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Topic: I hate to brag about "free" lapsteels........BUT.. |
Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 9:33 am |
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Here's a couple of shots of one I just became the proud owner of for the sum of ZERO dollars. An old friend of mine retired and moved away to the mountains a few years ago. He called me last week and said he'd be in town over the weekend and that a widow he'd been seeing had given him some instruments and one of them was an old steel which he couldn't use. He said the keys were broken and it couldn't be tuned but maybe I could do something with it......... I said, sure I'll take it, thinking it was a piece of junk. When he brought it by the gig on Thursday night I was flabbergasted!
It's an old National double eight! The buttons on all the tuning pegs are gone or almost gone and the strings were corroded and rusty but I plugged it in and both pickups work as well as the volume control & toggle switch. The controls were a little scratchy but a shot of contact cleaner and a little movement and they're working fine.
Does anyone know what vintage this steel might be? The serial number is X13432. Also what would be some good tunings to put on it? I'm thinking of the Don Helms type E13th for the outside neck but am open for the inside neck. Here's a couple of shots of it............JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
Last edited by Jerry Hayes on 28 Mar 2008 8:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:00 am Re: I hate to brag about "free" lapsteels........B
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Wow! Some people have all the luck - congrats! 
| Jerry Hayes wrote: |
Does anyone know what vintage this steel might be? The serial number is X13432. |
That would be 1952.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Russ Wever
From:
Kansas City
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:00 am
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Looks like it may be an early-mid '50's 'Grand Console' . . .
Didja get legs with it? It may prove to be a little 'weighty' or bulky to be used as a lapsteel.
Fwiw, when I went to playing non-ped after playing pedals for 30 yrs, I put the 'middle eight' strings of the ten-string C6th, ie: FACEGACE
The 'symmetry' of having one high string and one low string 'missing' helped me keep track of the 'new-to-me' eight-string tuning.
~Russ |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:05 am
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Steiner, thanks for the info........
Russ, it doesn't have any holes on the bottom to screw in legs but I was thinking of making some sort of table which followed the outline of the body, also I didn't get a case with it so I'll have to do something about that.
Anyone have a ball park figure about how much one if these in good working order might be worth? The tuner buttons are all missing but I ordered some replacement ones from Stewart/McDonald........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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John Rosett
From:
Missoula, MT
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:21 am
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"I hate to brag..."
No you don't. You're lovin'every minute of it!
That's a great thing to have happen. Congratulations. |
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Jim Sallis
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:29 am
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| The tuner heads are always crumbled on those. I play a triple-neck from about the same period, or just a bit earlier. These are great guitars -- Freddie Roulette plays a double-neck like yours. I have C6 on the bottom neck (great for swing), E13 on the middle (country and general), B11 on top(a favored Hawaiian, for those thick backup chords). Doubles have been going for $600-800 recently on Ebay. In excellent condition, list would probably be around $1000-1200. Enjoy! |
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Billy Tonnesen
From:
R.I.P., Buena Park, California
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:41 am
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| Jerry: This steel guitar looks similiar to one that Noel Boggs still had when I was over to his house. He used that particular guitar when he first went on the Bob Wills band. At the time I saw this guitar Noel was playing with with Spade Cooley and using one of Fender's first double necked guitars (non-pedal). |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:44 am
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Good score Jerry!
Those old Nationals have a nice smooth mellow tone . .
_________________
BIG STEEL |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 10:49 am
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The serial number plate on the bottom would help with the date it was built. That info has been on here a few times.
I often thought about one of those, but didn't hear one 'til the HSGA convention '06 when Dick Sanft played his. I thought it sounded great.
Not sure what year his is. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 11:01 am
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Very nice! Enjoy it!
| Quote: |
| I hate to brag about "free" lapsteels........BUT.. |
I hate to brag too, but since you brought it up 
People have given me a few instruments over the years:
Fender Champ lap steel
National New Yorker lap steel
1970's Dobro squareneck
recent National Model D dobro
1969 Fender Super Reverb amp
1990s Fender Squire Tele
... and probably some others I have forgotten about.
