MIMF

Thank you very much Barry for the information!
I think I'll try the inlay approach.

Hello folks, On a lap steel build, I'm thinking about using fret wire, which I've never used before. I'm not using a separate fret board, so I can't use a fret saw (because the neck is wider than the fret board would be). So I'm wondering whether I could make slots in the right places with a fine ch...

Very creative and inspiring! I'd love to know how you did the scroll headstock. Is it attached to the neck or are they all one piece? Thanks, in advance.

Hello folks, I built a lap steel with one single-coil pickup, which I wired directly to the output jack. It works fine. I would, however, like to add a tone control. I want to omit the volume control--mainly because I don't have room for it. I'm clueless about electronics and have not been able to f...

Hi everyone, does anyone have a plan for a Gibson lap steel or similar? I have a yearning for one and enough parts..... Melvyn Hiscock (email address removed to prevent spamming) Hello Melvyn, Have you seen Martin Koch's Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar ? It offers a plan for one that resembles some...

What an elegant and distinctive guitar. It's an inspiration. Mark, would you mind telling us how you finished it? I'm especially curious about how you handled the mahogany.
Thanks,
CM

What a beautiful guitar and what an orginal approach to the body!
How does it sound?
What would you be willing to share about how you carved/shaped the body?
Thanks,
Claude

Using some pictures and the help of an artist friend I've arrived at a working drawing. We'll see how it goes. In any case this request is moot.
Thanks,
CM

Thanks for the reply JC. Given that I'm addicted to google I've accumulated a folder full of such pictures including that one. I've scaled a few of those up but that hasn't been all that satisfactory. Maybe I would do better to work with a small scale design and scale up.

Hello folks, As you may recall from an earlier post, my project is to build a lap steel modeled on the Magnatone Leilani, which I've only seen in pictures. I'd be ready to start making sawdust except for the fact that none of my drawing looks right to me. I was hoping one of you might be generous en...

I would need a volume control though. And can you explain the "tone choke" switch? I think I see the shafts of two pots right where you'd expect them to be? Or are those something else? What's your theory on knobs? That said, this is a beautiful guitar and I love the choice of woods. Gorg...

Thank you all, Barry, Jim, and Steve! Thank all of you for the useful information. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say, and I decided to buy a prefabricated brass nut from a lap steel builder. This will improve my chances of producing something somewhat playable. Next time (and I a...

Why not simply use a little PVA glue or hide glue? If you need, you can remove the nut by tapping it and it should fall off easily. Then you can rework it, or reglue if needed. As far as working bone, it can break, but it sands easily, and you can use a set of needle files or regular machine files ...

Nick Middleton wrote:Drilling though is fine. I wouldn't dare trying to tap screw-threads though.

Many thanks Nick.

Hans Bezemer wrote:Claude,

I've actually tried this a few weeks back and it worked fine.
Drilled a small hole and countersicked the hole with a bigger drill, screwed the bone on a piece of wood.
Take care not to overtight the screw.

Hans

Many thanks Hans. That's exactly what I was thinking of doing.

Hello all, Although I've never worked with bone I'm thinking about using a bone nut on a lap steel that I'm building. I see that I can get blanks that are a quarter inch thick. Would it be possible to drill a couple of holes through a bone blank to use fine screws to attach it to the neck? I have no...

Thanks for you response tonefriendly, but I had gathered that much from wudtone's site. What I was trying to get at was the chemical content behind terms like "base coat" and "toner coat." Admittedly, my question was vague. Here's what I was hoping to get at. I hoped that someone...

Hello all, I like the look of this new (to me, anyway) way of finishing a guitar: http://www.wudtone.com/shop/?wpsc-product=finishing-kit-surfer-girl-2 I particularly like that color. Yet, I have to ask, what is this stuff? Is it two bottles of wipe-on varnish with pigment followed by a clear varnis...

I get the feeling you think it would be a bad idea to try this at home. Again, I appreciate the info I really like knowing how it was done even though I wouldn't attempt it. By the way, I think that finish is still common for accordions and it looks like you can buy sheets of the stuff for inlays an...

Dave,
Thank you so much! This will be a great help!
I wonder, do you know how they achieved the faux mother of pearl finish?
Claude