Peters Classic palm lever lap steel guitar (pedal steel sound)
Peters Classic palm lever lap steel guitar (pedal steel sound)
Several years ago as I sat in my small basement studio I found myself really wanting to have some simple pedal steel tones in a project, so I set out to whip something up real quick. I designed a simple pitch bender, that at that time was made of wood, drew up a body shape I liked and whipped one together pretty quick so I could get back to making music. Not long after that I started offering them for sale, and in the years since we have made into the hundreds of these steels and are still cranking them out.
These lap steels are made to order, the photo is an example, not the exact lap steel you'll receive. They typically take 4-6 weeks to complete, but depending on my work load can take a little longer.
If you opt for a 3 string bender over the std two string we will install it on strings 1,2,3 unless otherwise requested.
The body is made of walnut. These are a single pickup (Paf style humbucker) instrument with a single master volume. They come equipped with a handmade b-bender and g bender. All of the wooden appointments and hardware are made from thermally modified Red oak. The scale length is 23.5 inches. The tuners are gotoh, the pot is bourne, and the output jack is switchcraft. The finish is hand rubbed oil. As of Feb 2022 I am switching over to making the benders completely from aluminum, and will be eliminating wooden parts. The knobs and pickup ring will also be switched from wood to black counter parts. The overall aesthetic of the guitars will be the same, but the aluminum parts just provide a little more stability and durability. Please make note of this, as it is a slight difference from the photos.
The b bender and g bender are micro adjustable with a machine screws for intonation, and can be set to bend either a half, or full step up. They come strung up for an open E tuning (EBEG#BE), bending the second string up a full step takes you from a B to a C#, and bending up the 3rd string by a half step gives you an A. These two settings together give you the four chord, the relative minor, and an add4 chord.
here is a video of me noodling a little bit. Doubtless it would sound better in more experienced hands. I'm not a slide player by any stretch, and this was just recorded with my iphone, so its not super high quality , but hopefully the video is helpful, in any case it shows the benders in action. https-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ya6u1kB6Q