Building a Lap Steel Guitar

Assembling the guitar

Cutting the nut slots


Loosen the sixth and the first string and put them to the side of the nut. Cut notches for the two outer strings 1/8” (3mm) from the nuts end using a fine saw. Deepen and round the bass string notche with a proper nut file so that half of the string lies in the slot. The thin treble string is just placed in the notch made by the saw. Arrange the remainig four strings at the top of the nut so that the distances appear equal (i.e. put the thicker bass strings slightly more apart and the treble strings a bit closer together). Mark their position on both sides with a sharp pencil. Notch and file the remaining slots so that the tops of all strings are at an equal height.

About | Impressum