It's Easy to Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar

Bought this book over a year ago and have built three lap steels to date. Martin Kock lays out a step by step process with which you will build a simple lap steel. I myself, having a lot of woodworking experience, chose to add some aesthetic extras (ie. arch top, binding, fretboard inlay) which were not covered in this book. Kock comes across as a process builder. He sometimes uses hand tools and antiquated techniques (which is absolutely fine) when a more modern tool would achieve the same result in less time. Less experienced woodworkers might have a difficult time working with the older hand tools. I found it easy to substitute my preferred process while using the book more as a guideline as opposed to a step by step manual. With this book, and some previous woodworking experience, you will be able to build a very basic, however perfectly functional, lap steel. After you have done that, all you need is practice and a bit of imagination to make some very nice instruments. Enjoy your projects.

This is truly a great little book on building lap steels. Martin shows you how to do it using a minimum of tools that most home owning do it yourselfers will have on hand.

The book is OK but information on bigger steel guitars, more strings and having legs, would improve this book

This book guides you through the lap steel build. Excellent descriptions in a step by step manner. A MUST for those interested in building a lap steel guitar.Great seller- fast shipment.

great book easy to follow , nice web page with nice colour photos.i have cheated a bit by using power tools instead of hand tools.

Good product, great job

Along with making the guitar, I was expecting some good information about matching impedence, grounding, and all the electrical tricks. It was really more of a woodworking book. First thing the author wants you to do is build a woodworking bench and vise, buy a few hundred dollars worth of tools, etc. So before you actually get to building the lap steel, you spent about $1000 building a wood shop. If your objective is to obtain the steel guitar, it is probably cheaper and certainly quicker to just go buy that instead of thinking about building it yourself.

As with is other book, Martin Koch tells you ALL you need to know to build a beautiful instrument.From building 2 types of lap steel's from A to Z, to making the case and even making your own pickups, this book as it all.This is my second book by Martin Koch and let me just say that his books are a gold mine of information from cover to cover.Martin Koch also as a website that compliments his books where you can ask questions, see other instruments people have built and there are also good tools such as Fret Calculator and stuff.Trust me......if you want to build your own instrument, you will not regret purchasing this book.

very happy

Great info.

another great book by Martin Koch, if you want to get into building lap steel guitars, this is the book to start with.

This is an excellent book for anyone starting woodwork from scratch, it contains very detailed explanations of all the (mostly hand) tools and supplies needed for these two projects and where to get them. The associated web site is www.buildyourguitar.com/lapsteel and according to the book you need the (supplied) access code to use it, however I have accessed it without using the code. I suppose one could follow the instructions there without buying the book but this would require you to have a computer in the workshop which might not be very convenient. The book is USA oriented and a lot of the suppliers are located there but the website has lists for most EU countries and if you live near a city you can probably find what's needed. Dimensions are given in both metric and imperial, the text is well written and clear, the book is semi hard backed and printed on good quality paper. Highly recommended.

INFORMATIONTitle: It's easy to build your own lap steel guitarPages: 120Photographs: 225 black and whiteDrawings: 40Aspects from the table of contents:The book contains two projects:Project one- Simple Lap Steel Guitar construction-List of tools used for project one-Materials-Making the peghead- Mounting the hardware- Fitting the electronics-Making the fretboard-Gluing on the fretboard- Finishing the guitar- Assembling the guitar- Making the case.Project two- Conventitional Lap Steel Guitar construction-Tools, wood and parts needed-Making the template- Shaping the guitar- Drilling the tuner holes- Making the fretboard-Binding the fretboard- Binding the body- Gluing on the fretboard- Mounting the bridge- Cutting the cavities-Cutting and smoothing the neck-Inlaying- Installing the neck- Finishing- Making the pickup- Assembling the guitar- Final setup- Making the case-Suppliers- About the author-About this bookOverall: A well written book on Lap Steel Guitar construction with emphasis on the use of hand tools. This includes a website link with all the photos of this book in larger size and full color.