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Topic: My liittle 10 string panam |
Brian Henry
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Posted 10 Oct 2013 9:37 am |
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My personal,lap steel is a ten string model made of aluminum. It has a 10 string Carter Keyhead and a George Ls e 66 pickup. It sound great. However I just bought a new Alumitone from the makers at Lace and can't wait to try it out. It was expensive $115 but I think it will be worth it. All steel players including me are looking for that"sound"
Here iare some pics - it still has the GeorgeLs pickup on it. It is made from a piece of aluminum 30" x 8" x 3/8" thick. The pattern was cut out by water jet, and polished in Nashville.
Last edited by Brian Henry on 7 May 2019 9:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 10 Oct 2013 9:47 am
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I forgot to mention it is a 22 1/2" scale and I keep it tuned to regular E9th, like my pedal steel. Also it has another use:-)
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
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Posted 10 Oct 2013 11:54 am
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I admire ingenuity and think you lap steel is cool. I wouldn't take on the labor intensive effort of making my own but admire the people that do. Would love to hear a sound sample.
Lenny |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 10 Oct 2013 12:16 pm
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| Tom Pettingill wrote: |
Cool! ... what scale is the kitty?  |
8.5 on the Richter scale.  |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 10 Oct 2013 4:39 pm
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The cats name is Tao - a seal point Siamese we got from the animal,shelter. He is 3 years old and weighs 15 lbs. He often jumps up on my pedal steel and sits on the pad especially when I am practicing . He is very curious.
Having the same tuning and string spacing on the lap steel as the pedal steel has really helped my playing. I don't do slants at all, so sometimes I have to jump quite a few frets to get the notes.
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 11 Oct 2013 5:21 am
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Some of you have requested more information. I am actually an instructor at a local college and teach English. When it comes to building things I am quite stupid. I wanted a frypan style lap guitar but was not prepared to pay the big bucks.
I don't actually build them. I have assembled a couple. My first was a six stringer and then 2 ten stringers. There is only one critical measurement, the distance from the bridge to the nut. That determines the scale. My first was a 24" scale but the last two have been 22 1/2" scale.
I made a template out of poster board and took it with the sheet of aluminum to the water jet cutter. To make the template I just got an 8" plate from the kitchen and drew a circle around it. Then used a spare carter neck to get the outline for the rest.
My piece of aluminum cost $30 on ebay. 36" x 10 X 3/8
The waterjet cutting was $66
Polishing including shipping back and forth $30
The carter keyhead was $120
!0 sperzel tuners $65
Fretboard $25
George Ls pickup used $75
Bridge $12
Jack fitting $10
Case opf ebay $35
Total weight 6 1/2 LBS
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2013 6:26 am
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What's that round thing behind the bridge?
It that where the cord plugs in? |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 11 Oct 2013 8:28 am
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Hi. Ervin, Because the aluminum is only 3/8 " thick I struggled to come up with a good way to have a jack mounted in the body. I eventually found this enclosed one on ebay and mounted it as shown in the picture. This guitar stays in tune and I am supposed to play at a wedding in April. They want some Hawaiian songs - lots of time to practice
I chose 3/8" because it is lighter and does not flex. Also, my first 6 string attempt was cut out by me on my bandsaw. It took over 7 hours too cut it out, and involved a lot of sanding to get it smooth for the polisher. The water jet cutter cost, but the end result is superior .
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2013 8:30 am
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Pretty clever!!  |
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Thomas Temple
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2013 6:46 pm Kitty comment
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| Sweet! And I'm sure that it sounds sweet as well. Just wish my playing did sound so much like pulling on a cat's tail. |
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Jay Fagerlie
From:
Lotus, California, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2013 7:03 am
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7 hours with a hack saw....
THAT is dedication!
Your steel looks great Brian.
Any chances of getting some sound samples up?
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 12 Oct 2013 7:55 am
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| Brian Henry wrote: |
| The cats name is Tao - a seal point Siamese we got from the animal,shelter. He is 3 years old and weighs 15 lbs. ... |
I thought he looked like a well loved member of the band 
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| I made a template out of poster board and took it with the sheet of aluminum to the water jet cutter. |
Great call on the water jet cutter. As you experienced, you can work aluminum with normal shop tools, but its not a lot of fun when doing larger projects.
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Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
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