Lap Steel Guitar

The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fretboard.

There are three main types of lap steel guitar:

• Lap slide guitars, the first developed, which use a similar sound box to a Spanish guitar. These were originally called Hawaiian guitars and included versions that had a factory raised nut, but also include Spanish guitars with a nut extender (a device that fits over the nut to raise the strings).
• Resonator guitars, particularly those with square necks, but also round neck versions with a raised nut.
• Electric lap steel guitars, which include the first commercially successful solid body instruments. These were originally marketed as electric Hawaiian guitars. In addition to the lap-played model, a closely related version called a console steel guitar is supported on legs (but does not include the pedals or knee levers of the pedal steel guitar. Electric lap steels typically have six to ten strings.

Lap slide and resonator guitars may also be fitted with pickups, but do not depend on electrical amplification to produce sound.