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Topic: Ridgmount Hawaiian Guitar .. Who made them ? |
basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 18 Feb 2007 6:19 pm |
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A friend in the UK has this guitar and we would appreciate some info. from the "Gurus".
The Pickup looks Rick whilst the bridge is positively Gibson and the body design is Valco'ish.
So, who made them and for whom were they made ?
_________________
Steelies do it without fretting
CLICK THIS to view my tone bars and buy——> |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 6:34 am
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Interesting instrument Bas. The bridge is like a Vega lap steel that I have. Maybe it was made in the UK ?? The bridge looks like it's cast with the mounting plate-- all one piece.
BILL |
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Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 8:43 am
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The wood looks too "exotic" to be standard production quality.
Makes me wonder if it wasn't custom built by someone using parts from a different guitar.
No fretboard position markers. The bridge/coverplate casting looks like it is not centered on the body also a few screws appear to be unplated steel making me think home built. |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 9:36 am
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| Pretty hard to imagine somebody "homebrewing" bothering to have a brand name cast in the bridge/pickup mount. Though I agree that unit may not have originally come on this guitar. |
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Colin Brooks
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 2:36 pm
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| Australian? I think I've seen that name on an ebay steel from 'down under'. |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 4:56 pm
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| That appears to be from the same guy in New Zealand who made the Commodore guitars. Can't recall the name though. The plate looks very much like his work. |
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John D. Carter
From:
Canton, Ohio, USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 5:38 pm
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| IMHO, a competent patent/trademark attorney should be able to use this as good evidence to destroy the trademark rights that Richenbaker has claimed on their horseshoe pickup. If the examiners had seen this they would never have granted those rights because this shows that there is no exclusivity to this "look." |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 19 Feb 2007 6:35 pm
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The guitar is a mystery, it MAY be a UK Selmer off-shoot from the late '30's.
Here are some more pictures, I don't recognise the make of the machine heads, and apparently the pots have NO MARKINGS.
Looks Like a Rick Pickup.
Notice the 'N' on the side of the Horseshoe ! and some other letters.
My guess would be late 30's UK origin, with Henri Selmer sourced Rickenbacher parts, Maybe made for Clifford Essex Music or similar London dealer.
I may be TOTALLY wrong, but the lack of pot-codes and the European style tuners and body styling lead me to think this.
AND Ridgmount Street is just a couple of hundred yards from the music shop centre of London. There were Banjo and Guitar workshops in Ridgmount Street it's right opposite RADA.
The Plug is a GPO Type 390. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 20 Feb 2007 2:52 am
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It transpires that The Ridgmount Self Instructor series for all instruments was published by John E. Dallas in London in 1938.
The Hawaiian Guitar part of the series was written by D. Kaloka and A.F. Cramer (who lived in Bournemouth where coincidentally this guitar surfaced) |
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Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
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Posted 20 Feb 2007 7:38 am
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Looks like the wiring may have been changed at some time in the past.
Appers to be a blob of extraneous solder on one pot case.
Or possibly these pots came from a different instrument. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 21 Feb 2007 2:44 pm
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| Still trolling for more info ! |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 27 Feb 2007 12:20 am
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Baz,
Good luck in your bidding.
It looks like about $100 in U.S. currency so far, correct?
Aloha, 
Don |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 27 Feb 2007 3:22 am
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| About $110 at the moment, the other two bidding are from France and the UK, but they don't know my tactics !! |
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