The headsup sweet shit on ebay thread....

[repoman]

Every time I hear "Sleepwalk" I think about trying to find a cheap'ish one to noodle on. Are there any half decent ones for less than $300?
You two keep the lap/slide guitar game going strong here...I should go back and pay closer attention to all the ones you've posted I reckon.

Yeah, there are plenty of great vintage lap steel to be had for less than $300. Lots of nice stuff from the '50s's totally underappecriated. Spend a little more than that and you'll probably be able to get something really nice.
Go to shop near you to try lap steels out. That's the best way to get a good feel for what you like. You might find a bargain there as well. Stuff comes up on Reverb and eBay all the time though. If you know what you're looking for, you can grab a good deal there too.

Right on. We have a one pretty minimal music store here (I'd have better luck a pawn shop more than likely)
Have a hard time buying stuff like that on a whim...I've been fortunate enough to get most of my instruments for like $150-300 (used), so I might be out of luck sadly I spend more on pedals than guitars but who knows. Maybe I'll play one and it'll change me completely. I'll keep my eyes out for something. If it's not for me I can always resell.

...are those $100 rogues total shit? https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Rogue ... e=4WWRWXGP
worth it to at least get a feel for one or don't bother?

i took a poke around today, and though there wasn't a lot below $300 you can get a Supro with the string-through Ry Cooder pickup for around $400. you could probably go cheaper if you're willing to be patient. if i had spare moneez i'd get one myself...i've wanted a lap steel ever since i heard Lindley in the early 70s.

Yeah, if you're willing to spend a little bit more, you can really get a good one. The string through Supros are worth it.
Some recent stuff worthy of lookin' at:
https://reverb.com/item/13988770-harmon ... ique-ivory
https://reverb.com/item/13982687-airlin ... lack-white
https://reverb.com/item/13925176-kay-6- ... dark-burst
https://reverb.com/item/13915630-supro- ... 53-natural
https://reverb.com/item/13854866-magnat ... aul-bigsby

Those last two (supro student and magnatone)

The old lap steels that are pretty popular like the Magnatones are still pretty bad quality, but you don't really need a lot of quality with lap steels. As long as it functions and the tuners hold the strings in place they are pretty good to go. I think it's worth it to go with one of the shitty old ones instead of a shitty new one just because they are so much cooler you will probably have more fun playing it just because of the vibe.

I think any one of the ones you listed would probably be fine, and you could probably haggle down, there are so many of them on Reverb. Just check if the electronics work and if the tuners work well, and if it has the original pickup. A lot of people buy these to get the old gnarly pickup and then stick some piece of shit replacement in there.

I think the ones like the Magnatones are popular because they are pretty small which is nice.

Getting the biggest heaviest tone bar you can find is good too, you still have to press down on the strings with a good deal of force to get all the strings to sound correctly. The bar manipulation is a tricky thing to get right (not too hard not too light) and a weighty tone bar can help with hand/wrist fatigue. I think heavier bars sound better too.

[Jero]

All the cheap modern lap steels will at least give you a feel for what it's like to play a lap steel. They're totally junk though. Quality's not at all there.
IMO, they're a waste of money.
If there's anyone you can borrow a lap steel from just to see if you wanna keep messin' with one, try do that.
Buy a cheap one if you can't find anything else, but you'll probably just want something a little better eventually.
Of course, the really cheap ones are begging to be abused/modded.

Yea, I kind of figured as much but the abused/modded thing is That one I posted is $70 used.
Don't think I'm gonna find a cheaper or more ripe one for the modding/testing the waters...and less than a bill is well within the "fuck it" range I think
I watched a couple videos on those specifically and they seem to work & sound decent, but require adjustment/intonation to be "right." More so than a normal cheap guitar...but I'm an idiot and likely wouldn't notice had I not seen that
...have you seen those wild looking peavey powerslides?

