Steel Guitar Lap

Five Secrets of Building a Weissenborn Guitar

For over twenty years I had always been very curious about building a guitar. I had played acoustic guitars almost since I could remember. I had a great mate who lived just down the road from and we did everything together so when he announced he was going to learn to play guitar, naturally, I didn’t want to be left out! We bought a couple of new guitars and practised hard together even on cold Winter’s night we went to the local Laundrette to practise when our folks threw us out!……Yes, my enthusiasm has never waned all through my great hippy youth until today where I find myself living on a yacht in Australia with eight wonderful guitars at the dodgy age of fifty eight..I even still do a few gigs!

But I digress! no matter how many guitars I owned over the years…and I have owned a few…I always had a secret desire to build one for myself. I proudly imagined how I would lovingly carve it all out, inlay it with black Coral, turquoise, silver and glowing mother of pearl. But, whenever it came to the crunch I just didn’t have the balls to actually get stuck in and get to grips with it.

What was wrong? I couldn’t work it out. I had achieved many other things I had set out to do along my journey through life. I’d built a 43 foot yacht, for one thing. I had learned that in order to finish a project off was to tell every living soul I knew that I was going to do it…that way, I knew that later,when my enthusiasm flagged, I just had to see it through, if I didn’t I would get the reputation as a bigmouth ‘gonna be, wanna be” I secretly thought of it as my ‘insurance policy! It really helped, for sure.

However, as much as I loved playing, my life took a big jolt when I finally went to see a great Aussie guy called Jeff Lang play at a concert in my home town. I sat enthralled, spun out, totally blown away at the rich, vibrant, cool whiny sound that seemed to leap from this amazingly shaped Lap Steel guitar.

It just did not seem possible that a guitar could sound so full, so haunting, so melodic, to tell you the truth, I was so overcome with it all, I felt tears run down my face I felt such a fool…Well, what a state to get in!It was a big crossroads in my guitar playing!

This incident never left me the same again… I wanted one of those Weissenborns so bad it hurt. I felt I couldn’t face my other guitars again. I sulked, we didn’t speak for some weeks…..but I gave in, had to I’d wanted a Taylor all my life…now I’d got it, wasn’t I ever going to play it again? Something was different though…I wanted to play that bloody thing like I’d never wanted to play before, so I did, you’d better believe it. I dont even want to think about how long and how many hours it took me to start improving but I damn well did.

I’ve taken all this time to get around to the whole point of this article. I had got over the indecision that had haunted me…I couldn’t afford two or three grand to buy a good lap steel. No way. I luckily have a great friend in Luthier Kim Hancock of Tamborine Mountain in Queensland. Kim, a kind soul along with his two boys ( also fearsome luthiers) Dane and Sean, build guitars that are something else already established as amongst the best in the World market…

Kim was really encouraging and gave me my first secret, unwittingly. If you start it and stuff it up…so what? It’s only a piece of wood, see what you did wrong, chuck it in the garbage and order another piece..simple! Then, do it right the second time!

The second secret came right on the back of the first one.! Dont let the project intimidate you…take control of it..you are the master, it is the subject. The best secret of all came as I started to build ….I remembered the words during our conversation a few weeks before….Treat every stage of the build as a separate project. The back, the sides, the bridge, the headstock.. a separate project. See, thats a good secret, I reckon. That way You Can see the build as lots of small projects instead of one big overwhelming monster……Hey and give yourself a reward every time you complete one of those stages..a beer, a lollypop, go splash out people, dont get cheap on yourselves! The next secret is this: During the build there is always something that will stop you dead in your tracks. With me it was” How in Hell’s bells am I ever going to get the back join perfect or the front one, come to mention it?”Well, my secret was in the fact that I had a good guitar making book supplied to me by Kim. The answer was in there! Glue some sandpaper to a straight edged spirit level and then sand each section smooth as a baby’s bum…see, simple when you know how!

