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Topic: I'm lefty / Rondo SX steel upgrades / ebay seller warning |
Chris Frederiksen
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:25 am |
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Hey guys, this is Chris. I joined last week but finally have a minute or two to introduce myself and post about random stuff. Nice to meet you all!
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First, I'm lefty.... yes, it's a pain (as most of us lefties know), especially when you're in the market for a lap steel.
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Second, I was wondering how many of you have Rondo Music/SX lap steels, and if you do, did you customize them? If so, can you post videos and/or photos? For $100, it seems like a great deal. I decided to pick up a baby blue one today on ebay.... a replacement for the horrible one I bought (see the "Fourth" section).
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Third, how many of you dig that oldschool country sound? I can't get enough of it, lately. Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, etc. I love the pedal steel work on their stuff... that's kind of why I got obsessed with lap steel right now. Do you guys know of any good lessons online, that shows how to play that style of stuff? I found a good guy on YouTube named Troy Brenningmeyer... he's got some GREAT C6 lessons... I am so psyched to get started.
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Fourth, I wanted to give you guys a warning about an ebay seller I took a chance on (and read mostly good about, and a few bad things about)... I bought a righty lap steel from him for $200 (he builds them). It arrived yesterday, and the headstock was pretty messed up. He mentioned "cosmetic-only" damage but it was more than that. I took a brief HD video of the headstock, but don't have time to convert/edit it (but I will add it to this post if you guys are interested).
Anyway, I'm returning the thing tomorrow.
The ebay seller's name is ajinanaheim, or dh.designs out of Anaheim, CA(he's got a few ebay accounts). He goes by the name of "Dick Head Designs" which is a ridiculous name for a business.... anyway. Most of his feedback is pretty positive, including the lap steels he's sold (which are generically named/titled... they're almost hard to find in the search). But yeah, I am very much NOT pleased with this.
As I mentioned above, I decided to buy a Rondo/SX lap steel (righty) and have a luthier friend of mine who said it should be no problem converting it to a lefty, and also upgrade the bridge/tuners/pickup/electronics, etc. For basically the same price, I can have a custom lefty lap steel. I should have gone this route to begin with, but I was impatient as I wanted to get started jamming on one.
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Fifth, speaking of what I just mentioned... how exactly do you guys recommend I customize my SX lap steel? Which exact bridge (that won't have intonation issues)... etc?
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Thanks for any and all advice! Hope you guys don't mind the heads-up about the mistake I made on ebay.
Hope to hear from you all soon! |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:33 am
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[edit] Sorry, I thought I had purchased a Rondo SX but turns out it was a Rogue.
I bought a Rogue with the sole intention of converting it to a lap steel sitar. To do that, I replaced the bridge with a cut Tele bridge and bought sitar saddles, but that's another story. I had to modify (basically grind down with a Dremel) the sides of the metal pickguard to fit the bridge in.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed at all with the guitar in its stock condition, but sinking a few bucks into one might make it a little better (a better pickup, maybe better tuners and a nut--which I also replaced). After that is said and done, you will have spent enough that you probably could have bought a Melbert or a good used steel. BTW, I paid $89 for the Rogue, which included the case and legs).
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links
Last edited by Mike Neer on 19 Sep 2013 10:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Chris Frederiksen
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:37 am
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Thanks for the reply, man... do you like it now, after the mods? Do you play it regularly?
I bought a Stacked P90 to replace the stock pickup.. and I definitely want to get a new bridge/nut/etc. How are the tuners? Some have said to replace them first, others say they're fine. |
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Chris Frederiksen
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:38 am
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| Ah, no problem... so the Rogue's no good? |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:53 am
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The Rondo SX is one of the best deals on the market. I have three of them. It would be better if they had made it 7 or 8-string, especially if you plan to use the C6 tuning, but the reason it's so cheap is that they've used standard parts from 6-string solid electric guitars.
If you use the "Search" function just under where it says The Steel Guitar Forum towards the top right-hand you will be able to find dozens of discussions of the Rondo SX and various alterations to it, such as fitting Palm Levers.
By the way, being left-handed on lap steel creates no problems. Just re-string it the other way round. Now if you're going to use pedals then you will have a problem, as very few left-handed pedal steels are built. Since playing any string instrument requires equal dexterity with both hands, why not just train yourself to playing right-handed ? |
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Chris Frederiksen
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 9:55 am
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Thanks for the info.
Been playing guitar too long to get used to playing right-handed.... I teach guitar and bass, and I'm basically lefty in everything I do (including playing drums)... it just feels better.  |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 10:29 am
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| Chris Frederiksen wrote: |
| Ah, no problem... so the Rogue's no good? |
The Rogue RLS-1 is the one not so well liked, but the their other model, the Jersey Lightning has gotten decent reviews. For a lefty conversion, its probably the easiest too. I'd toss the bridge cover, swap the controls to a stacked concentric to eliminate the player side knob and being a humbucker, you have lots of options depending on taste.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
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Robert Deuel
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 11:32 am Rogue 'lefty' lap steel
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I am also a lefty and the Rogue was the first lap steel I converted to a left handed model.
I really didn't know much about the lap steel then but the fact that the controls would not be in the way was basically what caused me to choose the Rogue.
A few problems soon became very evident. For one thing, the Chinese don't put any markers at all on their Rogue fretboards, at least not on the one I had. For another the bridge is made of a very thin wood veneer and is of low quality and very unstable.
I did like the tone I got playing through my 1964 Fender Showman (I am also a lead guitar and bass player) but that might be attributed to the amp too.
The strings were very high off the neck also which made the whole steel awkward to play.
The finish was very good for a cheap steel.
Other than that it ws ok but d/t all the above I really didn't keep it long. Hope this helps. |
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Chris Frederiksen
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 1:20 pm
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| Thanks for all the tips... it's great to be here by the way. |
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John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 19 Sep 2013 1:40 pm
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| I play lefty, too, but I don't change anything. I just don't buy lap steels where the knobs will get in the way. I play standard guitar the same way. I have several Squire Strats with lefty bodies but strung right handed. It's just how i taught myself to play many years ago.Being lefty shouldn't have any negative effect on your lap steel playing and for many models you don't have to do any mods to make it work. |
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Mark Addeo
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 22 Sep 2013 9:10 am
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Hi Chris, SX makes a lefty model that is readily available. I owned one and was impressed with the quality for price. Always room for improvement but playable out of the box. Check out the link below. Hope this is helpful.
http://www.rondomusic.com/lap1naleft.html |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 22 Sep 2013 10:55 am
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It seems Mark has solved your problem. Why convert a right-handed model when left-handed ones are available off-the-shelf?
I do notice one thing, though. They're selling it with a soft carrying case. It used to come with a hard case with plush lining. |
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Jim Williams
From:
Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!
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Posted 26 Sep 2013 11:14 am
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I have a Rogue RLS-1, and for the money it isn't that bad, but from what I've heard and seen on the net, I would go with the SX. If for no other reason than the string spacing is better and it has a more standard scale. The RLS string spacing like a regular electric guitar, and a very short scale which makes playing the higher positions pretty critical. I have a vintage Gibson and it is much easier to play. I plan to pick up one of the SX's soon myself. Welcome to the forum. BTW, there is a Don Helms book out on the C6 lap steel Hank stuff that I've heard a lot of good things about. It is for 8 string but he only uses 6.
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal. |
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