A type of electric steel guitar intermediate between the lap steel guitar and the pedal steel guitar. Console steel guitars typically have multiple necks and/or more than 6 strings per neck, and are too large to be easily played in lap steel fashion.

They are particularly favoured in Hawaiian music, especially the twin-neck 8 string per neck configuration.

Console steel guitars most commonly have 8 strings per neck, with 6 or 7 strings less common and mainly on older instruments. Up to 4 necks is not unusual as, without the benefit of pedals, the player has only as many tunings available as there are necks, but 2 necks are most common. As with the pedal steel guitar, the neck closest to the player is most commonly C6 tuning, and the next closest E9 tuning.

The line between electric lap steel guitar and console steel guitar is fuzzy, with a great deal of overlap. Some makers do not use the term at all, but refer to any steel guitar without pedals as a lap steel guitar. In 1956, Gibson was selling an 8+8 string with folding legs as a lap steel guitar, despite the fact that it was unplayable in lap steel fashion.