Members default_damage Posted June 30, 2006 Members Share Posted June 30, 2006 having worked with the Variax for several months at this time in conjuntion with the POD XT Live..... I am going to have a lap slide constructed by a local builder using the electronics/bridge/P.U.'s from a variax. though slide playing with the variax is quite possible with out even changing the factory setup I miss the the techniques that I use playing lapsteel. so . working in a studio home enviornment with traditional electric guitars can be problematic as we all know.my chandler lap steel guitars have beautiful tone however ..... they are not as drop dead quiet as my variax. having a National Delphi sound emitting from a lapsteel to be followed by the sound of a les paul with P-90's is just to tempting to resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Milkman1 Posted June 30, 2006 Members Share Posted June 30, 2006 Interesting project. Are kits available with Varix guts or are you stripping down a Variax guitar for the components? The Variax / XT Live combo is an evolutionary step I'm seriously considering. I currently run a Vox Tonelab SE direct to PA for gigs and direct to console for recording and am very pleased with the results, but the ability to change guitar models via the XT Live is very appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bendafender Posted July 1, 2006 Members Share Posted July 1, 2006 Currently, there are no variax kits. You have to find a "donor" guitar to gut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlackHatHunter Posted July 3, 2006 Members Share Posted July 3, 2006 Originally posted by default_damage having worked with the Variax for several months at this time in conjuntion with the POD XT Live..... I am going to have a lap slide constructed by a local builder using the electronics/bridge/P.U.'s from a variax.though slide playing with the variax is quite possible with out even changing the factory setup I miss the the techniques that I use playing lapsteel. so . working in a studio home enviornment with traditional electric guitars can be problematic as we all know.my chandler lap steel guitars have beautiful tone however ..... they are not as drop dead quiet as my variax. having a National Delphi sound emitting from a lapsteel to be followed by the sound of a les paul with P-90's is just to tempting to resist. that's a flippin' cool idea. I can't wait to see pics of that thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members default_damage Posted July 4, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 re: the idea ....isn't it obvious , retorical question #1.following Craigs well grounded advice, regarding strat, this gibson that; yes it's true . Certain instrumet names bring up a kind of modeled sound is it a 52 gold top dead on who cares!the combination is deadly Pod xt Lie and Variax are a perfect match . sounds I had wanted for years are being realized nastey electric slide parts with out the noise tweekable to a wink.the biscuit resonator national model with a little eq and an open sounding room reverb is to die for.after using the variax pod xt combination I have only praise for the dynamic duo. recording into Sonar and using PSP's warmer (a wonderful processor ) standing directly in front of my dual crt's yield nothing but juice no noise hum or artifacts. I am a bedroom bound kind o'guy. no playing out no professional dates= amature . ....and the pair work for me in the privacy of my own domain.the jpg is a rough draft for a lap steel that will sit on a stand hence the right angles for run-away free inset. perhaps a larger slab of tone wood ( Farinus American ) hard northern ash will add a bright sustaining sound as is custom to believe. the added girth /mass may or may not ? ? ? contribute to the sustain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 ought to be a cool project - i recently made a lapslide guitar. it works great and turned out pretty good. i did not take my time with fine-sanding/shaping as it was just an experiment project to see how hard it would be to do. so i went from large piece of lunber to working lapslide in 3 days and ive got serious back problems! anyway, good luck and hope it works out well. i am keeping mine to use when recording. i keep a spare guitar setup for blues/slide, but i wanted an extra lapslide just to have a different slide tuning. i like D/E but sometimes G/A is fun, as well as all the other cool variations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members default_damage Posted July 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 very cool, making the lap steel. fearless. recieve the "ORDER OF THE LAVA LAMP AWARD" for advancing the genetic code.which wood did you use, and what gauge strings did you select?why? well I am interested in which would and what led to that choice .and ...string gauge... I am of the (possible misperception) belief that with electrics guitars heavier gauges will yield more overtones and sustain, " there must be a reason all though heavy "jazz" sets are restocked at the local guitar boutique " default said with uncertainty.I have read over the years that the shortedr scale of lap steels has an advantage tonally. ?? ? so many wonderful little details to think