A luthier is someone who builds and works on guitars and other stringed instruments. I designed this page to calculate where each fret slot should be cut, measured both from the nut to fret, and from the fret to bridge. How to mathematically figure out fret board layouts on cbg. It doesnt print a template but will give distances in inches or mm, its more precise to choose mm. Hawaiian steel guitar association hsga on how to build a lap style steel guitar. Lap steel guitar fretboard wall chart poster open g tuning notes rolls chords for sale online dobro fretboard chart resonator guitar poster e tuning. Selecting your instrument also calculates the bridge position for proper intonation. The number above the chord is the fret you place your bar on to play that chord. I score the fret lines with a razor and then use my harbor freight pull saw to cut the. I score the fret lines with a razor and then use my harbor freight pull saw to cut the fret slots. The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar which is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position on the performers lap or otherwise supported. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to think of gathering all the requisite information necessary to construct a basic instrument, especially if you have no prior experience with musical instrument construction. Bass guitar parts free delivery possible on eligible purchases.
I first heard about the luthier julian chevens from shane speal, the big kahuna over at, the online gathering place for the cigar box building community. The action and notes are all different than they are on a standard guitar, and the techniques used for playing this instrument are drastically different as. Havent been doing much practical stuff with the lap steel apart from some marking out on the wood to indicate the positions of some of the main features, like the nut and machine head locations, headstock and fretboard outline, end of. I needed a 2 12 fretboard for my 6 string pedal steel guitar project. In response to brads comment, i would respectfully disagree. I print it, tape the 2 pages together, trim it to size and use a light coat of spray mount to put it right on the fretboard.
Lap steel guitar kits, georgeboards instruments, s8 lap steel. There have many requests for a 6 string lap steel set up for the palm pedal units available for sale on the internet. Designed as replacements for worn or battered fretboards on your vintage steel guitar, or as parts for your new lap steel project. I have built several lap steel guitars and am currently working on a pedal steel guitar project. Headstock router template for an 8 string lap steel guitar 14 thick. I think its far more useful to have the actual notes rather than the scale steps for a given tuning as it enables you to find other chords and scales for all keys in that tuning rather than just the major scale notes for the tuning.
Complete materials list and sources, wiring details for volume and tone controls, fretboard dimensions and much more. No fretboard required although most lap steel guitars have an extra fretboard made of wood or metal the instrument can be played just as well without one. The performer changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings as opposed to a traditional guitar where the performers fingertips press the strings against frets. See more ideas about guitar, cigar box guitar and box guitar. Brads page of steel building your own steel guitar.
Steel guitar fretboard stringmaster style sugartone guitars. Can be trimmed to fit the width of a 6 or 8 string lap steel or a 10 string lap or pedal steel guitar. Part of building a new guitar is making sure it gets finetuned correctly like a luthier would do to make sure it sounds good. If youre looking for specific steel guitar pickups, try seymour duncan they make replacement pickups for the fender champion and stringmaster steels or george ls. The nice thing about a lap steel guitar is that the fret board can be super simple or. Dobro fretboard chart resonator guitar poster g tuning. They were scanned from the original and sent in eight different parts. Buy lap steel guitar fretboard chart poster e tuning. Designed by sugartone guitars and screen printed onto anodised aluminium, just like vintage fender and rickenbacker lap and console steel guitars. In this, my first instructable, i will attempt to chronicle the construction of a simple lap steel guitar. In bold easy to see letters, it clearly aligns each string down the left side with the correct note.
On the template, bore or cut out the marked locations of the pickup and the volumetone. The paper template was traced on the body blank and cut out with a band. The chart below shows the same chords and the chord positions on c6 lap steel guitar. Lap steel fretplate fretboard template plans the steel. In this lesson i teach movable major scales, arpeggios, and patterns all over the neck of your lap steel. I call this lap steel guitar simple because it is basi. The photos below show a lap steel guitar built from these exact plans. Along the top of the chart are big bold letters that show what chord you would be sounding when your slide is over the top of each fret. I even used a prewired acoustic sound hole pickup, so there was no wiring needed. Just but the top edge up against the nut and use small screws like these to screw it down. This is a 14 thick plexi template for your pattern follow bit, you simply use 2 sided tape and get to work.
