Lap Slide Guitar

A lap slide guitar is a general term often used to describe any guitar played on the lap with a slide or steel.

Lap slide guitars are generally one of three types:

• Acoustic resonator guitars
• Electric lap steels
• Conventional acoustic guitars designed or adapted for this style of playing.

The latter type are now the least common of the three types of lap steel guitar, despite having been developed before the lap steel and resonator guitars. Acoustic lap steel guitars are generally the quietest of the three; however, renewed interest in acoustic instruments in the 1990s associated with improving amplification techniques and interest in vintage and historical musical instruments has led to a resurgence in interest in the distinctive sound of these instruments.

The most basic form of lap slide guitar is a regular acoustic guitar that has been modified for this purpose by either replacing the nut and bridge saddle with taller versions or by fitting a shim under the originals. This is done to raise the strings away from the fretboard. Regular guitar players keep the strings close to the fretboard to ensure ease of playing while lap slide players aim for the opposite by ensuring the strings never come into contact with the frets.

The most common form of lap slide guitar is the "Weissenborn" style. This kind of guitar takes its name from one of the original manufacturers and, as with the Dobro, the company's name has become a generic name for all guitars of this style.

This type of guitar is similar in appearance and construction to a regular acoustic guitar with one defining difference. The neck is square and hollow with the back and sides of the guitar not stopping at the joint between the neck and body (the heel) but continuing up to the headstock giving an increased volume due to the larger internal area of the sound chamber.