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Topic: 12-string into a "lap guitar" |
Chris Tulloch
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 26 Feb 2021 6:47 am |
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A well-worn topic I'm sure! Having just made my first lap-steel, I want to turn an old high-action Hohner 12-string into a lap-guitar ... a "dobro-without-resonator".
I'm going to build a 'double-width' Bridge Doctor to give the bridge & the top some strength (I've got a lovely piece of poplar, fine-grained & light as a feather). I'll need a new nut & saddle. String height? The guitar has a truss rod.
Any tips, advice, warnings, "no-no's" ??
Many thanks
Chris |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 26 Feb 2021 12:51 pm
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Are you going to use it as a 12 string?
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Chris Tulloch
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 26 Feb 2021 2:15 pm
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Hi Jeff; no, to use as a normal 12-string it would need a neck reset, and as lovely a guitar as it is, it's just not worth the outlay; which is why I'm thinking of converting it into a 6-string lap-slide-guitar - hopefully tuned into dobro-tuning. I can use the spare holes to locate the bridge-doctor which will hopefully give it a lot more resilience. I'm going to use the acoustic steel to hopefully get my finger-pick usage up to speed!
(BTW I'm in the UK, visiting family in Brisbane 5 yrs ago, fond memories of the "train-replacement-service" coach trip from Brisbane down to ?Grafton? before connecting with the train to Sydney!) |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 26 Feb 2021 7:59 pm
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Why I asked is that going to 6 string lap, you may not need the bridge doctor, I understood that you were going to a lap player but not whether you were going to keep it with 12 strings.
You may just be able to install a higher unradiussednut, and flatten the top of the existing saddle. That may give enough clearance without a new saddle,
And remove the unused tuners, they tend to be a source of rattles
(I'm north of Sydney near Newcastle)
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Chris Tulloch
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 27 Feb 2021 5:15 am
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Thanks Jeff, going ahead with it now. Good suggestion about the tuners .. they're very rattlesome anyway!
Would be nice to get back & revisit the family one of these days (Brisbane & Gladstone) and especially get back to Sydney, loved it!
Thanks again for all your advice
Chris |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 27 Feb 2021 12:37 pm
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Very nice.
My first steel guitar 20years ago was a 12string acoustic fitted with 6 strings and a nut extender. Plywood Sammick. The wider string spacing is well-suited for this type of repurposing. Good luck! |
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Chris Tulloch
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 27 Feb 2021 12:58 pm
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| Andrew Frost wrote: |
Very nice.
My first steel guitar 20years ago was a 12string acoustic fitted with 6 strings and a nut extender. Plywood Sammick. The wider string spacing is well-suited for this type of repurposing. Good luck! |
Thanks Andrew. Looking forward to it; having JUST completed my lap-steel (some pics elsewhere on this forum) I've fallen into "just thumb-pick & fingers" because that way I can find my way around the instrument & the C6 tuning. However I'm aware I need to work on my finger-pick technique. I'm hoping the acoustic steel will allow me to play around & make mistakes without worrying too much about the notes (yet) haha! |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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