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Topic: Sorry, I meant $150 Gretch, not Ricky! |
Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 19 Sep 2003 7:46 pm |
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| Opps, sorry about an error in my last post..those $149 lap steels at Guitar Center are Gretch's, not Rickenbachers. |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 20 Sep 2003 7:27 am
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| Thanks, John...they're kind of cute, but the PU does look a bit cheesy. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 20 Sep 2003 7:35 am
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Cliff,- for $50-100 more you will find several fine Supro's and Magnatone's (and others) on eBay.
A '40s or '50s Supro with the classic 'strings through' pickup will surely sound better than any new lapsteel you can pick up for $150.[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 20 September 2003 at 08:35 AM.] |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 20 Sep 2003 8:27 am
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Hi Steinar,
that's a good idea...I'm looking for one and that's about what I can afford right now. I certainly like cool old guitars. Is there a particular model name or description when looking for one of these, or is "strings through pickup" what these are commonly called?
Thanks,
Cliff |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 20 Sep 2003 9:09 am
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| Cliff,- I've emailed you a photo with an example of what I'm talking about. |
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JOZEF SMITH
From:
WESTMINSTER - CA - USA
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Posted 21 Sep 2003 10:47 am
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| I was surprised about the sound and handling of the steel. For beginners, this is one way to start @ $149. The looks and finish is great IMOH. I hooked up the steel to a Crate amp. |
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Donald Ruetenik
From:
Pleasant Hill, California, USA
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Posted 21 Sep 2003 6:18 pm
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| I wanted to check it out too, so I stopped by the Concord GC. They had one hanging on the wall. The strings are a little bit close together for me but the sound is nice. I agree for the price. |
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 23 Sep 2003 1:03 am
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SHOPPING FOR LAP STEELS ON EBAY:
Cliff, I have picked up 7 nice lap steels on eBay over the last 3 weeks, all for under $150 with an average of about $130. 3 of them were the National / Valco models with "string thru pickup" that Steinar mentioned. Not knowing what experience you have looking for lap steels on eBay, please allow me to post some info and some examples of good, affordable, used lap steels on eBay, for anyone that might need some info about shopping for them there:
Here is a very good lap steel for beginners (or experienced). This "Buy It Now" price of $200 is very good for one of these Guyatones in this condition and even with a stand! These are modeled closely after similar Fender lap steels.
Here are some steels that have what is what's referred to as "string thru pickups", ...manufactured by National / Dobro / Valco (different names for same company) and sold under the brand names National, Dobro, Supro and provided for other brand companies with their brand names on them such as McKinney, Oahu, Silvertone (Sears and Roebuck), Airline (Montgomery Wards), etc:
OAHU.
OAHU.
MCKINNEY.
NATIONAL.
Other lap steel examples:
Any reasonably good Rickenbacher with this body shape and with this pickup (they were finished in either black, chrome or gold), would be a good deal under $300.
Here's a rather nice 8 string Rickenbacker to watch. The horseshoe magnet pickup tells the story no matter what brand Rickenbacher (aka Rickenbacker) made steels for.
Here is a Gibson BR9. Gibson's usually have the small guitar shape to them. Reasonably nice Gibsons can be picked up currently for $250-300 if you watch closely.
Here is another pickup / control plate arrangement to look for that appears on Gibson and Kalamazoo guitars also sold under different brands such as this Silvertone. Any Gibson in reasonably good condition is a bargain at $250. Kalamazoos are currently selling for around $150.
Here's a MOTS (mother of toilet seat finish) Magnatone and matching amp. These little Magnatones are wonderful guitars and OFTEN sell for under $150 on ebay. This particular specific model has a heavy suspended wire bridge that can be or become bent because they were not strong enough for heavier string gauges' pressure (not a difficult thing to remedy for a handyman). Here's another almost identical model with a better bridge and a cool Hawaiian scene on the amp. These "Maggies" are among my favorite lap steels.
Any lap steel by Fender in reasonably good condition under $400 would probably be a good deal.
Look very closely for problems when you are shopping. It's easy to miss problems when you're looking for other things. Look closely at the assymetrical body shape between the left and ride sides of this guitar; This guitar is actually 1/2 of a once double neck guitar, plus has had allot of corrosion whose heavy pits show on the pickup and pickup / controls plate. ---- With this National New Yorker the art deco style and fame could make a person miss the sub-surface cracks around the tuners and the gaping hole where the original pickup was taken out and replaced by a much cheaper pickup. Often eBay sellers don't know enough about lap steels to even notice these things themselves. This guitar could be a nice project for a handyman, but probably not worth very much at all to someone who wants an immediate player. ---- However, if you're a handyman there are some opportunities to save money by fixing not too difficult things like this Rickenbacker.
