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Topic: Vega double neck steel |
Jan Stevens
From:
New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 5:55 am |
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I have this Vega steel. The lower neck has 8 strings and the top neck has 7 strings. Can anyone tell me the approximate year of manufacture? Also, the is a volume control on one neck and a tone control on the other, but no appparent way to switch necks. Can anyone shed light on this?
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 6:05 am
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The first console steels in the late 30s and early 40s did not have switches and both necks would be on.
This of course could be problematic as strings can ring out on the other neck that you're not playing from sympathetic vibrations.
Gibson soon came out with a mechanical lever system that mutes the strings of the other neck so they wouldn't ring out.
Eventually, electronic switching was devised to ameliorate this problem.
That Vega is a good-looking steel! |
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Jan Stevens
From:
New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 7:59 am
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| Thanks for that info. I'm looking to sell it. Any idea of value? |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 8:17 am
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The features place it in the late '40s. Around 1950, Vega had added a selector switch and brought the push-button switching system.
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Jan Stevens
From:
New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 8:21 am
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| Wow! That looks identical to mine. |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 9:24 am
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| Jan Stevens wrote: |
| Thanks for that info. I'm looking to sell it. Any idea of value? |
I'd say right around $1000. Vega ranks down on the list of brands that most collectors are looking for, behind the Fenders, Rickenbackers and Gibsons. Still it looks to be in very nice condition. You might possibly get as much as $1200 if you are willing to wait a long time for that rare Vega fan to show up. |
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Jan Stevens
From:
New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 9:47 am
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| Thank you. Any idea of serial number location? |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 10 Sep 2021 10:00 am
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| Post-War Vega consoles usually don't have serials, and even if there is one, there is no list out there to compare it to. There is a serial list for Vega banjos, but their steels, guitars, mandolins, etc. don't follow it. |
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Erik Alderink
From:
Ann Arbor Michigan, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2021 2:51 am Serial Number
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| I Have a post 1950 version with the pushbutton selector. My serial number is stamped into the wood on the end near the tuning pans. When I opened it up, it had '51 written in pencil on the inside. |
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