So, find your way round every problem by thinking about it carefully…there is always a way round each problem you encounter, it may not always be the way you had imagined! Oh, yeah, the name of the book is ” A guitar Maker’s manual by Jim Williams” You can get that from Kim Hancock’s site www.Australian Luthiers supplies.com.au Let me say though, there are no plans for a Weissenbourn in there, you can get those from StewMac in the U.S. or other suppliers.

The final secret is a real simple one: Make a firm decision to see it through to the end. I actually live on a yacht in a Marina.. I nearly talked myself out of building the guitar time and time again. I have heard so many times” How can I build a guitar when I havn’t got a shed, a bench saw and so on?” BS people, BS with a capital BULL. Make the best of what you have, get your timber supplier to cut up the timber to size, then get it planed so you dont need all that expensive gear, Man,THEY got it all!

There are a few more secrets too….I have written a book “How to build a Weissenborn Guitar”that will give you a few more lights to shine in those dark corners of that mind of yours! to help you do this thing!This guitar is really basic, just like the originals, no purfling ,no truss rods( they dont need ‘em) bone simple but the sound! YEE haaa! It tells you how to build the guitar of your dreams at your own speed right there at home, in the shed garage or flat with the very minimum of tools and experience. I now have a site all about the build called www.buildaweissenborn.com that you can also see in the authors resource box.

There are some pictures of my new weissenborn there, made incidentally, with Australian Maple( a cousin of Koa) and an indian rosewood fretboard which actually does not have any frets on at all and maybe never will! Finally, I do hope that any of you out there reading this article will want to know how my Weissenborn turned out…..bloody awesome! It is the loudest guitar I have ever heard in thirty years of playing… I can hardly sing over the sound of it!!! and that’s saying something people cause I do have one loud voice.. not a good one folks, but a loud one!! It’s been a levelling but incredible experience, thanks again to my good mate Kim Hancock for all the help and advice he so freely gave to me especially when he didn’t have to!

Terry Buddell is a freelance journalist and a Marine surveyor, boat designer and shipwright, He lives on board his yacht “The Nicky J Miller’ that he built himself on The Gold Coast Australia and has sailed his yacht up the East Coast to the beautiful Whitsunday Islands. He is currently resident in Gladstone Queensland where he is building another boat for his collection of plans for sale on the internet. In his spare time(what spare time??) Terry, a keen guitarist has also built a Weissenborn lap steel guitar, a long time dream! Pictures for most of the articles can be viewed on the website below.

Terry can be contacted on http://www.buildaweissenborn.com and will have another site up and running shortly called http://www.slideguitarworld.com

About the Author

Terry Buddell, a freelance writer, lives on board his yacht in Australia. He recently built a weissenborn acoustic Slide Guitar on board and you can see photos of the build, buy the book on how to build it, listen to a sound clip of the guitar or even buy the plans for the guitar on www.buildaweissenborn.com .

Fender Lap Steel Guitar by Billy Penn: 300guitars.com

Arlen Roth – Lap Steel Guitar $24.95 “For lap steel guitar. Music Sales America. Country, hawaiian, jazz. DVD. Duration 45 minutes. Hot Licks #HOT539. Published by Hot Licks”

Lap Steel Guitar $25.95 Centerstream proudly presents the first-ever comprehensive book about lap-steel and console steel guitars. Includes: interviews and profiles of more than 35 of the greatest electric and acoustic steel guitarists of the past and present, representing most forms of music played in the world today; previously unpublished photos and commentary on vintage steel guitars and new instruments from the best modern builders; resources for guitars, amplifiers, accessories, instructional materials, steel guitar tunings; and much more. Players covered include: Junior Brown, Bob Brozman, Jerry Byrd, Papa Cairo, Jody Carver, Cindy Cashdollar, Bruce Clarke, John Ely, Pete Grant, Steve Howe, Andy Iona, Harry Manx, Dick McIntire, Santo and Johnny and dozens of others. 336 pages, with 40 pages of wonderful color

