How to Build a Lap Steel Guitar

Playing the lap steel guitar can be a wonderful experience. Only people who play will know what it feels like to create the unique sounds that lap steel guitars are known for. Have you ever wondered if you could build a lap steel guitar yourself? Many people have wanted to do so. This can be a very fulfilling and exciting project to undertake, and you are sure to love it. If you want to build a lap steel guitar, you have two basic options before you – you can start completely from scratch, or you can buy a kit.

Thankfully, there are many online resources available to help you. In some cases you can find instructions for free, and in other cases you can pay for a more professional blueprint. Well.com offers several options for you. There is a complete kit that contains everything you need to build a lap steel guitar except finishing products, glue, and tools.

You will get quality parts that are pre-made and ready to put together, strings included. The cost to build a lap steel guitar using this complete kit is about 400 dollars, but you can get a copy of the blueprints for only 10 dollars. There is even a blueprint available of a classic 1950s era Supro Supremo guitar. Other sites offer kits and plans for other prices, such as SteelGuitarMojo.com. This site has a 'build a lap steel guitar' kit for only 275 dollars. There are also tons of great links to forums and other sites where you can get plenty of information about building your own guitar.

If you decide to build a lap steel guitar from scratch, you will have a lot of work ahead of you. However, this will be extremely satisfying work, as you will know that each individual piece of your guitar has been picked out and hand crafted by you. You will need many pieces of wood and tools such as wood lathes, bow saws, drills, hammers, clamps, and more. Be extremely careful when cutting and shaping your wood pieces, because they can be very delicate. You will need to be very precise with everything you do, because musical instruments need to be finely tuned to sound good at all.

There are many sites online that can help you build a lap steel guitar for free. Ehow.com is not a bad place to start, but this site tends to be on the simple side. BlueStemStrings.com is a much more detailed and thorough site. This site has tons of information about lap steel guitars in addition to just building them. There is a detailed walkthrough of the entire building process, along with extensive tips and advice for each stage.

If you like to learn by watching, you can also learn to build a lap steel guitar purely on YouTube and other video sites. There are plenty of talented musicians who love to share their knowledge and teach others. Good luck! Click here to learn how to build a lap steel guitar.


Photo Credit: Jeanne Menj