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Author
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Topic: Convert strat to lap steel?
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Danny Bates
Member From: Fresno,CA. USA
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posted 09 May 2002 04:21 PM
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A while back somebody posted a link to a guy selling a square neck that can be bolted on to a strat to make it into a lap steel. Does anybody know how I can a link to their site or maybe find the person selling these? Thanks |
Brad Bechtel
Moderator From: San Francisco, CA
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posted 09 May 2002 04:42 PM
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You're probably thinking of the Redneck by Lapdancer Guitars.
It's a great idea.------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars [This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 09 May 2002 at 04:43 PM.]
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Danny Bates
Member From: Fresno,CA. USA
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posted 09 May 2002 10:59 PM
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That's it Brad. Thank You |
Michael Johnstone
Member From: Sylmar,Ca. USA
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posted 10 May 2002 12:53 AM
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Lonnie Specter brought one over and let me try it out and it's pretty cool - reminds me of that classic Allman/Raitt/Cooder/Lowell George strat slide sound - except cleaner.He also makes one for a tele(slight difference in neck socket shape). -MJ- |
Chris DeBarge
Member From: Boston, Mass
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posted 10 May 2002 06:29 AM
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You mean someone finally came up with a good use for a Str*t?  Even Jimi Hendrix was known to burn his... |
Bill Leff
Member From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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posted 10 May 2002 07:02 AM
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What a cool idea! |
Andy Greatrix
Member From: Edmonton Alberta
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posted 11 May 2002 01:21 AM
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I wonder if one of the necks would fit on the neck of my musicman stingray 2? it feels like a tele. Red Volkaert played it through a twin reverb once, and it had tone to to die for. (still does)I always thought it would make a great lap steel. |
Jody Carver
Member From: The Knight Of Fender Tweed. Dodger Blue Forever
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posted 11 May 2002 07:38 AM
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Andy
Leo's Stingray and Sabre guitars were in my opinion the best he ever designed. The problem was,,,,how do you follow your own act?His G&L guitars "ASAT" were great as well,,,but although his name was "Fender"..people still wanted the guitars
he created early on. Yes,,,,that guitar you have has a sound "to die for"..Its great. |
Brad Bechtel
Moderator From: San Francisco, CA
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posted 23 December 2002 05:52 PM
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Loni Specter was kind enough to allow me to review one of his RedNeck squared-off lap style necks for Fender-style Strat or Telecaster guitars. I like it!The review instrument I received was one of those Japanese-made plywood bodied Squire Stratocasters. It has the three default pickups with a Redneck neck attached.
I changed the strings to a D’Addario DM200 series (.013 to .056 gauge) and used open E tuning (bass to treble E B E G# B E), and open D tuning (D A D F# A D). Both tunings worked well with the heavier gauge strings.
I played the guitar through a Fender Pro Junior and a silver face Fender Princeton Reverb with and without various effects, including overdrive, phaser and reverb/delay. As you might expect, the Redneck features very solid construction – it’s one solid piece of maple, with plastic dot and fret markers. Since this type of guitar neck isn’t designed to be fretted, the markers provide only a visual clue as to where you are on the neck. They do the job well. It’s very easy to see the fret markers even on a dark stage against the light maple wood of the neck. Loni used the stock Fender tuners on this neck, and they worked just fine with the string set I used. The pickups sound very nice with this neck. I could see where a good set of pickups would sound amazing. It’s nice having three pickups to play with; you get a wider variety of tones than you get on any lap steel I’ve played. My wife Roberta said “that looks cool” when she saw it. - Scale length is 25.25” nut to bridge. This is a longer scale than most lap steels (22.5”). The advantage is slightly better tone on the low notes; the disadvantage is that it’s a bit harder to play slants on adjacent strings on lower frets. Overall I liked the longer scale length.
