Slider II Lap Steel W/Stand : Good Starting Point

I’ve been using one of these for four years now and initially found that although the overall usability out of the box was fine, some reasonably economic upgrades were highly beneficial. Specifically, heavier and/or correct strings for the chosen tuning was the first thing, followed by a heavier steel bar for better control. From there, it was ready to gig. Subsequently I rebuilt the electrics for a clearer sound and to have better tone and volume graduations. The circuit was copied from the ‘59 Fender Champ, which can be found online. Overall, these mods have doubled the cost of this lap steel, but it is now superb, and still only half the price of one bearing an American brand name. I did also change the machine heads for a set of Klusons, but the original ones were more than adequate, so that was more of a personal whim. Overall, this is a good starting point to learn the genre and with simple economic mods can get you gigging with everything working as it should.