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Shane Speal had a great suggestion this week - build a guitar for Black Friday!  I was in the process of building a 2x4 lapsteel (based on the design Shane has shared here on Cigar Box Nation) so I made it my goal to finish up by today - Black Friday.

The design was very similar to the original Shane posted.  Nothing fancy, but they sound surprisingly good.  I've built two prior to this one.

I was initially going to use a Teisco Dey Rey surface mount pickup from C.B. Gitty, but in an earlier blog post you will see how I modified the pickup.  I also used a terminal bridge that I have written about previously.

During construction I did one thing I had not previously, I bored a hole from the butt end down one side about 8 inches deep to use as a channel for the pickup wires.  I grounded the bridge externally to the jack plate.

It came out pretty good I think.  It sounds good through my really cheap amp.  I hope to get a good sound check this weekend at church where I have access to good guitar players and good sound equipment.

Here are a few pictures with notes (some are on Facebook already):

This is the hole I bored for the wiring channel.  It ran about 8 inches into the guitar body.

I used a Forstner drill bit to open up a cavity for the jack plate and amp cord plug.  You can see the wiring channel bore hole where the pickup cabling runs.

That is the terminal lug bridge and pop-rivet string holes through the body.  I used pop-rivets on the underside also so the strings don't get pulled through.

The headstock showing screw eye string guides and a red oak moulding nut.

This is what the pickup looks like mounted on the body.  Wires run underneath into the bore hole channel.

You can see the external ground wire running from underneath the bridge cross member to the jack plate.  I used solder removal wicking material, it is a braided copper wire basically, it makes a good ground wire.

Frets are silver Sharpie.  These are my favorite (for now) fret markers.  Paw print stickers from Hobby Lobby.

I use a very simple finish - Sanding Sealer applied with a paper towel.  It is pretty tough, dries quickly and looks pretty good.

Here is an overall look before I put the small wooden badges from C.B. Gitty on.

Hopefully I can post a good sound check this weekend.  I think it sounds good, but I don't play.

Great idea Shane - this one is going to be a Christmas gift!