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Author
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Topic: Using A Telecaster for Lap Steel
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Gaylon Mathews
Member From: Jasper, GA & Nashville, TN
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posted 05 May 2003 05:38 AM
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Has anyone ever used a Telecaster or other regular guitar with a raised nut for lap steel? If so, how did you raise the nut? I've seen a cast aluminum nut made to sit on top of the existing nut but is this the best way to go?------------------
Gaylon's Homepage
www.geocities.com/nashville/1064 Craig Collins & High Lonesome
www.craigcollinslive.com
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Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 05 May 2003 06:02 AM
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I had to use a regular guitar on a gig once, didn't have any extension nut available so I balanced an allen wrench on top of the nut,- not recommended but it saved the gig.  Those extension nuts works well, I have one that I sometimes use on an otherwise useless acoustic if I have to go places where I don't want to bring my Weissenborn copy.....[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 05 May 2003 at 06:03 AM.] |
D Schubert
Member From: Columbia, MO, USA
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posted 05 May 2003 07:06 AM
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Those $5 extension nuts work very well, especially with heavier-gage strings. You can also slide a screwdriver, Swiss Army knife, nail, centerpunch, pencil, etc. just behind the 2nd or 3rd fret to function as a high-nut for a shorter scale. This is convenient for a few last-minute tunes, or for a jam session. I read that Marty Stuart & Brian Ahern rigged up a guitar this way for some control-room overdubs on a George Jones album. And, somebody out there makes bolt-on square necks for Teles and Strats that look like they'd be great for a more permanent conversion. |
Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 05 May 2003 07:13 AM
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Those necks are the 'Rednecks' from Lapdancer Guitars; http://www.lapdancerguitars.com/news.html |
Andy Zynda
Member From: Wisconsin
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posted 05 May 2003 07:17 AM
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Danny Gatton used to shove the handle of a broken off butterknife under the strings at the 2nd fret. With a good set of pickups, it'll sound very similar to a stringmaster.
Danny also used an old 6L6 tube for a slide. Being so light, he could pull off some very slick tricks, while getting an interesting nasal twang out of it.
-andy-
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Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 05 May 2003 07:35 AM
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I have the "Red Neck" installed on a Fender Strat. I did have a Tele that I was going to put it on but after painting it, I just didn't like the looks of it so put it on the Strat. I painted it "Dakota Red", a Fender color from the 50's, and it really looks good with the Torino red Strat. I am going to send some pictures to Loni Specter, the fellow that makes the necks, and he might post it on his site. It turned into quite a guitar!
Erv |
John Billings
Member From: Northfield Center, Ohio, USA
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posted 05 May 2003 10:48 AM
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I also use and highly reccommend Loni's conversion necks. They are priced very reasonably and work Great! I put one on a 3-pickup Tele, and it's a killer!
JB |
Travis Bernhardt
Member From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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posted 05 May 2003 02:21 PM
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How important is the distance between the pickup and the strings? I've wondered if raising the nut on these guitars puts the strings too far away from the pickup and if you lose some presence or something... This is something I've also wondered about the magnetic soundhole pickups for acoustic lap guitar. Does anybody know if there's a certain optimal distance that the strings should be from the pickup? -Travis |
Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 05 May 2003 02:29 PM
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On the Strat that I converted, you can crank on the screws on each end of the pickups to bring them up to the strings. I guess the thickness of a quarter is said to be about the right distance between the pickup and strings. |
Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 05 May 2003 02:41 PM
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Be very careful not to get the magnets of single-coils TOO close to the strings, because the magnetic pull on the strings can interfer with the sustain and also create some very unpleasent overtones.
Especially the bass strings are vulnerable to this, I would not go any closer than 5-6mm, treble strings 2-3mm.I've had people coming to me complaining that they can't get the intonation right on their Strats, and all I've had to do was to lower the bass side of the pickups.
Those single-coils has a nasty magnetic pull, hold a screwdriver over it and you'll see what I mean. |
Scott Houston
Member From: Oakland, CA
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posted 05 May 2003 03:04 PM
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I was playing around with a "new" Danelectro recently, set up with an extension nut, tuned to a Dobro open G. The pickups are fair to middlin', but the accoustic tone is clear and mellow.It sounds wonderful to me. Wish someone would make a hollow masonite 8 string lap. That would be sweet. |
Loni Specter
Member From: West Hills, CA, USA
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posted 06 May 2003 11:20 PM
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Thanks for the kind words about my 'RedNeck' conversion necks. I've had no complaints so far. You don't need to jack up the bridge much at all, as the flat fingerboard sits about even with your pickguard, much lower than your useless old Strat or Tele neck. The string height is 3/8" off the fingerboard, and 3/8" string spacing at the nut.
Those inexpensive nut raisers are fine, but there really isn't enough wood in a standard neck to give you any real steel tone. The RedNecks are massive and that's where the tone lives.
I'm working on a project guitar with Jason Lollar and David Borisoff (Hipshot) on a Tele equipt with the RedNeck, a Lollar Horseshoe pickup, and the Trilogy bridge. Greg Leisz will be road testing it, and maybe I can get Brad Bechtel to review it for you all.
Thanks for being out there!
Loni www.lapdancerguitars.com |
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