My first lesson learned with guitar building

Werner-Carstens

OK, so I decided to enter the world of guitar building/modification with a lap steel. It made sense to me to start with this as I do not have to deal with frets and truss rods and can learn the basics about electronics, scale length, bridges, nuts etc.
Tonight I started with cutting the nut slots and managed to stuff it up within 15 minutes. The reason - not having the right tools.

Lesson 1 then: "My son, get the right tools for the job".

Nut files on Stew-mac $140.98 for 6. Are they crazy? Probably, but then you only file once since my set of needle files from the local hardware shop did not do the job...

Do you guys have eny other lessons that you have learned that you can share with me as I have realised I am not going to stop with the lapsteel. I thought GAS was bad...

Manfred-Klose

Are you fixing up a old lap steel, or building one?

With what material are you making the nut from?

Try this one,its really simple, and its electric:
http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/

g1

1) Plan, plan, plan. Before cutting wood you should have full scale drawings either on a computer or hard copy. All the vital measurements should be accounted for. Diagram should include side profile as well as front/back.

2) Before finalising your design make sure you have your parts in hand. Make sure you know how deep the truss-rod slot needs to be, the string height at the bridge, that the tuners will comfortably fit on the headstock, etc

3) Read books on the topic. Melvyn Hiscock's book is excellent!

There's 3 at least.

Werner-Carstens

I made the lap steel from scratch from free plans

Werner-Carstens

Sorry, let's try that reply again. I built the lap steel from plans I got from the internet - not very detailed but enough to get started. The body is from African mahogany, I used a tele bridge with a Highway 1 tele bridge pick-up. The scale length is 22 inches and I added a volume and tone pot to tame the Tele pickup a bit. I used the big Dobro style nut (nice one's from Stewmac product code 1526) and it's here that I stuffed it up. Because it is so wide (4 mm) I couldn't get the slots filed proparly over the entire width. I used the wrong files I guess.

AlanRatcliffe

It's possible to do with needle files, but tricky. I used some for a while at first before caving and getting a set of nut files.

Even With nut files it's easy to make a mistake and cut too deep though - especially when they are new. I still make mistakes - partly because I'm a bit out of practice and partly cos I like a super low nut action and often miscalculate and make just one stroke too many.

Best advice I can give you is take your time and practice, practice, practice.

Wizard

Sounds like tuning marimba bars ... where you remove wood to tune them.
There's that dreadful feeling where you get a little zealous ... check the pitch ... and the tuner shows 10 cents too flat !!

(glueing wood back doesn't really work)

From the online resource I was learning from, I was 'reliably' informed that once you've taken off too much wood, you can't put it back, and you have braai wood.
(or wood for making really small things)

I must surely be one of the few people to have made braai's with Madagascan rosewood, kiaat, bubinga ...

Then I realised my unbelievable stupidity.
Pitch is obviously dependent on bar length.
Shortening the bar raises the pitch again ... and it's so sensitive you can remove 0.5mm to raise it by a full semi-tone!

My braai's no longer use exotic wood.

The price of learning.

An interesting caveat - kiln dried wood, ready for woodworking is so dry that it REALLY burns easily !!

g1

Alan Ratcliffe wrote It's possible to do with needle files, but tricky. I used some for a while at first before caving and getting a set of nut files.

Even With nut files it's easy to make a mistake and cut too deep though - especially when they are new. I still make mistakes - partly because I'm a bit out of practice and partly cos I like a super low nut action and often miscalculate and make just one stroke too many.

Best advice I can give you is take your time and practice, practice, practice.

I've also always though that the action at the nut should be as low as possible. I like the idea of zero frets. Makes the job much easier!

AlanRatcliffe

I like the idea of zero frets. Makes the job much easier!

Amen! Perfect nut action instantly. The downside is more friction for trem users.

AlanRatcliffe

I must surely be one of the few people to have made braai's with Madagascan rosewood, kiaat, bubinga ...

You're not my friend anymore...

Heath

*cry* , damn heathen

Werner-Carstens

Thanks guys, I guess then it is a question of practising. But over R1400 for 6 nut files (cutting both sides) sounds a bit crazy to me. Are they really worth it?

Spyke

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
I must surely be one of the few people to have made braai's with Madagascan rosewood, kiaat, bubinga ...
You're not my friend anymore...

My question is, could he tell the difference in the taste of the
meat?

AlanRatcliffe

You should be able to get the Ibanez made ones on www.universaljems.com - they were always cheaper than the strewmac.

OK Just checked:
$105 - http://www.universaljems.com/cart/tools.htm (you can also buy individuals at $13.50 - $17.25 ea)

and from Luthier's mercantile:
FN nut files, set of 5 $59.95
FNS nut files, double sided set of 3 $62.65
FISET nut files, Ibanez, set of 8 $94.45
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?searchtext=nut+files&Submit=Quick+Search&NameProdHeader=Nut+%26+Saddle+Files

Werner-Carstens

Thanks Alan. Will check them all out!!
+1

Wizard

In response to the valid outrage over braai'ing with exotic woods ...
we are talking about a few bars that were 'errored' beyond anything usable.

We all have to learn somehow don't we?

On a slightly different topic the planks of Madagascan rosewood I bought had particularly 'waney' edges ... so after cutting out the blanks for the bars have ended up with a few interesting offcuts.

One of them was NEARLY wide enough for a fretboard, but not quite.
They are too big and valuable to discard, but not directly usable for anything I need them for.

Are there little bits and pieces to be made for guitars that would benefit from small pieces of padauk, maple and rosewood?

Manfred-Klose

Are there little bits and pieces to be made for guitars that would benefit from small pieces of padauk, maple and rosewood?

The possibalities are endless...........volume knob, pick up rings, truss rod cover, acoustic guitar bridge, binding around a fretboard or body...................Anything else?

AlanRatcliffe

Yup. My Sanox has Madagascan pickup rings and Indian knobs and switch tips.

BTW - If you end up with woods too thin to use, but fairly wide, I might take them - always good for control cavity covers:

g1

Wizard wrote In response to the valid outrage over braai'ing with exotic woods ...
we are talking about a few bars that were 'errored' beyond anything usable.

We all have to learn somehow don't we?

On a slightly different topic the planks of Madagascan rosewood I bought had particularly 'waney' edges ... so after cutting out the blanks for the bars have ended up with a few interesting offcuts.

One of them was NEARLY wide enough for a fretboard, but not quite.
They are too big and valuable to discard, but not directly usable for anything I need them for.

Are there little bits and pieces to be made for guitars that would benefit from small pieces of padauk, maple and rosewood?

If it's almost wide enough for a finger board you could add maple binding to the sides to build up the width.

Wizard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Yup. My Sanox has Madagascan pickup rings and Indian knobs and switch tips.

How did you make those knobs Alan?
Did you turn them on a mini-lathe?
File them into shape with a nail file? ?