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Welcome to Bluestem Strings, the new 2010 model (shown below) is now available!
Bluestem Strings is the web's most extensive source of information related to electric lap steel guitar construction and also serves as a platform to display a few of my instruments and pass on some of my instrument construction techniques. Ordering information is provided if you wish to purchase a Bluestem electric lap steel guitar or perhaps purchase one of the more extensive instrument construction guides on CD.
You'll find lots of free information related to lap steel construction, as well as free detailed electric lap steel plans and other lap-related information here, but plans and construction information for other types of instruments is also featured and I'll be continuously adding to the material in the future.
I have been an avid experimenter/builder of musical instruments for over 30 years, and it is my intent to provide the lap steel and 5 string banjo community with a source of free information that will hopefully encourage those who desire to construct a professional grade instrument but lack the necessary information to do so. I have maintained a website for several years with free plans and construction guides for various musical instruments (see link at the bottom of this page); but that site is advertisement-supported and it has reached to cap on the amount of free space Angelfire provided for site use. That site continues to offer a valuable source of information, and this site builds on the original site concept by providing useful information relating to musical instrument construction without the annoying banner ads. The sale of lap steel and banjo CD construction guides serve as a way of covering the expenses of providing advertisement free information for prospective builders.
Please note the enhanced menu system at the top of each page. The menu system is designed to streamline the site information to the particular flavor of instrument that you are interested in. All of the material on the site can be accessed by selecting the other fields of interest from the top line menu choices.
Enjoy your pursuit, and good luck in your instrument construction endeavors!
If you desire to contact me about Bluestem Strings products:
Due to scoundrelous spammers actively mining sites for e-mail addresses, I'm forced to include the following text version of my e-mail address meant to confuse the automated robo-search of websites for e-mail addresses. Please e-mail me at:rcordle (substitute the at symbol here) fastmail (substitute the dot here) fm
Please include "Bluestem Info Request" in the subject line, Thanks!
Please visit my other website designed to provide information on musical instrument construction. There are free plans as well as construction tips and techniques available at:
Rudy's Sketchbook of Musical Instrument Plans, Ideas, and Inspiration