The Hal Leonard Lap Steel Guitar Method $11.6 The Hal Leonard Lap Steel Guitar Method is designed for anyone just learning to play the six-string lap steel guitar. This comprehensive and easy-to-use beginner’s guide by country music veteran Johnie Helms includes many fun songs and hot licks to learn and play. The accompanying CD contains 95 tracks of hot licks and cool songs for demonstration and play along. Topics include tunings, chords, scales, key positions, right- and left-hand techniques, vibrato, string pulls, slants, music reading, and much more

Anyone Can Play C6 Lap Steel Guitar DVD $14.95 “By Rob Haines. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Methods. Anyone Can Play. Country. Beginning. DVD. Duration 93 minutes. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

Hawaiian Lap Style Slide Guitar with Steve Dawson DVD $29.95 By Steve Dawson. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Hawaiian. Intermediate. DVD. Duration 108 minutes. Published by Learn Roots Music

Chords & Scales for Dobro! and Lap Steel Guitar $12.99 “By Ori Beanstock. For Guitar (Resonator). Chord Book. Bluegrass. Beginning. Book. 48 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method Book/CD Set $26.99 “By DeWitt Scott. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Methods. All Styles. Beginning. Book/CD Set. 96 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

Complete Steel Guitar Method $14.95 “By Roger Filiberto. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Methods. Complete. All Styles. Beginning-Intermediate. Book. 96 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

The Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar Book/CD Set $24.95 “By Stacy Phillips. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Solos. Hawaiian. Intermediate. Book/CD Set. 156 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

How To Play The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Book/CD Set $22.95 “By Henry K. Allen. For Guitar (Lap Steel). Methods. Hawaiian. Beginning-Intermediate. Book/CD Set. 96 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method (Book/CD) $23.91 Made famous by the legendary Jerry Byrd, the C6 nonpedal system of steel guitar has many advantages due to its versatility. It is especially useful in playing two and three-string chord combinations and for easy single string passages. Patience, dedication and many hours of practice are needed to perfect the "slants," especially the reverse "slants," but the final result is well worth the effort. This excellent text, written by Steel Guitar and Country Music Hall of Fame member DeWitt Scott, is in notation and tablature.

Seafit Lap Links 5/16 $2.59 Seafit Lap Links 5/16″ . Cold forged from rolled steel. Laps arel ong and tapered for a smooth assembly.

Seafit Lap Links 1/4 $1.79 Seafit Lap Links 1/4″ . Cold forged from rolled steel. Laps arel ong and tapered for a smooth assembly.

Lap Top Italian Charm $4.99 Lap Top Italian Charm D e t a i l s Size 9mm Modular Charm Link Shiny Finish Metal Stainless Steel Mount SOLDERED Charm (not glued) Coat Enamel Plating 18kt Gold Commemorate special occasions, capture memorable moments, or simply show off your personality by creating your own original Italian charm bracelet. Add premium quality interlocking Italian charm links to your Italian Charm Bracelet and create your own memory bracelet. Fits all major brand Italian charms.

Stauer Stainless Steel Guitar Watch $499 Stauer Stainless Steel Guitar Watch

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar, 1965 $34.99 Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar, 1965 – Giclee Print

Beetle Lap $10 Beetle Lap

Fretboard Roadmaps – Dobro(tm) Guitar: The Essential Guitar Patterns That All the Pros Know and Use [With CD Includes 46 Demonstra $13.24 Learn to play a variety of Dobro/lap-steel guitar styles using moveable scale patterns, common licks and techniques with this outstanding book/CD pack. The CD includes 46 demonstration tracks, and the book features easy-to-follow diagrams and instructions for beginning, intermediate and advanced players. In no time, you’ll be playing Dobro like a pro

Timex Men’s Ironman 30 Lap Sports Watch $54.95 Timex Men’s Ironman 30 Lap Sports Watch . Stylish sports watch offers customizable mode sets and 15 presets, three alarms, three time zones, and a 24-hour timer. Packed with fitness features like a 30-lap memory recall and 99-lap counter. 100-hour chronograph with lap or split option. Perfect for day or night with an all-day white reflector display and an orange Indiglo night light. Durable, black resin band. Stainless steel, 38-millimeter case. Digital display shows day, date and calendar. Water-resistant to 100 meters (approx. 330′). One-year warranty.