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Shopping on eBay is as easy as entering "lap steel guitar" into their search window and click on the *search title and description* box. It's best to just go surfing all the lap steels that come up on the search results list, and read the ads to learn more about them. Don't pay any attention to hype statements such as "very rare", or "very valuable" because they're usually not unless the price is high and there are 2 or more bidders. You will not see what a guitar is going to bring until right up to the end of the auction. In a couple weeks time studying lap steels on eBay, you will get a pretty good idea of what you want to look for in what price range and how the eBay shopping and timing "game" works, plus gaining familiarity with the eBay layout and functions for the area you are shopping. I have found that on the average it takes about 1 week of close attention and auction tracking to find and get a real good deal. If you've never shopped eBay, ....on each auction there is a link at the top right of the page that says "watch this item"; And when you click on that it will establish a page for you called *My eBay* where up to 30 items you send there can be watched.
Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have. Also come back to this forum thread often and see what the good folks here add to this chain for people who want to shop for a Steel Guitar.
Aloha,
Denny T~
Geetar Bedlam
[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 23 September 2003 at 04:39 AM.] |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 23 Sep 2003 7:20 pm
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Wow, thanks alot, Denny, for that great info and the links....after some info from Steinar I was looking at a few Supros on Ebay, but I missed the auctions (got too busy). I was looking at that 8 string Rick, and the rest look good. I've had good experiences with Ebay, and the prices on these seems pretty good, and I don't know where else I'd find these great old steels. Anyway, thanks again; I'll let you know how it goes.
Cheers,
Cliff[This message was edited by Cliff Kane on 23 September 2003 at 08:21 PM.] |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 24 Sep 2003 6:16 am
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Hey Denny,
I finally had some time to really go through those Ebay links and your comments for each....that's a pretty good primer and lesson you put together! I'm gonna take you advice a watch Ebay for a little while to learn and study these. I like the Silertone with the Gibson bridge, and the Gibson in Hong Kong looks pretty nice....for some reason I thought those guitar shaped Gibsons (not the BR9's) went for a lot more and were quite collectable.
Thanks again, your post taught me a lot.
Cliff |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 24 Sep 2003 7:48 am
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Denny has some excellent advice there. I would mention that the two things to watch out for when looking at vintage lap steels are:
1) Amphenol (screw-on) connector vs. standard guitar input jack - many early lap steels (especially Valco-made instruments such as National and Supro) have the early screw-on type connector rather than a standard guitar jack. You can get connectors and adapters from places such as Angela Instruments, but I've found it better in the long run to install a standard guitar input jack.
You'll also see lap steels with built in cords - in almost all cases these cords are frayed and worn and must be replaced. As long as you're replacing the cord, install a jack.
2) Tuner problems, particularly crumbling tuner buttons - probably the most common problem on Fender and Valco-made instruments. The plastic used for tuner buttons has not held up well with age. Fortunately replacement tuner buttons are available from Stewart-MacDonald and other sites.
Many six string steels used the same Kluson tuners as the regular guitars. Stewart-MacDonald has good Kluson-type replacements.
Rickenbacker Bakelite steels use non-standard tuners; good luck finding a good replacement!
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 24 September 2003 at 08:49 AM.] |
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Kevin Ruddell
From:
Toledo Ohio USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2003 1:06 pm
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Do these Magnatone ( and other manufacturers mentioned in these posts ) lap steels from the forties and fifties have manageable string spacing ? I had a frustrating time trying to play a Morrell 8 string with its tight spacing although I have no problem with my Regal Dobro's 3/8th spacing.Not too sure about the proper string spacing at the nut either . Can anyone offer any information ?
thanks |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 30 Sep 2003 1:35 pm
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The Magnatone I have has a spacing of 3/8 inch between strings. That seems to be the standard for that time unless you're talking about eight string guitars.
By the way, I stopped by the Guitar Center near here and they had two Gretsch lap steels for $149 each (no case) and four mini-Bo Diddley guitars for $99 each. I think Fender is blowing out all the old Gretsch line since their takeover of the company. Anyway, the mini-Bo Diddley guitars look like they'd make a great lap steel. No case, though...
The Gretsch lap steel is a decent value for that price, although one of the two instruments had intonation problems (the 24th fret was not accurately playing harmonics). The instrument sounded good, but not great. It looks much nicer than it sounds. Also I'd like to see the strings a bit higher off the fretboard, but that's just me.
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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