These were designed for use on our 2x4 lap steel kit. I know that i can choose any dimensions like scale or fretboardwith by myself, it wont affect functionality. Steel guitar fretboards weve designed some new fretboards for our console steel guitars. Nov 25, 2015 this lap steel was made from an extra 2x4 i ha. How to make an arizona penny can alcohol stove duration. Several import lap steel guitars sell on ebay under the brand names including rogue rosetti artisan. C6 lap steel lessons understanding the fretboard for c6. Powered by create your own unique website with customizable templates. Dec 23, 2009 use tape or spray adhesive to attach it to the fretboard and a straightedge and razor knife to scribe the position.
Printable fretboards for the steel guitar diy builder. Build yourself a really cool lap steel guitar with these detailed, professionally drawn plans. These lap steel guitars are 21 scale with low quality normal guitar bridge saddles and formed plastic nuts with normal guitar spacings. Lap steel guitar parts, georgeboards instruments, s8 lap. In this, my first instructable, i will attempt to chronicle. This is accomplished with something called a nut extender, which raises the strings high above the fretboard to accommodate lap steel playing. I was so impressed with the design, i got in touch with chevens, who lives in chapeltown in yorkshire, great britain, and. This piece is 18 clear acrylic peel off the blue film to expose the clear plastic, and measures 2. Lap steel guitar parts, georgeboards instruments, s8 lap steel. The sample key for this lesson is the key of f but everything i. Most lap steel guitars were constructed using the same parts as are found on regular guitars. Gitty lap steel fretboard how to prep for mounting.
The lap steel fretboard probably looks a bit foreign to a traditional acoustic or electric guitar player who encounters one for the first time. Printable fretboards for the steel guitar diy builder pedal steel. Aug 16, 2018 duesenberg lap steel open d intro to the multibender duration. I did a search of this forum and elsewhere and cant seem to find a pdf of the basic fender lap steel like a champ. The plans feature a lap steel guitar with full schematics. On this page i offer a resource for downloading printable fret boards for lap steel and pedal steel guitars. Id like to build one or base a build on one, simple 6string version with a tele bridge pup, half bridge and control plate, etc. Diy router template s6 lap steel wpalm pedals 25 scale click images. Dbo lap steel set of templates photos may be example only,guitar,bridge pins,fret guitar,six string guitar,dread slope shoulder guitar,tenor guitar,baritone guitar,flamenco guitar,electric guitar,ukulele accessories,cuatro stings. Incidently bill, i would love to find that java virtual steel guitar program as well. Speal sent me a photo of a beautiful lap steel that looked like it was grown rather than constructed.
Im thinking of adding a lap steel to my collection. We recently received these plans from hubcap john hayward which were originally featured in practical wireless magazine in london in 1965. I dont really know what the needs are in relative or absolute numbers of various formats for slide players. Measure fret spacingprintable fret template handmade. I wa guitar string jewelry for women guitar strings daddario acoustic medium. The stewmac fret calculator can give you fret measurements for many different instruments. Gibson century lapsteel planproject is another easy to build instrument. Traditionally, guitarists start with conventional sixstrings before moving onto lap steel instruments, but dont let that discourage you from making the music you want to make. Make a 2x4 lap steel guitar easy project the howto.
The sample key for this lesson is the key of f but everything i show you can be easily moved to all of your other keys. Find any pdfs or templates for any fender lap steels online. On these pages i would like to share these experiences with you. Its set up with a standard 23inch scale, just like the store boughtlap steels. Heres what all the download and each diagram covers. Diy router template s6 lap steel wpalm pedals 25 scale click images for closeups. They could be applied to dark coloured instruments if a light coloured fret board backing is applied, maybe a piece of thin white plastic as we did on our gretsch copy. Does anybody already own the new peavey powerslide. Printable steel guitar fretboards, walkerton, indiana. A number of years ago i wrote a brochure for the hawaiian steel guitar association hsga on how to build a lap style steel guitar.