The old lap steels that are pretty popular like the Magnatones are still pretty bad quality, but you don't really need a lot of quality with lap steels. As long as it functions and the tuners hold the strings in place they are pretty good to go. I think it's worth it to go with one of the shitty old ones instead of a shitty new one just because they are so much cooler you will probably have more fun playing it just because of the vibe.
I think any one of the ones you listed would probably be fine, and you could probably haggle down, there are so many of them on Reverb. Just check if the electronics work and if the tuners work well, and if it has the original pickup. A lot of people buy these to get the old gnarly pickup and then stick some piece of shit replacement in there.
I think the ones like the Magnatones are popular because they are pretty small which is nice.
Getting the biggest heaviest tone bar you can find is good too, you still have to press down on the strings with a good deal of force to get all the strings to sound correctly. The bar manipulation is a tricky thing to get right (not too hard not too light) and a weighty tone bar can help with hand/wrist fatigue. I think heavier bars sound better too.

Thanks! All good to know.

...am I wrong to think that a compressor & good volume pedal go hand in hand with these things?

[Chankgeez]

...have you seen those wild looking peavey powerslides?

I think it's just Peavey's take on the old Melobar concept. Allows you to play standing up.



https://reverb.com/item/11717012-meloba ... -naugahyde



https://reverb.com/item/4975792-melobar ... 80-s-zebra

Yeah, the Peavy design is pretty funny though.

...am I wrong to think that a compressor & good volume pedal go hand in hand with these things?

Depends on what style music you wanna play. Definitely for traditional stuff, but those pedals'll always be helpful.

[weebles]

Regarding lap steels: Throw a lipstick pickup on a square neck resonator and you get the jist.

[dubkitty]

you deffo want a volume pedal with any steel guitar. a compressor probably wouldn't hurt, especially if you can find one with a particularly tubey sound.

[Dandolin]

...have you seen those wild looking peavey powerslides?

I think it's just Peavey's take on the old Melobar concept. Allows you to play standing up.



https://reverb.com/item/11717012-meloba ... -naugahyde



Yeah, the Peavy design is pretty funny though.

...am I wrong to think that a compressor & good volume pedal go hand in hand with these things?

Depends on what style music you wanna play. Definitely for traditional stuff, but those pedals'll always be helpful.

Chankgeez and Dubkitty got you Jero. I feel like the volume pedal is nice because of its obvious well known use (especially with pedal steel), but there are a whole host of classic lap steel lines/tones that don't use it. One of the great things about lap steel is that the metal bar combined with inherently high action gives great attack/cut and sustain. Unless I'm fighting a poorly set-up lappy, I usually don't find myself pining for more sustain. A compressor, imo, also enhances the taper of volume pedals for getting the attack cut off in the sweet spot. If you can find a used one for cheap, the Sonuus Voluum has a great sounding optical compressor that can be run in conjunction with boost and integrated volume pedal (and a pretty damn flexi trem) for one stop shopping....

Oh, and lappies sound freaking awesome with fuzzzzz

And speaking of those naugahyde explorer-esque Melobars, I have one--snagged it for dirt cheap because a dude's new wife thought it a cholera farm. I don't play it standing up; I bought it for the (quite brilliant actually) 6+4 tuning scheme.... It's not a lap steel, though, because of the funky 45° fingerboard angle (try balancing that with your mind while you play slant bar chords with behind-the-bar string pulls jedi mind trick ) . I chuck it in a Black and Decker workbench flipped around back to front



I see that B&D is now selling a cheaper alternative that would be even better for my purposes....

Also, btw, the paint-can-roller-handle b-bender rigged up by the dude in the video on that Reverb listing is effing brill

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

not to be juvenile but ry cooder is a funny name

[Dandolin]

nailed it

[echorec]

Check out this mini reel recorder.

https://reverb.com/item/14019844-transi ... ne-ear-bud

There are some sub-$100 Transcicorders on eBay, too.

[echorec]

Transroom for $225 OBO--

https://reverb.com/item/14046969-lastga ... oom-reverb

Also, PCA has dropped the new price on these from $348 to $269. I'm not sure if it's being discontinued, but I speculate it's a poor seller due to the high price.

[Chankgeez]

Here's one for comesect:

https://reverb.com/item/14067069-epipho ... k-refinish

[spacelordmother]

Here's one for comesect:

https://reverb.com/item/14067069-epipho ... k-refinish

The A is not the D.

[Benn Roe]

EGC prototype on Philly craigslist: https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/msg ... 77937.html

[coupleonapkins]

Tomkat Violet Muffer - $120 + shipping / (MGR - Lincoln, NE)

[MechaGodzilla]

top jacks mini in uk