Travel Lap Steel? Small & Light (inexpensive would be great too!)??

[Doug Anderson]

What are some of the lightest and smallest lap steels for travel?

--Doug

[Jack Hanson]

This one measures about 32" x 8" and weighs in at about four pounds sans case:

Royaltone 510413 1.jpg

1955 Gibson Royaltone. (Soon to possibly be put up for sale.)

[Rick Aiello]

Dickerson/Magnetone/Oahu … MOTs steel guitars

Very light, small, full 22.5” scale & good tone …

IMG_1973.jpeg

[Bill Groner]

28" x 6" x 4lbs. Curly maple. Home made.

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The one on my Avatar I made from Butternut. It was the same size as the curly maple one, but weighed in at 3lbs. 13 oz. I sold that one, I wish I still had it.

[Michael Kiese]

Dickerson/Magnetone/Oahu … MOTs steel guitars

Very light, small, full 22.5” scale & good tone …

IMG_1973.jpeg

Rick, aren’t you like 6’5”? Anything would look small next to you. LOL.

[Bill Groner]

I had one of these maybe 5 yrs ago.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/folk-tr ... X4QAvD_BwE

This is the smallest, light weight one I know of. I bought this exact same one on sale, free shipping for $69. I guess the tariffs kicked in! Mine was very good, however over the years I have read many complaints on the forum about poor quality. Get one from Amazon. They are manufactured under various labels. If you don't like it, send it back free of charge and order another one. It may take you a while till you get a good one? I got lucky the first time. Mine had a flawless finish, tuners the worked properly, and single coil Pup that didn't hum, etc.

[Michael Kiese]

Aloha Doug,

Just my quick 2¢...

Most any lapsteel is small and light.

Lap steels by nature are easy to travel with.

My A25 Frypan is 6.6 lbs. My A22 Frypan is 5.6 lbs. Not heavy at all.

The only other thing you can do to reduce size and weight is learn to play harmonica. haha.

You'll probably do fine with whatever you get. Lots of great suggestions from the gents in the comments above.

Enjoy!

[Glenn Wilde]

I had a National/Dobro branded MOTS lap steel that was real small, it had a 19" or 20" scale and was hard to play in tune, it looked really cool though, just couldn't get on with the scale.

[Brad Bechtel]

I think for the price the Rondo SX Lap 3 lap steel is a great choice. Sure, you could upgrade the hardware, but it functions perfectly fine now. Otherwise I'd agree with Rick Aiello and look for an old Magnatone.

I like the fact that it has a full size neck and 36 frets, although I don't think many people will be using the top octave too much!

[Tim Whitlock]

I bought a Rouge lap steel for my granddaughter. I highly do not recommend it for its cheap construction and superfluous tunomatic bridge, but mainly because the pickup is seriously bright and unpleasant sounding even with the tone rolled off. IMHO a vintage Magnatone, Fender or Gibson would be a good investment. They continue to increase in value and are good sounding/playing/quality instruments. A Rickenbacker would be my first choice bar none. They are heavier, but even my B6 is under 10 lbs. How light does it really need to be?

[John Drury]

I put this Fry Pan together using recaimed materials I had laying around and a scrap
piece of wolmanized 2 X 4, I use an old AR-15 case for travel.

33" long, and about 5 pounds weight, 24" Scale length.

Total cost, 16 bucks for a rattle can of silver paint, and a six pack of Stella Artois.

Killer tone and sustain! I call it the "SHO~STUD" Ha!

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[Doug Anderson]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I appreciate this group and all of your expertise and experience!

--Doug

[Lloyd Graves]

I have a Rogue, which I bought on goodwill auctions for about $50. I upgraded the fretboard with the Georgeboards kit, which was quite simple (and should a forum member's business).

The hardware is terrible and I have never plugged it in, but it is great for practicing with when traveling. And quiet enough to allow me to use my phone to play along with.

If you'd just looking for a piece of wood with strings, it's great. If you want something you can plug in, play and sound good, you'll princely want something else. A few years ago, Georgeboards was offering their own upgraded version of the Rogue with better tuners and pickups.

[Dave Mudgett]

I'm gonna third (or fourth) the suggestion for an old Magnatone like Rick's showing. Checks all the boxes: small, light, sounds good, and can generally be found reasonably. But honestly - there are a lot of lap steels that fit this description. Old Valco-made MOTS type National, Supro, Airline, etc., with the string-thru pickups are great too. None of these generally are gonna break the bank if you just look around the classifieds here or elsewhere and don't necessarily pull the trigger on the first one you see.

[Paul Strojan]

Keyless tuners would save four or five inches off the length of a lap steel bringing it down to almost carryon size. A 22.5 inch scale length would only need to be around 24 inches long.
Is there a mini Bluetooth dongle that could plug into your guitar to hook up to a phone or Bluetooth speaker?