Very nice guitar.

[This message was edited by Bill Hatcher on 02 January 2006 at 05:09 PM.]

Fretboard is maple, painted with clear lacquer, then I marked the frets with a fine 'Stabilo' permanent marker - which turned out not to be so permanent, after all - when I painted another layer of lacquer over the markings, they almost started to dissolve, giving a slightly purplish hue to the last layer...

[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 02 January 2006 at 05:28 PM.]

I guess I'm just naieve, what does that bar do across the strings on the peghead?

Did you make the strings thru the body diagonal for a purpose or purely asthetic?

Roman

[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 02 January 2006 at 05:46 PM.]

I don't know what the wood would cost - I used two blanks from bass necks, try finding a place that sells something similar to see what it costs - I'd guess around 60 to 80 USD, if you are lucky? Add another 10 to 20 for a maple fretboard blank.
Depending on what kind of pickup you get, price can vary highly, from around 30 to well above 100 USD - I had this old SD P90 lying around, those are not cheap new, for good inexpensive ones check out the GFS brand at www.guitarfetish.com - I have their 'New York' models in my archtop hollow-body guitar and love them, but for a lap steel I would try another model - their 'Dream 90' and P90 look promising, if you are going for a fat tone.
Pots, cable, plug, cap, and screws should run to about 20 to 30 USD at most.
My Kluson tuners cost about 30 USD, you can find cheaper no-name one, though (also at the guitarfetish site...)
The aluminium profile should be available for around 5 USD. You also need something to cover the electronics cavity - I used aluminium as well (grounded - to give extra shielding against noise).
You need some glue (I used real animal hide glue), and something for finishing the guitar (paint, or, like I used, some wax/oil type finish) - maybe 5 to 10 USD.

All in all, this would make about 150 to 200 USD total (unless you already have some of the stuff).

It will be more expensive if you have to get some tools, though - here are all the ones I used:
electric drill, with drill stand (an absolute must, you can't do without this!);
I used a Forstner-type drill bit and a chisel for making all my routing work, but this would have been easier with a real electric router;
sanding block and LOTS of sandpaper (coarse and fine);
a few clamps for glueing things together;
metal saw & small files (for making nut and bridge);
some kind of saw for cutting the wood;
soldering iron; pliers; small screw drivers;
brushes;

Do you know that site? http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/

For those looking for budget guitar parts I can recommend my friend Dennis Antel at http://www.guitarpartsusa.com/
I was ordering some tailpieces and things and tried one of the $12 Tele bridge P/Us in a 22.5" Mahogany and Maple lap steel and the thing just rips!
With the exception of fretwire I've been very happy with everything I've gotten from him... and you guys don't need fretwire anyway do ya?

Thanks for the pictures, very nice looking steel!

I am envious of that P90. the string spacing you are using is close to 3/8" ?

Dom, here are some pics of the bottom side:

The cover for the electronics was made from 1 mm aluminium sheet - I put a layer of black plastic on top of that, to prevent the screw heads from tearing my pant legs...
Those two recessed screws next to it hold the handrest from the back (they go through the body).
The backside of the headstock is the part I'm least satisfied with - since I only had that Forstner drill bit and a chisel for making it, it did not come out very clean (as it would have with a router), so I had to use some filler to cover holes and scratches, and had to paint over to cover the filler; still not great looking, but nobody will see it when playing, anyway...

Terry, thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that out!

[This message was edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 03 January 2006 at 02:02 PM.]

About sound clips: well, first I have to learn how to play that instrument... And also, I don't know at all how to record on a computer - my own one is a pretty old model, I'm not even sure whether it would run any current recording software (which I don't have either). I guess there should be a way to hook up that Yamaha 4-track tape recorder (which I still have from my days playing in a band in the early '90s) to the sound-card, maybe I'll try that some time.

Scotty,
I'm not familiar with the Volutones - I guess the design was influenced by my looking at almost every Ebay auction for a lap steel since December - particularly some National model and this Epiphone: http://cgi.ebay.at/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7374870710&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
influenced the shape of the butt end.