Use the same dado technique as above with the headstock.Ġ7. Cut out the pickup cavity: Notch out the wood between the 4 ½” and 6” line. Turn the 2×4 back over and the following marks on the board, starting from the butt end and going up toward the headstock:Ī) 1.5” (this will be our through-body string feed)Ġ6. Use a 5/8” drill bit to drill the tuner holes.Ġ5. I went in about 5/8” in on each side and spaced the tuners roughly an inch apart. Drill tuner holes: Mark your tuner holes on the underside of the headstock. Optional: I smoothed out the underside of the headstock on my belt sander. (Still unsure? Here’s a link to a quick tutorial.)Ġ3. You can also do the same thing by running the saw in multiple passes over the shaded area and then using a chisel to remove any extra wood chips. Cut away the bottom portion in the headstock area (shaded are in the picture). Mark a horizontal line 5/8” from the top (as pictured). Cut out the headstock: Turn the 2×4 on its side and mark a vertical line 4” from the left end. Cut a standard pine 2×4 into a 32” length.Ġ2. Electric drill + two drill bits: 3/32” and 5/16”Ġ1.One pack of medium-gauge electric guitar strings.One pack of guitar tuners, three-to-a-side (such as this $8.29 pack of tuners).Two (2) 1/2” diameter allthread rods, 3.5” long (Allthread rods are like bolts without a head.(Note: Due to harmful chemicals, do not use pressure-treated lumber!)
Free lap steel guitar plans mods#
You are basically just marking down a few lines, making a couple cuts to the 2×4 and installing simple hardware.Īt the end of this article, I have included a few mods to this design. It might look like a lot of steps, but trust me, this instrument is easy to build.
These plans will give you a very basic, yet absolutely playable lap steel.
Free lap steel guitar plans how to#
As you can tell, I’m still learning how to play this properly. It’s set up with a standard 23-inch scale, just like the store bought-lap steels! The whole thing feels great on your lap and looks absurdly cool. I even used a pre-wired acoustic sound hole pickup, so there was no wiring needed. This lap steel was made from an extra 2×4 I had in my shed, with just a few saw cuts to the wood. This is one of the easiest homemade guitars I’ve ever built, and it took me only an hour to make.