Phar Lap $24.99 Phar Lap – Photographic Print

Pedal Steel Guitar Method $10.99 Instructional. Softcover with CD. Guitar tablature. 48 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

Pedal Steel Licks for Guitar $17.95 By Forest Rodgers. Guitar. Softcover with CD. 24 pages. Published by Centerstream Publications

Pedal Steel Guitar $29.99 “For Guitar Tab, with chord symbols. Music Sales America. Softcover with CD. Guitar tablature. 128 pages. Oak Publications #OK63115. Published by Oak Publications”

Pro Style Natural Lap Bongos(Pack of 1) $79.99 Pro Style Natural Lap Bongos Real Buckskin Heads Real Chrome Plated Hardware Tunable Heads with 4 lugs nuts Kiln Dried Asian Ash Hardwood Hand Carved and Graded Heavy Duty Steel Bottom Bracing Adjustable Center Bolt

Anthology of Pedal Steel Guitar $26.99 “(E9 Chromatic Tuning). By Dewitt Scott. For Guitar (Pedal Steel). Solos. Archive Edition. Country. Beginning-Intermediate. Book. 164 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

Gospel Pedal Steel Guitar $19.95 “By Dewitt Scott. For Guitar (Pedal Steel). Solos. Archive Edition. Gospel-Old Time. Beginning-Intermediate. Book. 96 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

She Lives In My Lap (Digital Sheet Music) $4.99 “By OutKast. For piano, voice, and guitar (chords only). Hip-Hop; Pop; R & B. 9 pages. Published by Hal Leonard – Digital Sheet Music”

Steel Guitar $5.39 They say you meet all kinds when you’re driving a hack. That’s certainly the case for Boston PI Carlotta Carlyle, who gets an unexpected fare while moonlighting behind the wheel. It’s singer Dee Willis, Carlotta’s ex-friend and former band mate, who stole Carlotta’s man before clawing her way up the charts. Dee’s made the leap from Southie’s barrooms to the cover of People magazine, but now she’s back in Carlotta’s life, bringing with her a load of trouble. She hires Carlotta to track down a mutual friend who’s fallen on hard times, but Carlotta soon finds that there’s a far more menacing tune being played. Someone is blackmailing Dee, claiming she stole songwriting credits-and the money and fame that came with them. As the spotlight’s glare turns as cold as the corpse that turns up in Dee’s hotel room, Carlotta’s past is about to catch up to her…with a vengeance.

Pedal Steel Guitar Chord Chart $5.99 “By Dewitt Scott. For Guitar (Pedal Steel). Chord Book. All Styles. Multiple Levels. Chord Chart. 3 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc”

.INNOTEK LAP DOG TRAINER $153.34 .INNOTEK LAP DOG TRAINER

Health O Meter Digital Wet Diaper/Lap Sponge Scale $215.46 Features of the Health O Meter Digital Wet Diaper/Lap Sponge Scale: * Capacity: 11 lb / 5 kg * Resolution: 1/4 oz / 1 g * Functions: LB / KG Conversion, Zero Out / Tare, Auto Zero, Auto Off * Bowl Size: 161 cubic inches * 2 – 3 Volt Lithium batteries included * Stainless Steel * 2 Year Limited Warranty

Pro Style Dark Brown Lap Bongos(Pack of 1) $79.99 Pro Style Dark Brown Lap Bongos Real Buckskin Heads Real Chrome Plated Hardware Tunable Heads with 4 lugs nuts Kiln Dried Asian Ash Hardwood Hand Carved and Graded Heavy Duty Steel Bottom Bracing Adjustable Center Bolt