about....the bridge------ to------ nut length is 23 1/8 inches on my chandlers the shorter scale seems to have a snapier responce to the pick/finger , perhaps the tension is higher .string through body ? how say you, ' yea or ney"? why?back to wood choices when using the variax, the simulations / modeling of differant electric guitars is quite noticable with regard to tones. there is the strat and tele at one end ,the les pauls and lp specials on the other end , with the gretch and dano's in the middle in the middle. when using the LP type things can get muddy in a hurry when distortion is applied. leading me to suspect that thick and muddy are available a'plenty and therefore should aim for a tone wood the will yield a bright sound with a strong attack to begin with. the semi hollow and jazz fat boys have yet to be plumbed for the depth of their true charactor.as this project will lay secured to a n adjustable stand (a recycled antique device for restringing tennis rackets complete with lots of adjustable heigts and anges) wieght is not a consideration as no spinal compression is at risk.re: tunings for me I started out listening to Son House and Bukka White and for me open "G" or "D"seemed to get it . for electric "modern slide I like open "E" .the variax /pod allows saving guitars to amp effect comboes and tunings for guitars. If I call up the national biscuit guitar it will come up set to open "G" or how ever I set it and if I call up the lapsteel from hell amp/ effects setup the "E" is there waiting ....very handy.being able to save amp/fx's/guitar/tunings in a file folder and call up a complete set of guitars and amps it makes life easy. when working on a song the "sound design" involves creating complementary guitar sounds and fx's setting so that when actually playing the music ( ah,... the song that's what all of ths is about , .... ) I am not having to be the programer/ engineer and play all at the same time.yes this gear is working out nicely in many ways.again congratulations on your building a lap steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 i went with a maple block of wood, and yes heavy strings to boot - i use them on all my guitars that are setup for slide the shorter scale does lend a nice little snap to things, and if you are having mud problems with some settings I think maple or any other bright wood would be the way to go. to me its easier to roll off treble and get a good, round tone that sounds more natural than having a bass-heavy muddy tone that you have to keep adding presence/high end to....I dont know why but ive felt like this for some time. keep in mind though it was not a carefully planned project. I got the basic dimensions at this website (ill get a link soon) and took things on my own from there. I also love different tunings and have been using them for 5-6 years now that ive been heavy into slide. it will be cool for you to adjust tuning on the fly. i liked what i heard when playing a variax but only got to play for a few moments - is the tracking really that good where you can slide and change tunings and have a natural sound? if so thats cool as hell man, youll have a very seriously powerful lapslide on your hands (or should I say lap?) i just wanted to see how easy it would be, and since i was not going for figured/carved top or anything fancy, it was simple enough. ill try and dig up some pics and soundclips I made with it. good luck and I think youll do fine. I did not take care when going for the shape, it was literally a rough cut and i threw everything together but surprisingly it worked. and the scales/measurments from this site were really good and alot of help - im not sure how much room youll need for the guts of the variax so im sure it will need to be wider than this - but im sure it will work out well for you (hoping so anyway) by the way there are some very good wodworkers here @ HC,m if you need any tips (tonal or construction) im sure they could help. ajcaholic comes to mind - check out some of his threads for some kickass building in action. i wish you luck and you damn sure keep us posted, this could be a very interesting project man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 OK heres the site where i got basic measurments from and stole a few ideas. i then went off to my own thing which is why projects like this are cool!http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlackHatHunter Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Originally posted by fishfartz OK heres the site where i got basic measurments from and stole a few ideas. i then went off to my own thing which is why projects like this are cool!http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/ cool link. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members default_damage Posted July 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Weigh the plank and note its weight and the date of weighing on it. Do this once a week until the weight remains constant (i.e., the piece doesn't lose any more weight). This is the point when the wood is in balance with the room and is ready for use. oh yeah! now that is sincere! thanks for the hot tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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