Sometimes people who do not play music come into possession of an instrument and they want to see it go to a player. It's a noble thing to do, and much appreciated.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel
Last edited by Doug Beaumier on 23 Mar 2008 11:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 11:41 am
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I love to brag, myself. But I've never run into a deal like this.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 4:09 pm
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Good score there Jerry. I've got one like yours without legs. It looks cool on one of those vintage stands like you see in old 40's pics. I also have one on legs and a triple neck National. These are my favorite console steels to play because (1.) they sound great and (2.) when you play in the high frets, your bar hand doesn't crowd out your picking
hand like the Fender trapezoid models.
_________________
LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro |
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James Harrison
From:
New Brockton, Alabama, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 9:02 pm
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Hi Jerry:
I remember a good deed you did for a friend of mine. Maybe this is many times repayment. Good friends sonetimes do really good things.
James |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2008 9:54 pm SCORE!
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It's always great to get something nice for free.
I've been more than lucky to have been given a few fry-pans over the last X # of years by my old Ricky loving friend. I didn't take them as they don't sound great in my hands, I prefer Bakelites and Lamborghini's, but it's certainly a nice feeling.
Get them buttons fixed and let's hear your new toy, Jerry. |
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Bill Leach
From:
Cheshire, england
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 2:13 am
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Hi all,
I'm new to this forum but thought it was about time I joined in.
I recently bought one of these National double eights off Ebay. It cost me $710, but with all the duty, p&p, commission to paypal and our wonderful postal service, it ended up costing me nearer $1000 by the time it got to the UK. Still not a bad price but $0 would have been niceJerry  . The plastic tuner buttons still work fine on mine so far, but I've been told they are easily replaced if they do perish. This one doesn't have the holes for legs either, but it's not too bad on my knees, though I won't know for sure until I gig with it - I don't think it'll look too cool if I start jumping round the stage with cramp.
On my second neck there seems to be a plate missing that I can just about see on Jerry's example. It seems to be holding the pickup cover at the correct height. I'd like to replace it. Is it made of wood? If so I could make one. A close up photo would be nice.
cheers,
Bill |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 7:47 am
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Hey Bill, yes that part is made of wood. It has rounded ends and it screwed right into the neck as a ledge for the pickup cover to rest on. I'll take a close up picture if I can and post it for you...
Ron, talk about Fry Pans! My old buddy & fellow Forumite Kenny Dail must be quite a stud! There used to be a redhead in this area who loved steel guitar players. Kenny & I both were "friendly" with her and she gave him an old Rick Fry Pan and didn't give me anything! Dang Kenny, do you know what that did for my "self esteem".........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 7:58 am
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FWIW: I had a new NATIONAL in 1950 which had both necks on a level playing field...I eventually sold it to purchase a triple Fender Custom. In recent years I acquired another NATIONAL, however this one has the outer neck raised. The pics shown are a bit difficult to determine if the outer neck is raised...(or not). I think my latest is about 1954.
Neither of my Nationals had legs...guess they came along later. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 8:30 am
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Jerry, it sounds like she wuz giving you plenty!
If I were you, I'd have gone back a few more times and tossed out the word Bakelite at the 'oppropriate' moments. You just never know... |
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Bill Leach
From:
Cheshire, england
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 8:43 am
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Thanks Jerry, I'd appreciate the closeup.
I've just been doing a bit of spot the difference. The only difference I can see is the neck selector on mine is black while yours is cream. And yes George, Mine has a raised 2nd neck as Jerry's appears to have.
So where do we find the dates for these instruments? I can find plenty of info on acoustic nationals but not electric ones. My serial number's V40368.
Bill |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 12:10 pm
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| Looks just about like the coolest lap steel I ever had. Mine was an incredible sounding guitar, very sweet and tasty and very playable. I sold mine when I got sick last year, and I still miss it. I'd say you invested your $0 wisely, you certainly can't lose... I'd be glad to double what you paid for it... |
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Bill Leach
From:
Cheshire, england
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 12:51 pm
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thanks Brad
I must be going mad or blind - I'd looked on that site and not seen it. According to the serial numbers on there it would appear to be 1951 when, unless I'm reading it wrong, they ended with V40000.
Cheers,
Bill |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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James Harrison
From:
New Brockton, Alabama, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2008 9:49 pm
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Doug and Jerry, you have been blessed. Now it is my turn, I have had to buy all my instruments. So tell all your friends to send some my way. I will be waiting on the delivery service.  Just having fun, I am happy for you guys.
James
WB4ALX |
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