LAP 3 Black Lap Steel Guitar w/Free Carry Bag

I'm semi-pro but this is being reviewed as a starter lap steel for beginners.In the box, by the headstock is a cardboard protector. hidden Inside that is a glass slide, wrapped by foam. You'll need that. Also, within the gig bag is a little nylon belt sheath to hold the slide (and the fingerpicks you will eventually need to get, not included).This is a simple slab bodied steel, maybe plywood, but it has good sustain. The bridge and string anchors are one piece of steel, no fine tuning, but you don't need that now. The tuning pegs function fine, and strings are good enough. The pickup is single coil, clear, and not noisy, the electronics and knobs all work fine. This can get you started, and to be honest, steel is harder to learn and play well than you think, and many quit, so its right at that point where its good enough to learn on, but no great loss if you give up.People on the East Coast lean toward learning on a C6 tuning. Bad idea. Tune to an open G or open D it will help you get a feel for it and progress your ear to a point where you can go for a C6 tuning later if you get good. First thing to do if you're sticking with it is get a Stevens type metal tone bar, under 10 bucks on Amazon, next would be to get some thumb and fingerpicks, but playing bare fingered will get you started, and not be as painful to hear your mistakes. The strings are fine for learning on, but at some point you will need to get strings suited for the tuning you settle on, whether open chord G, D, A or E, or C6, or E 9 or wherever you wind up. If the steel slips off your lap a lot, go to a crafts store and get a piece of felt to cut to shape and glue to the bottom. Next up is get a volume pedal, a simple one will do. Somewhere on the line get a decent small amp, like a Fender Champ, if you get good, eventually you'll want a bigger amp, with a bigger speaker, but that's a few years down the road. The main thing is you have to put in the hours of practice and experimenting to get good, equipment won't substitute for that, though it will all be much more inspiring if you have a decent amp with decent reverb to work with. Some people go crazy on using distortion to fire up the tone, but if you're using distortion to cover up sloppy note and chord picking, it might sound good to you, but it won't sound good to anyone else, if people are being honest with you. Learn to pick accurately, without excessive "slidiness", you'll just get everyone "seasick". There is a learning curve here, and you just have to face that it may be an uphill climb. It's going to take a while to understand chords and progressions, and you're going to have to learn "slants" to pull off minor chords, which is not easy, but in the long run is essential for playing with others. The fingerboard on this steel is really nicely marked, so a definite plus for learning. Overall, this is a simple, attractive steel that will get you going down this road. Old pros might want to pick on what is lacking, but I think they tend to forget what its like to be a beginner, and what is really important, what is not, and what is just kind of nice to have. I have better steels, but I can sling the gig bag over my shoulder, go down to the river with this steel, plug in a headphone amp, and practice with a great view of the water flowing by, and not worry about it. There is a lot to be said about simplicity, which I find is not said enough...(Nuff said, LOL)

Great choice for exploring lap steel! Fit and finish is good ‘nuf, tuners are smooth and stable, pots are quiet, and the single coil is reasonably clean. I’m pairing it with a simple multi-effects pedal and small amp, but sounds good straight into the amp with great sustain. Looking forward to even better tone after a string upgrade. For the money, I can’t see anything else getting close to the sound this little guitar produces.

I think this is a great lap steel for the price. Super lightweight too. Great sound!I put a duesenberg multibender on this, and it works like a charm!I highly recommend this purchase whether it's your first lap steel, or you just want a couple of spare lap steels to keep in certain tunings.Can't go wrong. I took one star off of sturdiness simply because it is so dang light and thin. I think that's a good thing personally, but I could see how you'd need to be a little more careful when transporting it to make sure you don't snap it in half.It comes with gig bag. Just make sure you don't put anything on top of it or sit on it, and you'll be alright.

Unlike good woods used in most instruments some of the finer guitars are made of Bass Wood, as this is. The sound beats the Gretsch or Epiphone which costs over 350 dollars, plus the gig bag. Best Purchase Ever

I LOVE it ! ... Just a beginner but it sure does work for me 😁 !!!

i liked the price