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Topic: Date and value of Lap Steel??? |
Dave Alfstad
From:
Indianola, IA USA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 29 Oct 2000 5:22 pm |
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Is there a serial number on a little plate on the underside? The mother of toilet seat celluloid covering dates it in the 50's through the early 60's.
Supro six string lap steels in very good condition sell for somewhere between $100 and $200. They are not particularly sought after. The one in the photo has a cracked nut that should probably be replaced.
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www.dougbsteel.com
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 29 Oct 2000 9:56 pm
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| I had a student who bought one of those new back in 1952, (or very similar). Other than the defective nut, (and the beat-up case), that guitar looks to be in good condition. If you are ever tempted to take off the top plate of the pickup, the two little magnets on each end will fall out. Be sure to put them back in the way you found them. If the magnets are reversed, the sound almost disappears. Value not over $300.00 today. It's an excellent student guitar. |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 30 Oct 2000 8:19 am
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Guitarists often cannabalize these for the pickups. Blues players really like the tone. I think that Ry Cooder or someone like that has raved about the sound of Supro pickups in print.
Still, I agree that $300 would be the high end. More likely $150-$250. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 30 Oct 2000 2:21 pm
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In better condition, and with a hard shell case, $250-$300 certainly wouldn't be out of line for such an instrument. In this instance, for a guitar with a broken nut, some finish damage and a ratty soft shell, definitely less than $200.
Further to what Brad says, the Supro pickups are extraordinary (Brad, Cooder does have a Supro-style bridge pickup on his favorite Strat, with a Teisco for the neck pickup).
They don't have the warmth of, say, a Rickenbacker horseshoe, but through a hot tube amp they SCREAM, and also have maybe the best sustain of any lap steel pickup. |
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