Phat Neck Telecaster Lap Steel

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

Was telling a guitar maker relative that I wanted a lap steel that sounded like a Telecaster. He sent me a bolt on neck that fits any Tele with 4 bolts. It sounds very cool and I have it strung with Bill Asher strings and tuned like a Dobro. It has inlaid mahogany fret markers.

Very cool.

Twayn Williams · From: Portland, OR

Very nice! Check this out as well:

Lapdancer Redneck
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Primitive Utility Steel

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

I saw that. I actually emailed him and he said:

"send me all the money upfront and that gives you the right to bug me for a few months until I make it..."

I passed and got this in a week and got it less. Actually he is making me one for a Strat as well. I love it. Better than the Fender Lap Steel I had...

Andy Sandoval · From: Bakersfield, California, USA

How's about postin a sound sample. I'm curious to hear what it sounds like.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

...and how does it sound any different to a Telecaster with a nut riser ? Confused

For years I used a Hofner solid with nut riser, rather than spend money on a lap steel. For a shorter scale length I just threaded a bolt between the strings and the fingerboard.

The Lapdancer neck is well-known and has been around for years, but I've never seen the point of it. Rolling Eyes

D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

I've been playing a Lapdancer-Redneck with a strat body for some time now. The neck width allows for wide string spacing, more like a Dobro or lap steel than a gee-tar.

Since the neck is so massive, I can use 0.016" - 0.058" gage strings (lo-bass G) and could probably go heavier if I wanted to.

The combination of "heavy wire and big wood" changes the sustain and timbre of the guitar quite a bit -- for the better, IMHO. And, when I take it to the local blues jam on Sundays, all the chicks dig it.

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

I've played a regular electric with nut extender and then put a "Redneck" from Loni on it, and yes - it does make a difference in tone and sustain.
Plus, as mentioned above, unlike a regular electric guitar you can apply all sorts of tentions to it without worrying about the neck, which of course also affects tone and sustain.
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"Play to express, not to impress"
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John Burton · From: Manassas, Va

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

The nut riser doesn't have to be the same width as the neck. You can still have the same string spacing as on a lap steel without changing the neck. The strings just overhang the fingerboard slightly.

As far as the tension is concerned, I'm used to building instruments with multiple strings, and I've never had any problems, both with acoustic 14-string citterns and electric 16-string lap steels. 6-string is light by comparison. The only reason for not putting high tension strings on a standard Telecaster would be to avoid lifting the strings too high, and giving it bad action, but that's no problem if you're using a tone bar. In fact, one of the uses for an old, warped guitar is for Hawaiian playing....

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I put Loni's redneck on a Strat. along with a Hipshot Trilogy and a roller nut:

Iam presently working on this 8 stringer:

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

My Lapdancer Redneck. And the two old nut-risers that I have, are narrow. Pretty much the same width as a regular 6-string guitar's neck. So, narrow string spacing. I guess you could make one that hangs over the sides of the neck. I'll stick with the Redneck. Really improved the sound of this extremely heavy Tele.

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

The Hipshot Trilogy that Erv put on is well worth the investment. It adds enormously to the versatility of the instrument, and, of course, with the Trilogy, or any type of string bender, you need a roller bridge or the nut will bind and the instrument will go out of tune quickly.

Another investment worthwhile, but you can't do both this and the Trilogy, are Duesenberg Palm Levers. With those on your Telecaster you can do pedal steel licks (within limitations.)

I thought of doing both of those to a Telecaster, and even thought of cutting a hole and inserting a resonator cone. And, of course, it would have to have 8 strings, which meant new pickups. But at the end of all that there wouldn't be much left of the Telecaster, so I opted to just go the whole hog and build the body, too.

Whatever you do to a Telecaster or a Stratocaster you have to have some reason to go to the expense of starting with a Fender in the first place. All that you're keeping are the pickups and the body. I doubt that the body imparts much to the sound: in fact the neck join must absorb some vibration, so you would be better with neck-through-tail construction. That just leaves the electrics, and I don't think that's a logical reason for starting off with an expensive Telecaster, since you could get a plank of wood and put Fender pick-ups on it. And that's assuming that they're the pick-ups you want for steel work.

To me, it's kind of like the broom which has a new stale and a new brush. You can put the old broom back together and have a new broom too. Very Happy

I'm not trying to put the damper on people's projects, which look great. It's just that I've been through all these thoughts many times, and what I came up with is...

