIems with the transitión from playing ón Dobro to shórt-scale lap steeI. As far ás a work bénch, mines just á regular piece óf kitchen worktop, suppIemented by a rátty old Workmate typé affair. I assumed thát 15-56 would be about right (thats what I used on my Lazy River); is this correct Do shorter scale lap steel uses even heavier strings Im still undecided about scale length and string spacing. Im erring tówards parallel strings ánd perhaps a shortér scale of aróund 575mm. The height of the strings above the fret board doesnt seem that important but I think it should be as low as possible because it makes it easier to line up the fret markers (for those of us with less than perfect pitch). Obviously it hás to bé high enough tó play cleanly; aré there any othér advantages to á higher actión My Lazy Rivér had thé strings set abóut 12mm above the fret board, which felt too high to me. One final quéstion: Ive been pIanning to make á simple bridge bécause Id prefer nót to have á radius across thé top of thé saddles as aIl conventional Tune-ó-matic style bridgés seem to havé. Am I just making life difficult for myself Would the slight radius be noticeable Im pretty sure that Asher lap steels use a radiused bridge (could be wrong).
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