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Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar

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Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar!

Start by downloading these vintage plans for making your own lap steel:

Then join in the discussion on building techniques, improvements to the plans and more.

Want even more lap steel goodness? Check out Guitar World's columns on making a lap steel from a 2x4 plank:

How to Build a 2x4 Lap Steel Guitar pt. 1

How to Build a 2x4 Lap Steel Guitar pt. 2 - Cool Mods

Members: 153
Latest Activity: Jan 22, 2021

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Discussion Forum

Gibson Scale Lap Steel Fret Template:Standard & Metric

Started by BrianQ.. Last reply by Southern Ray Jan 22, 2021. 1 Reply 2 Likes

Standard Metric …Continue

Eliminating hum

Started by Andy R. Last reply by Andy R Jul 7, 2017. 5 Replies 0 Likes

So I got my lap steel painted up, ready to go, install the humbucker and it doesn't buck.. it humsI had the issue in my CBG with a single coil and attaching foil to ground all internals solved it.How…Continue

Pickup for Lapsteel

Started by Lou "cubancigar2000". Last reply by Peter Hendley Jun 30, 2017. 4 Replies 0 Likes

I am building a simple lap steel. I would like to buy a pickup ( 6 string) that is already to go ( dont want to build it) Any suggestions on where to go to find one. My strings spacing on my bridge…Continue

String spacing on the 2 x 4 lap steel

Started by Andy R. Last reply by Andy R May 18, 2017. 3 Replies 1 Like

Hey I got a lap steel kit from CB Gitty and am about to drill the holes below the bridge for the string feed.Has anyone here put them together using the plans that come with the kit?If so, should the…Continue

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Comment by c# merle on September 13, 2010 at 5:50am: gonna have a bash at this now.i got a nice piece of iroko just waiting...

Comment by mike anderson Blues Box Guitars on July 10, 2010 at 12:20pm: got the lap steel bug.

Comment by Barry Evan Russ on July 6, 2010 at 5:47am: That is an awesome pair of 3 and 4 stringer laps. Love them.

Comment by Susan Hunt on June 28, 2010 at 10:57am: Of course you did! It's way cool.

Comment by bairfoot cajun on June 28, 2010 at 6:27am: i liked the 4 string lap steel so i had to build a 3 string one also--

more simple in design and based on the d-bow----but ya still can play it like a lap steel.

Comment by Susan Hunt on June 22, 2010 at 9:22am: Now THAT is a lap steel!

Comment by bairfoot cajun on June 21, 2010 at 3:46pm: well these parts were all vintage before i made a 4 string lap steel from them--

except for the tuners but i can change them.

Comment by Leroy Beal on May 5, 2010 at 11:21am: I take no offense. You would be hard pressed to find many guitar hardware parts not made in Asia these days. My experience has been that they are of excellent quality and work very well. I have never had a pickup not work right out of the box.
Peace back at ya.

Comment by Alan Roberts on May 5, 2010 at 8:25am: Gentlemen:
this is the first time I've used a magnetic pickup. Other than that, I've done one piezo, and it wasn't a big success. To say I'm new at this is an understatement. I wish there was some sort of Consumer Report for guitar builders...
I guess I'll order a Chinese magnetic pup (Fernando, probably 90% of them are made in China; some of them might be worth what you pay for). If that doesn't work, I'll just pull it out and replace it with an expensive one and see if I can tell the difference. That's the nice thing about CBGs; what's going on INSIDE the box could look like Frankinstein's monster, with different spots routed out for failed pups. Changes on top will get covered by a pick guard, if necessary. At some point, I might roll my own, but that day is a long way off.

Comment by Leroy Beal on May 5, 2010 at 3:59am: Fernando,
What do you mean by "try to know if it got the minimum request as a pup"? I'm not sure what you are saying there. The pickup is only one link in a long chain of things that influence the final sound of an instrument.