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Topic: Industrial lap steels - acoustic metal? |
Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Bob Kagy
From:
Lafayette, CO USA
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Posted 17 Apr 2001 10:05 am |
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And the JB Excel single-neck lap steels are all aluminum.
Around 1950 (sorry Dave  )I saw Billy Robinson playing a single 8 Bigsby lap steel that had an all metal bridge/neck/tuner mounted on a wood base.
I think they sound great; some say they're a little too sensitive to temperature changes as far as staying in tune goes.
Maybe Sierra has the right idea with a wood/aluminum/wood sandwich; they sure sound good. |
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Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
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Posted 17 Apr 2001 4:16 pm
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I think it could sound decent enough, ie loud enough to use as a practice piece if it was a bit thicker, there's not much of an air cavity in there.
But the big question is WHY? It's not any smaller than a regular steel, which you can practice with using a cheap "Rockman" style practice amp/headphones. There is no pick up so it's useless as a performance instrument, although one could easily be installed. it's gotta be fairly heavy and it's ugly as sin.
I don't get it, but at least it's cheap.
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Cris Linscott
From:
Cornwall, UK
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Posted 4 Jul 2004 10:17 am
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| Have a look at where Chris Foucke has taken the aluminium guitar http://www.industrial guitars.com/indyauctionpix/auctionphotos.html - There's a real beauty about the Rail lap steel he makes; the 8 string is a modern design classic in my opinion - for the record I've no affiliation with the maker |
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Cris Linscott
From:
Cornwall, UK
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2004 9:33 pm
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I've sold several of Chris' Industrial laps through my little store and I think they're great unique sounding instruments. Most of his lap designs use two flat aluminum plates sandwiched around a formed plastic strip for the body width. They can be loaded with any kind of pickup, and sound pretty nice for "acoustic" practice, like a little mini dobro. Amplified the sound is somewhat midrangey with a medium sustain, definitely a ueable and unique tone. I've had him make me up several with string height and spacing like a standard reso, and they're great for dobroists wanting to explore lap steel, or for softer practice. Pretty cool, really, with great design touches like black machine screws for position markers that contrast with the screws that hold the body together.
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
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