Artisan EA-1 Lap Steel

As a casual hobbyist, I don't ask for tons of features, but I am satisfied with this steel. For me, it's just for the sound it makes. The features have already been listed in another review. Mine has a red metal-flake finish.

I play most styles of music on several instruments. I got this steel as a way of broadening my sound and adding a "country" edge to my more folk-based recordings.
I primarily just use instruments for recording, so I just play this through a Digitech RP-3 into my computer. I get a bright, clear tone that I'm happy with, which I often fade into using the Digitech's volume pedal. I use a Dunlop 902 tone bar. The sound tends to naturally have a "wah" quality to it (without effects), almost like a musical "meow". I find it a charming timbre to use. Good for that "whiny" pedal steel sound heard in traditional country & western music. It sounds good through distortion, too.
I think it's best for country/folk-type music.

It was nice and comfortable from the get-go.
I agree that it's a bit odd (okay, very odd) to have the 1/4 in. jack on top of the body between myself and the strings. However, it doesn't bother me to have my hand turned around it to play near the bridge. But I usually pick the strings near the center of the instrument, so the cord doesn't get in the way.

I haven't owned this instrument for a long time (about a month now) but I've used it for recording and a studio session, and it's dependable. I would perform with it without a backup.

I haven't had to deal with customer support.

I've been playing guitar and other instruments for about 10 years. I have simple tastes, with a Danelectro U2 reissue and a Fender standard fretless Jass bass. Then there are the other instruments such as mandolin, saxophone, theremin, accordian, etc. but that's another story.
If something happened to this lovely little sound-maker I'd get another. I'm surprised I like the sound so much, at its price. I'm happy with it. I actually bought it just as an "accessory", seeing the price on it, but it's becoming one of my favorite instruments now. I've given it a home.
If the input jack was on the side of the body, near the volume/tone knobs, it would be perfect. But it's still no problem for me, and I'm not losing any sleep.
My thanks to Artisan for supplying a nice instrument at a nice price.

Made in 2002(?)

It has a 3 octave fretboard and is made out of wood but not sure exactly what kind of wood.

The lap steel only has 1 pickup (single coil) with a volume and tone knob, with a steel (chrome ?) pickgaurd going around the controls and around the pickup.

My lap steel has a blue metal flake painted finish and to tell you the truth it looks pretty good (I know the steels also come in black metal flake and red metal flake).

The bridge is a stop tailpiece with individual string height adjustments.

The tuners are pretty good (from what I can tell), not sure on what brand they are though.

The lap steel came with a nice padded gig bag and a small allen wrench (for the string height adjustments on the bridge).

This steel sounded really nice.

I play all sorts of styles of music (Gospel, country, blues, classic rock, etc.)

I used the steel going through an Ampeg SJ-12T and it wasn't noisy much, the only noise that came out of it was when the volume was turned up and you took your hands off the steel then it had that small little hum sound, (that alot of single coil guitars have) but that was about it.

I had the steel guitar tuned in open E and it sounded full (at least to me) and I was able to get some nice sounds out of it by using the tone knob and also using a volume pedal that I had laying around the house. The sound got bright when using a pick (or picks) with it, but mostly I just used my fingers instead of a pick (without picks it had a nice mellow sound)

It would have been cool if it had another pickup to change the sound some but what do you expect for a "beginner's" lap steel.

The finish was really nice. It was smooth and really glossy. There was a little tiny rough spot in the paint on the headstock (on the very top edge of it, on the back side) but that really didn't bother me a whole lot.

The pickup sounded good, it has screws on each side of it for adjustments (I guess ... I didn't mess with it).

The controls felt really snug (nothing loose) and the same with the tuners. The only thing I noticed that was a little loose was a few screws that were used to mount the "plastic looking" fretboard but that was about it, so I went ahead and tightened those up.

One thing I didn't like about it (when I first saw it) was the way the plug is mounted on the lap steel. It is mounted on the opposite side of the tone / volume controls and right on the top next to the bridge (on the side where your wrist / arm would go). So I have to play the lap steel with my arm going around the plug and resting on the bridge (which after doing this for a few minutes didn't bother me as much as I thought it would have), but I still would have rather had the plug on the opposite side next to the controls or on the side (not on the top of the instrument).

I think this lap steel will work great for live playing and I think the hardware will holdup over time.

The finish again looks nice and it seems to be thick (but I could be wrong), but overall it looks really nice (and at the price of the steel you can't complain too much).

I would depend on it in a live situation and would use it without a backup.

I've never dealt with the company that made the lap steel (I really don't know much about the company anyways).

I bought the steel from Musician's Friend, and I've delt with them quite often and have really been happy with all of the stuff they've shipped out to me.

Artisan = N/A (for customer support)
Musician's Friend = 10 (for customer support)

I've never really played (or even owned) a lap steel before but I've been playing the guitar for over 10 years now and have been playing a resonator guitar (with a slide about 50% of the time) for about 2 years.

I would most likely get another one of these lap steels.

The main thing I like about the steel is the blue painted finish and the price.

One thing about this lap steel that I was surprized about was the lap steel cost $79.99 and on Musician's Friend's website (and catalog) it didn't mention anything about a gigbag, so when I opened the box and saw the gigbag I was really happy about that ... so to me this was really a good deal ... a lap steel and a decent gigbag all for $79.99