Cool Lap Steel guitars?

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:18 am

I'd like to get myself an electric lap steel axe, but have know idea who's making them or what's good.

I don't want to spend a shitload of money (under $500, and ideally around $300), but would like something well built (preferably in the USA).

Anyways... suggestions welcome.

and while we're at it, how about a good volume pedal to go with it.

CraigS63 · Post by **CraigS63** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:31 am

Hang out at http://steelguitarforum.com (the 'Steel Without Pedals' section) and/or http://hsga.org (there is a forum link somewhere on the left part of that site).

Plenty of info, opinions, and all that.

I have 3 lap steels, a Magnatone, a Gibson BR-9, and a Vega, each was less than $300 on ebay within the last couple of years.

newfuturevintage · Post by **newfuturevintage** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:57 pm

Find a Rickenbacker Electro with the horseshoe pickup. Not the bakelite ones from the '30s and '40s, those will blow the budget, but the wood ones from the '50s and '60s. Stunning tone, frighteningly high output level, still not terribly priced.

Take a look at closed ebay auction 260233284768 for what I mean, and no, the legs aren't standard

As for a volume pedal, most of the folks I've worked with have either used the ernie ball string 'n' wire unit or a morley optical pedal.

curtiswyant · Post by **curtiswyant** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:26 pm

I have an old Airline 6-string with a Supro pickup and the thing screams. Hottest pickup I've ever heard. It was about $150 on ebay a few years back.

honkyjonk · Post by **honkyjonk** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:33 pm

I have an old (40's? 50's? I don't know) National that I love to death. It was an ebay buy for around $250.

Can be heard on "Your Color Is Silver" here: www.myspace.com/thebabiesmusic

The cool thing about lap steel is it doesn't really matter how beat up they are, they'll still probably be alright because you're not gonna really be dealing with neck bowing or lifting bridge issues or anything.

chovie d · Post by **chovie d** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:41 pm

the vintage ones are still out there for cheap if you are patient and or lucky and are your best bet IMHO.

I would try and avoid the new fenders and the artisans tho they are really cheap.

One word of warning. If your getting a lap steel because you want to make country or western swing sounds....be warned that that kind of playing takes a great deal of practice and expertise because it involves alot of bar slants and some unusual tunings for your average six stringer. Playing rock on a lap steel however is like falling off a log, and they do indeed scream with a little overdrive on em and an open D or open E tuning. For country you'll be in c6 and man..good luck with that tuning.

volume pedals are seldom used with lap steel, fingerpicks on the other hand I highly recommend

honkyjonk · Post by **honkyjonk** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:03 pm

I use a volume pedal on mine. It gets it way closer to the pedal steel sound. Not that that's necessarily why you'd want a lap steel. I can't really play that well but I've learned to do some sort of layering and ambience type of stuff that I wouldn't want to do without a volume pedal.

But yeah, C6 is just the instant sound that you already know. It doesn't take much messing around to have a cool part to a song. Open G and D are also great.

Trick Fall · Post by **Trick Fall** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:18 pm

While vintage vibe is totally cool, for 79.99 the cheapo musician's friend ones are pretty fun.

jmiller · Post by **jmiller** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:07 pm

I bought my wife a new Chandler lap steel a couple years ago. I think it was 250-300 or so. I'm no expert on steels but it sounds pretty darn good to me. You can find used ones in vintage shops for OK prices pretty often, especially in NY/LA since they aren't as popular. Some pretty cool ones pop up on ebay too- I saw a beautiful double neck (forgot the make) go for a few hundred bucks lately.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:35 pm

thanks for the replies so far. i've been keeping my eye on e-bay for some used stuff. some nice looking old ones for cheap on there.

chovie d wrote:One word of warning. If your getting a lap steel because you want to make country or western swing sounds....be warned that that kind of playing takes a great deal of practice and expertise....

don't worry, i'm not looking to master it. and i hate country music. haha. i just want a fun new sound to play with in my bands and for my solo material. mainly looking to do simple, textural stuff. i love the way that sound can change the mood of a song.

chovie d · Post by **chovie d** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:23 am

Recycled_Brains wrote:thanks for the replies so far. i've been keeping my eye on e-bay for some used stuff. some nice looking old ones for cheap on there.

chovie d wrote:One word of warning. If your getting a lap steel because you want to make country or western swing sounds....be warned that that kind of playing takes a great deal of practice and expertise....

don't worry, i'm not looking to master it. and i hate country music. haha. i just want a fun new sound to play with in my bands and for my solo material. mainly looking to do simple, textural stuff. i love the way that sound can change the mood of a song.

you will love having a lap steel then.
looking on ebay right now there are two 1950's fenders on there in the 300-400$ range (they'll probably go for a little over $400??...I wouldnt pay much more than that and opnly paid $275 for mmine a few years back). These are excellent guitars with great resale value. If you could find a 1960's fender champion for a bit less that would be ideal. If you wanna go really cheap i see a morrell on there for $80...those are supposed to be okay, never tried one tho.
dont worry about legs for em. they sit nicely on your lap or on a cheap keyboard stand if your gonna use any kind of wah or volume pedal.

have fun...i know you will

Poppatwang · Post by **Poppatwang** » Fri May 02, 2008 11:37 am

Supro/Valco also show up under many names. Bronson, Airline, McKinney.
Let's you get the Supro sound on the cheap. I'm partial to Guyatone.
Cheap build quality but good tone & kitsch appeal.

Did anyone mention Brad's Pages of Steel?
http://www.well.com/~wellvis/resource.html

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:16 pm

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:47 pm

mine's a cheapo, but i like that it uses an aftermarket strat pickup, as those are easily upgradeable.

i'm not much of a lap steel player, so even it might be a bit more than i need...

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Fri May 02, 2008 7:17 pm

So are Supro the kind to buy? There have been a couple sitting at the Guitar Center near me for years that they would probably sell cheap.

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Cool Lap Steel guitars?

Cool Lap Steel guitars?

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