Building a Lap Steel - The Apocalypse Machine

Ever wondered how to build a lap steel guitar from scratch? In this video, I’ll show you the full process of creating a custom lap steel—starting with rough cut lumber and ending with a fully playable instrument. You’ll see every stage of the lap steel guitar build: Choosing and preparing the wood Shaping and cutting the body Routing and hardware installation Wiring electronics Setup and finishing touches This isn’t just a tutorial—it’s the complete journey of a DIY lap steel guitar, showing how raw wood becomes a unique, fully functional instrument. Whether you’re interested in custom guitar building, slide guitar, or just love seeing instruments come to life, this step-by-step build has something for you. If you enjoy this project, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more lap steel lessons, guitar builds, and gear demos. 📌 Keywords: build a lap steel guitar, DIY lap steel, custom lap steel build, lap steel guitar tutorial, guitar building, custom guitar, slide guitar build Patreon: patreon.com/mattbradfordmusic T Shirts: https://mattbradfordmusic.printful.me Instruments: https://reverb.com/shop/matts-gear-de... Virtual Tip Jar: https://paypal.me/mattbradfordmusic 0:00 Opening Jam 1:17 Intro 2:47 Breaking down and milling 7:26 Initial Layout and Routing 9:50 Shaping the neck and headstock 13:20 Glue up 16:15 Initial Shaping 20:00 Laying out hardware 28:10 Laying out fingerboard and Roundover 30:05 Routing for electronics 33:42 Prep for fingerboard/fingerboard install 39:38 Headstock Overlay and final sanding 43:00 Finish 46:49 Final Assembly 50:37 Pickguard 53:15 Electronics 55:40 Pickups 57:49 Final Setup 1:00:00 Final Thoughts