- String spacing from bass to treble string is 1-7/8” at the nut
- String spacing from bass to treble is 2-1/8” at the bridge
- String clearance is 3/8” at nut and bridge
- String spacing is 3/8” at nut, slightly less at bridge
- Scale length from nut to 12th fret is 12-3/4”
- The neck has 21 frets to the body, with dot markers at 3,5,7,9,12, 15, 17, 19, 21 frets
The back of the neck is unfinished. I didn't necessarily like that at first, but I came to appreciate it as I played the guitar more. It means that the neck doesn’t slip on smooth pants. It doesn’t make any difference to the overall feel of the neck or its performance. I could see someone decorating the outside face of the square neck with their name like the old-time steel guitarists used to do.I attached a Dobro guitar strap to the strap button at the bottom of the body and tied the top strings of the strap to the notch at the top of the guitar head. The guitar plays well when you’re standing, although I get the feeling that a Tele-style body would fit against your body better. The top of the Strat body is contoured, so it doesn’t lie against your body as well as a Tele might. The notch is “a distinguishing design feature”, according to Mr. Specter. “The same theme is carried out on my Lapdancer lap steels. (It’s supposed to be a nipple shape if you look at the negative silhouette of the headstock.)”
Frets are inlaid into the neck, as are the dot markers. They show up well in dark situations, especially against the light wood. The guitar really sounds nice and resonant; harmonics chime nicely at the appropriate frets. I first noted it when playing it unplugged in my bedroom. It almost felt like I had a reverb hooked up somewhere (due to the springs attached to the bridge). When I played it live, I was able to nail some Ry Cooder-ish licks pretty easily. I can see where attaching a neck like this to a decent body and set of pickups would make a big difference. The reverb provided by the whammy bar springs adds a subtle but noticeable effect to your playing. I think this is a great way to get that Strat or Tele sound in a steel guitar. I like the tonal variations available through the combination of pickups. If you were looking for a more typical Hawaiian sound, you’d probably want to get a regular lap steel. The Redneck would appeal to someone who has an extra guitar (possibly with a bad or damaged neck), is familiar with rock and slide guitar, and wants the extra stability that a square neck provides. It's an inexpensive way to turn a regular guitar into a steel guitar. The neck will definitely support the tensions from any tuning you use without any fear that you'd have the tension problems you'd have with a regular guitar's neck. ------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
Mike Ihde
Member From: Boston, MA
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posted 24 December 2002 12:11 AM
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Of course you could spend $5 and get a nut raiser for any guitar, electric or acoustic and you're off and running. My students at Berklee do this so they can take my Lap Steel class. Then, after the bug bites them, they eventually go out and find a real Steel. It's a great and cheap way to get the hang of playing Lap Steel and work on your picking and bar technique. |
Jesse Pearson
Member From: San Diego , CA
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posted 24 December 2002 12:17 AM
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I have a 7 string strat tuned to Jr. Browns C13 tuning without the high G string. I have heavy gauge strings on it and high action. I play it Don Helms style(bottle neck)with no slanting, and believe it or not, I can still fret it for some unusual chords and picking when not playing bottle neck. The long scale neck does create more tension than I like and alittle too much thin tone. I prefer my short scale lap steel better. I wonder what one of those square necks would be like with a 22.5" or 24" scale. I don't see why it wouldn't work? |
Andy Zynda
Member From: Wisconsin
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posted 24 December 2002 06:32 AM
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Just as a quick & dirty, Danny Gatton used to shove a broken off, butterkinfe handle under the strings of his 53 Tele (at the 2nd fret) when he wanted to play lapsteel. He said it sounded just like an old stringmaster.
I tried it.
I like it.
-andy-
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Brad Bechtel
Moderator From: San Francisco, CA
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posted 24 December 2002 08:20 AM
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I agree that you can use a Hawaiian adapter nut to achieve basically the same effect (I use one on my roundneck Dobro® , but if you're working with heavy gauge strings, you may run the risk of warping the guitar's neck.
I can say that playing a Stratocaster/RedNeck guitar as a squareneck guitar somehow feels more "right" to me than playing a roundneck Strat with an extender. ------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
Jesse Pearson
Member From: San Diego , CA
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posted 24 December 2002 12:37 PM
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Andy, your right! Pretty cool, Thanks... |
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