[1] Get myself a Telecaster.
[2] I want 8-strings, so I need an 8-string machine head. So I need to build a new neck.
[3] GeorgeL pickups are custom made for steel playing, so I'll get myself a couple of those.
[4] I like the sustain you get from neck-through-body construction, so I need to build a new body.
[5] Of course, I need a new bridge to take the 8 strings. Might as well go the whole hog and put a Trilogy on.
[6] With the Trilogy I'll need a roller bridge.

Now let's put these together....

Hey, I got my new steel guitar and I still have the Telecaster left untouched... Laughing

D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

There is a huge market/aftermarket in strat and tele parts -- genuine Fender, upgrades, and knockoffs. Like many 6-string Fender guys, I have a bunch of parts on the shelf at any point in time, from past swaps and experiments. Case in point, I am getting another "redneck" neck to mate with an inexpensive e-bay body, using tuners, pickups, and electronics that have been removed from other projects. My out-of-pocket cost is....the neck. What I'll have...a long-scale lap/slide guitar with multiple pickups and a variety of sounds, and an easy platform for further kitchen-table modifications.

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

Good points. All I wanted was a lap steel that sounded like a Tele. Cost me 190.00 as I had a Tele with a bad neck anyway.

I had Mark Taylor make me a neck through out of mahogany with P90s which sounds more like an SG or Les Paul.

Called Duesenberg and they wouldn't sell me a palm pedal by itself. They sell a 3 palm pedal lap steel though.

I wish I hadn't sold my PedaBro back to Mr. Franklin. I didn't realize he wasn't going to make anymore. I guess if I had a magic wand I'd want a 6 string dobro with a B and G bender on it that wouldn't cabinet drop when you squeezed em...

If you do too much to a Tele all you've done is built a pedal steel and Jeff Surratt already built me the best one I've ever had....

fun stuff tinkering though....

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

I have not used the Trilogy, but have used Hipshot products since the mid-eighties. My Hipshot has the G, and B benders, and three toggles that lower the E strings to D, and the A string to G. When I first got it, I had trouble getting it to return to pitch. Being an inveterate tinkerer, I decided to experiment. I bought a Schaller roller bridge, and put those roller saddles onto a Tele bridgeplate. It didn't really help, and the guitar did not sound as full. I figured the nut must be the problem, so I bought a Wilkenson(?sp) roller nut. That solved the problem, but the guitar sounded even worse. Thin, no sustain.
One day, a friend recommended a new luthier. I took the guitar to him and explained my problem. He told me, "You don't need that s--t!" He put back the 3 saddle bridge, and cut a new nut, paying particular care with all the angles and dimensions. The guitar, and Hipshot worked perfectly! And the great sound of my Tele was back. Resonant, full sound.
When I string up, I tune the string up to pitch, pop it out of the slot at the nut and the bridge, rub a soft pencil across the slot. The I take a toothpick and dab a very tiny amount of Vaseline into the slot. Pop the string back in and fine tune. It always comes back to pitch perfectly.
So, my point is, you don't need any roller gadgets on your guitar. And,,, they really do hurt the sound due to so many moving parts, that just aren't made to the finest tolerances. I have 5 pedal steels. The one that sounds the very best, does not have a roller nut. The strings just make better contact with the body, making for better tone and sustain.
That's my long story, and I'm stickin' to it(But,,, if ya just like gadgetry,,, well,,,)

Kay Das · From: Los Angeles CA

I have a custom strat steel 8-string which I call the "Steelocaster" made for me by Bob Littleton a couple of years ago and have made several recordings with it. Very sensitive and sounds great with the three pick-ups, and a great variety of tone with the five position switch. Jason Lollar wound the pick-ups.

Kay

Mike Bagwell · From: Greenville, SC, USA

Here's my Strat with a Redneck.

Kay Das · From: Los Angeles CA

Oops, forgot to send these last time

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

[quote="John Billings"] Being an inveterate tinkerer, I decided to experiment.

John is an inveterate tinkerer anything like an intinerant tinkerer?

Thanks for the input. I have a Gibson that hangs up every so often and my luthier mentioned the pencil lead but not the vaseline. That makes sense...

Ulric Utsi-Åhlin · From: Sweden

The Duesenberg Multibender is available,separately,
from Musikhaus Thomann ; 225 Euro.McUtsi

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

David Pinkston · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

I called the factory. It's not available yet in the US. Should be at some point.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

I ordered mine direct from Germany.

Where there's a franchising problem I usually have parcels sent to one of my friends in England who forwards it to me.

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