SX LAP 8 3TS 8 String Lap Steel Guitar w/Free Detachable Stand and Padded Carry Bag

As a working musician for 40+ years & an instrument tech for 35 years, I've played &/or worked on thousands of instruments, ranging from dirt cheap to insanely expensive. I was skeptical about this purchase based on negative reviews, bought it anyway expecting to have to fix it. I shouldn't have worried. In every regard, this instrument is better than expected...by a LOT! Some reviews say the legs are junk; they're the exact opposite. Many complain that the P90 style pick-up is noisy & poorly grounded; it's a P90 & inherently is SLIGHTLY noisy, but no worse than most similar single pick-ups in a lap steel instrument. The pots are MUCH better & have much more range than I expected: across the board there is a ton of expressive adjustment. The tuners are probably 15:1 ratio & good enough for lap steep. Fit & finish is literally near perfect. Instrument is solidly built & stays in tune even in transit. Gig bag also much better than expected. Only glaring FAIL is the frequently mentioned ATTROCIOUS strings that it came with. Don't even bother trying to tune it up w/ them. Find strings appropriate to your intended tuning and have them ready to go. I use C6 tuning and ordered GHS specific to that tuning and honestly couldn't be more impressed w/ this ultra-budget friendly axe (I will add that the fretboard was pretty thirsty when it arrived; added some lemon oil during string change within minutes of its arrival. Cool axe, great value.

This is a ridiculously good guitar for a giveaway price. Yes the legs are iffy, one of them is gonna need a bit of work to tighten properly but the guitar itself is stellar. Tuned it to C6 and went out and did a gig with it. The P-90 sounds great, the tuners face up as they should, It stays in tune and it's beautiful to boot. If you're in the market for an 8 string lap steel just order it. You won't be sorry

Legs are a little sketchy, but I can replace or fix them. For some reason, there is a crappy sticker on the body of the guitar, that takes some care in removal. There was a string buzz after I tuned it to C6, it went away when I replaced the factory strings. Overall the guitar is an excellent value, great sound and well made. It is what it is, a good starter and possibly something to use for gigging.

Very nice lap steel for the price point. It's not a professional model and doesn't cost like one. It's a good beginner's instrument or for the occasional player who enjoys playing but doesn't want to spend a ton. It has a great sound and is good quality.

[Edit update: I just disovered one of the magnet pole screws in the pickup was screwed all the way down and stripped so it can't be raised. This is still a cheap lap steel, and the strings were excusable but that was not. It is still useable, but minus another star for that. It would be good if the seller did QA on these before shipping them out as it seems they need it.] This is the most bang for your buck among the affordable lap steels. With this very good price point in mind, and not acting like it should be like a Dussenberg at this price point, here is my honest review. I’m pleasantly surprised that it is sturdy, including the legs. It is really nice to be able to set it up on the legs. The tuners are not bad, they are perfectly acceptably good. The electronics are good. The included bag is good. The string gauges are good for the suggested E9 tuning. It ships from New Hampshire, USA. Why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5…. My only complaint is that the strings are not high quality, and it arrived with a broken string even though the strings are kept slack for shipping, so it was put on stripped broken down at the bridge. A QA issue. However, at this price point I feel like you’d expect to be replacing the strings with some good NYXL’s anyway. I’ll be replacing them with with a custom selection from the two NYXL 10 string pedal steel packs for C6 and E9, selecting the most appropriate gauges for an 8 string lap steel version of E9. So there is a hint for new owners, and the product description of this SX gives you the tuning and the string gauges that you can make note of. Get yourself good strings, a nice tone bar, and you are off to having fun. If you should mod this SX with palm benders like Certanos I hear you may need to upgrade the tuners, at least on the two bender strings to hold perfect tune. We may try palm benders eventually because this is a nice lap steel for the money. I might do a YouTube video to help prospective buyers because there are only a few out there. Overall impressions, this SX is 8 strings bang for the buck and a good bit of fun. It beats out the other lap steels competition in the price range. It opens the door to the world of steel. It really adds a whole new sound layer to our jams. It wasn’t over $1000. It’s a win!

Gifted - Recipient was elated.

Great value for the price. The reasons I didn’t give it 5 stars: 1) Tuners seem a bit loose. 2) There’s a buzz on the open high G string. I can’t figure it out. It’s obviously not a fret buzz. That’s not a big worry though. When I use the steel, there is no buzz. 3) The pots on the volume and treble controls seem really stiff. Is there a lubricant available that can free them up? 4) It seems that it would be better to house the legs under the bottom of the guitar rather than on top of the strings in the case.

The media could not be loaded. This is a fantastic instrument. It is my first steel guitar. I changed the strings to some heavier gauge tops, and epic flat wounds. I'm all about it.