This is a handy fretting scale length template, with four separate fretboard templates showing fret placement for 24, 24. I started looking at pictures and looking for details like string spacing, and scale length. Printable steel guitar fretboards on facebook youtube. Fitting the fretboard dot markers 52 gluing on the fretboard 53 finishing the guitar 54. These are common guitar scale lengths, with probably the. Nov 24, 2015 this lap steel was made from an extra 2. Here is a pdf if you want to use mine as a template. Jag fretboard decals for lapsteel, application instructions.
Instead of playing them upright and with the strings facing away from the players body, lap steels are played while laid flat either on the lap or on a stand, or standing up using a guitar strap designed to accommodate the different angle. How to build a primitive lap steel guitar how to build a primitive lap steel guitar i recently got a hankering to build a lap steel guitar. Keep in mind to play a major chord on the fret indicated omit the a string. Lap steel guitars lap steel guitars are played in a different manner to the regular guitar. If you are looking for a down loadable fret board this would be a great deal for you.
It broke the construction process down into a little more than fifty 50 separate steps. Make templates for every cutting, boring, or routing operation performed on the body. I call this lap steel guitar simple because it is basically just a blank with strings attached. The fret markers are screen printed onto anodised aluminium, just like the early fender and rickenbacker steel guitars, for that authentic vintage look. Making the template 71 shaping the guitar 73 cutting out the shape 73. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Please note, the fret calculator will not convert scale lengths, you can use our measurement converter to convert your scale length. The decals once applied on two dano style lap steels by jaguitars.
No roundshaping of the neck required a lap steel neck can be left square because the player doesnt have to grab around it to play the instrument. Measure fret spacingprintable fret template handmade music. Bluestem strings beginners guide to lap steel construction introduction thinking of building your first lap steel. I also use the template to mark the nut and saddle slots and cut those with an xacto saw and finish with the torch tip cleaners. Almost any shape will do for a lap steel as long as it sits on your lap comfortably. Duesenberg lap steel open d intro to the multibender duration. Classic art deco style instrument and a very unusual lap steel. Home 2x4 lap steel 10 string practice board pedal steel fretboards. I need precise dimensions of any other fretboards that might be candidates for templates. The tuners and pickups from any standard guitar parts supplier such as allparts or stewartmacdonald should work for your guitar. Bluestem strings beginners guide to lap steel construction.
Lap steel guitars can be difficult to master, but thankfully, theyre priced quite well compared to larger acoustic and electric models. Ours is made from english oak with a sycamore fretboard and ebonyblack plastic inlay. This is a clear acrylic fretboard, laserengraved with fret markings for a 23inch scale. Apr 20, 2017 the perfect addition to the 2x4 lap steel kit is this simple plexi fretboard. In this lesson i go over 8 fretboard diagrams that i made for c6 tuned lap steel 6 string. Probably the hardest thing to do is to apply a nitrocellulose lacquered finish on the guitar. When building a guitar or bass and cutting your own fretboard slots versus buying a preslotted fretboard, its very important that the fret slots be cut accurately. Get the best deals on lap steel fretboard when you shop the largest online selection at. Crystal forest instrument finely crafted in the foothills. Plans to build this danelectro style steel guitar john. Select based on if you entered a scale length of inches or millimeters. Lap steel guitars can be fantastic creative outlets for beginners, and if you stick with it, youll stand out as one of the few lap steel players around. Then use a contractors square to draw the fret lines. Havent been doing much practical stuff with the lap steel apart from some marking out on the wood to indicate the positions of some of the main features, like the nut and machine head locations, headstock and fretboard outline, end of the fretboard and position of the pickup and bridge.