Channellock 338CB – 8 inch Code Blue Cutting Plier – Lap Joint $27.43 Channellock 338CB – 8 inch Code Blue Cutting Plier – Lap Joint CHANNELLOCK BLUE and red grips are trademarks of CHANNELLOCK and are only for comfort. They are NOT recommended or warranted for dielectric properties. Channellock 338CB – 8 inch Code Blue Cutting Plier – Lap Joint features: High leverage, heavy-duty construction Laser-hardened cutting edges provide longer life and greater ease of cut. Precision made of fine polished, high carbon drop-forged steel Grips have a Santoprene core with TPR-rubber overmold which composites for durability, comfort, and secure grip. New Code Blue designation on handles makes it easier than ever to choose the right tool for the job. Channellock 338CB – 8 inch Code Blue Cutting Plier – Lap Joint Specifications: Length (in): 8 Length (mm): 200 Weight (oz): 11 Weight (g): 311 Jaw Length (in): 25/32 Jaw Length (mm): 20 Joint Thickness (in): 7/16 Joint Thickness (mm): 11 Joint Width (in): 1 3/16 Joint Width (mm): 30 Cutter Length (in): 25/32 Cutter Length (mm): (in): 20

Channellock 337 – 7 inch Diagonal Cutting Plier with Lap Joint (26337) $18.78 Channellock 337 – 7 inch Diagonal Cutting Plier with Lap Joint (26337) Channellock – The Original Tongue & Groove Plier CHANNELLOCK BLUE comfort grips are only for hand comfort and improved appearance. They are NOT recommended or warranted for dielectric properties. Channellock 337 – 7 inch Diagonal Cutting Plier with Lap Joint (26337) Features: High leverage, heavy duty construction. Precision made of fine polished, high carbon drop forged steel. Perfectly mated cutters, scientifically heat treated to hold their edge. Distinctive CHANNELLOCK BLUE comfort grips. Channellock 337 – 7 inch Diagonal Cutting Plier with Lap Joint (26337) Specifications: Length (in): 6 Length (mm): 175 Weight (oz): 8.51 Weight (g): 241 Jaw Length (in): 25/32 Jaw Length (mm): 20 Joint Thickness (in): 7/16 Joint Thickness (mm): 11 Joint Width (in): 1 3/16 Joint Width (mm): 30 Cutting Length (in): 25/32 Cutting Length (mm): 20

Channellock 338 – 8 inch Cutting Plier – Lap Joint (26338) $20.53 Channellock 338 – 8 inch Cutting Plier – Lap Joint (26338) Channellock – The Original Tongue & Groove Plier CHANNELLOCK BLUE comfort grips are only for hand comfort and improved appearance. They are NOT recommended or warranted for dielectric properties. Channellock 338 – 8 inch Cutting Plier – Lap Joint (26338) Features: High leverage, heavy-duty construction Perfectly mated cutters, scientifically heat treated to hold their edge Precision made of fine polished, high carbon drop-forged steel Distinctive CHANNELLOCK BLUE comfort grips. Channellock 338 – 8 inch Cutting Plier – Lap Joint (26338) Specifications: Length (in): 8 Length (mm): 200 Weight (oz): 11 Weight (g): 311 Jaw Length (in): 25/32 Jaw Length (mm): 20 Joint Thickness (in): 7/16 Joint Thickness (mm): 11 Joint Width (in): 1 3/16 Joint Width (mm): 30 Cutter Length (in): 25/32 Cutter Length (mm): (in): 20

Lap Desk 45345 Lap Rest $19.99 1.60 lb 2.20″ Height x 13.10″ Width x 18.75″ Depth 45345 45345 LapDesk Black Lap Desk Lap Rest Notebook www.lapdesk.com

Learn to Play Western Swing Steel Guitar $29.95 (DVD One: Learning the Basics). By Cindy Cashdollar. Instructional/Guitar/DVD. DVD. Guitar tablature. Homespun #DVDCYNLS21. Published by Homespun

The Ass and the Lap-Dog $39.99 The Ass and the Lap-Dog – Giclee Print

Guitar $10 Guitar