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Topic: David Simmons lap steel guitars-Check this Design |
Dennis Smith
From:
Covington, Georgia, USA
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Nate Hofer
From:
Overland Park, Kansas
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 4:44 am |
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| Pretty creative! I wonder what the advantages are to that particular design? It reminds me of Charles and Ray Eames and their approach to bent plywood. |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 6:52 am
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| Look like a skateboard! |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 7:04 am
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| I agree. my first thought was Eames. or a snow sled. |
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Ted Smith
From:
Idaho - shot of Jeff Peterson, Ted and Smith Curry "Nothing but the taillights tour"
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 7:25 am
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Very innovative and cool, don't let people making fun of your creative work bring you down David Simmons, keep it up!!
_________________
old Melobar guy |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Pamela Kelly
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 12:19 am David Simmons lap steel guitars-Check this Design
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Just seen this post from last year & not sure how it all works but will try this for a start!
Hello Brad Bechtel & Jean Sebastien Gauthier. Just correcting a misapprehension, David doesn't actually sell skateboards. He's a degree-qualified luthier with a lifetime of woodworking & guitar playing & was once asked to help a pupil make a skateboard. He loved the result & does now offer to teach people to make their own but in fact has an instrument workshop full time. (This instrument was never a skateboard, 'though obviously a lot of people think that. He made it from scratch.)
He loved the effect of bent wood, fell in love with the subtleties of shape that you can get and realized how strong it was. As a lap-style player he thought of using the same technology to make a lap slide. These were hand made from his own choice of veneers in maple using a press I helped make! The purfling on the solid one is ebony. There's also a rosewood one in the pipeline.
The cut-out version ties in remarkably well with his study of period instruments. Check out the Welsh crwth!
Hi Nate Hofer. The advantages are the strength & the fact that there is no vulnerable neck joint, plus the fact that it is so amazingly light you can carry it & a mini amp on a bicyle & know it won't get damaged. Or you can carry two on your back no problem for different tunings at a gig! Also the curve sits really comfortably across the knee. They stay in tune remarkably!
I had no knowledge of the Eames style so thanks for pointing me in the direction to have a look at this furniture. Hooe this info useful.
Thank you very much Dennis Smith, Ted Smith & Nate for your interest & encouragement 
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Pamela Kelly
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 1:26 am
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PS. Should have also said is a registered design, both the guitars themselves & the logo.
Cheers |
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Keith Glendinning
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 3:01 am
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Very different and it sounds good too. No doubt "traditionalists" wll be aghast at the shape, but if you never change things, you never improve them either.
Keith. |
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Pamela Kelly
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 4:14 am
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That was cheery! Thanks Keith.
Some would indeed be aghast but was deemed cool by Ben Harper, Martin Simpson, Nils Lofgren (via photos & email) & "Very nice. About time" from Patrick James Eggle via Guitarist Magazine FB page. More than 1 pic went into Ronnie Wood's private photo album on FB too.
One is currently in oud tuning! Great fun. Also very useful when tuning a bespoke oud in the workshop last year & had the slide to hand as a reminder.
Last edited by Pamela Kelly on 14 Jul 2015 5:07 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 4:55 am
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Great shape for lap steel playing. I love creative new ways of approaching this instrument.
Thumbs way up.
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 9:26 pm
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The one with the holes down the side is a regular guitar, you can fret it. The one without the holes is a lapsteel.
_________________
New FB Page: Lap Steel Licks And Stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195394851800329 |
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Pamela Kelly
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jul 2015 11:39 pm
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Indeed. The idea of the cut-outs was that you could do both, reason being there are less lap-slide players in UK.
Cheers.
Also, thanks Stefan. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2015 5:59 pm
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| Man that's out there really cool very creative I dig it! |
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Jay Fagerlie
From:
Lotus, California, USA
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Posted 19 Jul 2015 6:32 am
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Both look like they would be very comfortable to play
plus- they look great! |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 20 Jul 2015 4:43 am
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Yahoo! The more the merrier. I'm somewhat amazed that the antiques market, "collectables," and "tradition" have gotten so intertwingled with the guitar market that a "good" Fender copy guitar can sell for $2500 to $7000. Look at a Toyota, look at a computer - then look at your guitar.  Look at your telephone.... Plug a dutifully-copied "1957" Strat with hummy little retro pickups into your Ax-FxII....  Search out high and low for a carefully-"relic'd" authentically-handwound motherboard.  |
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Don Barnhardt
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2015 7:30 pm
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| Building lap steels is a 2 part endeavor. First and foremost is the sound. Getting the right combination of nut,bridge and pickup are a must. Once this is done the sky is the limit on design of the body. Some of the builds I have seen on this forum are true works of art. While these instruments aren't what I would want to play the workmanship is impressive and I imagine they sound great. I think the fella deserves an"A". |
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