Bluestem Strings Lap Steel Construction Information

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO LAP STEEL CONSTRUCTION:

Click here for a quick guide to lap steel construction for the total beginner. I've put together a PDF plan for a basic lap steel, as well as a quick guide to building a first instrument. I've tried to incorporate some of the basic information that first time builders often need. Among the items covered in the text are string selection, tunings, pickup choices, and options for hardware.

FREE BASIC LAP STEEL CONSTRUCTION PRINT:

These PDF plans are loosely based on a vintage Oahu Tonemaster, with the body shape modified to match the shorter scales of the instrument shown in the print. This plan will enable you to construct a basic lap steel with either a 22-1/2" OR 24" scale length with body joining the neck at the 12th fret for either choice of scale. Details for both scales are shown. Body "wings" are shown superimposed over a 1" grid that will allow you to scale the drawing of the wing portion up to full size templates if you wish. The fret positions are printed out to scale and there are full charts for accurate fret placement. The instrument can be modified as desired following the basic layout for critical measurements.

Click HERE for a PDF plan for basic lap steel. This PDF may be printed directly on 8-1/2" by 11" paper or viewed on your computer screen where details and text can be enlarged for viewing. PDFs can be zoomed with little loss of detail, so this size of drawing can be useful. The entire basic lap steel construction print is also available below as 4 individual sections which fit together to form a larger scaled print approximately 14" high by 18" long. Make sure that your printer is set to a high quality setting, or some portions of the PDF may not print correctly. These could get you by without using the magnifying glass...

Click HERE for TOP LEFT portion of drawing.
Click HERE for TOP RIGHT portion of drawing.
Click HERE for BOTTOM LEFT portion of drawing.
Click HERE for BOTTOM RIGHT portion of drawing.

NEED A LARGER SIZE SINGLE PAGE PRINT?

Click HERE for a PDF plan that is 16" by 21-1/2" when printed on larger paper. You can save the file to CDR or flashdrive and take it to your local full service print shop and have this larger plan printed for around 3 bucks. Where else are you going to get that kind of deal? The drawing will print out on any size paper 36" by 22" or larger. Most copy shops have printers that use larger roll paper, so you only pay for what you use.

"BASIC SIX STRING LAP STEEL CONSTRUCTION GUIDE" with 110 pictures and descriptive text on CD

The guide is currently priced at $15 with first class US post office shipping included to the lower 48 United States.

Click picture for larger view...

This unique guide CD features over 50 pages of text and photos organized in 17 chapters, and follows the building of the 6 string 22-1/2" scale lap steel guitar shown below.

Instrument as constructed from the CD guide:

Click picture for larger view...

Basic Lap Steel Construction Guide CD contents:

1. Basic lap steel construction print in PDF file format. View the file on your computer or take it to your local Fed-Ex / Kinko's or other full service copy shop to print a full size 32 " by 41" print at a cost of approximately $10. If the PDF is printed out full size, templates for body shape and other items can be transferred directly to clear plastic to create templates.
The CD also contains PDFs to allow the plan to be printed on one 8-12" by 11" page or four 8-1/2" by 11" pages that assemble into a print that is approximately half size.

2. E-book entitled "BASIC SIX STRING LAP STEEL CONSTRUCTION GUIDE" (Or “How to build a basic lap steel guitar in 109 easy illustrated steps…”)
The CD guide follows the construction of one version of the instrument with over 100 photos and descriptive text to go with them. The CD guide's 17 chapters and 50 pages of text are done with smaller thumbnails of all photos and are arranged to enable you to print the guide out in a reasonably small format. The full size photos are also available on the CD so they can be transferred to your computer and viewed in a larger detailed format.
The instrument plan in PDF file format has both 22-1/2" and 24" scales shown with body joining the neck at the 12th fret on either choice of scale. The plan will enable you to construct a basic lap steel with either a 22-1/2" OR 24" scale length with details for both instruments shown. Body "wings" are shown superimposed over a 1" grid that will allow you to scale the drawing of the wing portion up to full size templates if you wish. There are also alternate suggestions for bridge and string mounting plates. The fret positions are printed out and there are full charts for accurate fret placement. The instrument can be modified as desired following the basic layout for critical measurements.

3. CD also has 109 large JPG images of all the photos from the guide's individual chapters. This allows you to explore the construction sequence in more detail.

Basic Lap Steel Construction Guide Chapters

  1. Overview
  2. Materials
  3. Center Section Construction
  4. Making templates from the basic lap steel plan
  5. Making body wings
  6. Adding fret board to body center section
  7. Adding frets to the prepared fret board
  8. Adding side wings to body center section
  9. Headstock and headstock overlay
  10. Installing the tuners
  11. Fabricating the bridge plate / string retainer
  12. Adding bridge plate / string retainer to body
  13. Making the pick guard
  14. Routing the control / pickup cavity
  15. Wiring the pickup, volume control, and output jack
  16. Adding the nut
  17. Final assembly and finishing of your lap steel
  18. Bluestem Basic Lap Steel Construction Guide Picture Caption Index

The guide is currently priced at $15 with first class US post office shipping included to the lower 48 United States. Please e-mail me with "Bluestem Info Request" in the subject line if you are interested in purchasing one of these CD guides.

Please visit my other website designed to provide information on musical instrument construction. There are free plans as well as construction tips and techniques available at the present time.

Rudy's Sketchbook of Musical Instrument Plans, Ideas, and Inspiration

If you desire to contact me about Bluestem Strings products:

Due to scoundrelous spammers actively mining sites for e-mail addresses, I'm forced to include the following text version of my e-mail address meant to confuse the automated robo-search of websites for e-mail addresses. Please e-mail me at:
rcordle (substitute the at symbol here) fastmail (substitute the dot here) fm
Please include "Bluestem Info Request" in the subject line, Thanks!