lap steel scale?

[jazzguitar14]

hey, Im gonna slap together a lap steel this week w/ the goal of getting into pedal steel down the road.

What scale length do ya'll recomend?

I believe standard lap = 22.5
Dobro = 24.5
Pedal Steel = ?

Is there a professional standard? I'd liketo get it "right" the 1st time...

Thanks,

 

[kludge]

Shorter is easier to play. There's a reason lap steel scales settled out shorter than regular guitars.

 

[teleman65]

Lap steel 22.5"
http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/

 

[Keifer]

You can make it any scale you choose. Most laps are 22.5. Pedal steels usualy go 24.0 or 25.0. Actually the longer the scale, the better the tone & sustain (I assume because the strings must be drawn tighter to attain desired pitch). Pedal steels with the 'keyless' tuners usually opt for the longer scale If you want to make your own neck board here's the link for calculating the 'fret spacing. It's all based on millimeters so you'l have to convert from inches... one inch=25.4 millimeters.
(link removed)

 

[chubbyjackson]

Short scale is great if you want to do bar slants; they open up a lot of voicing possibilities. There is an outfit called dynalap that makes a high quality kit if you want to go that route.

 

[Mike Simpson]

A Tele bridge works great on a lap steel too...

Here are some steels a friend made.