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Topic: What Lap Steel is this? |
Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 3 Sep 2007 9:12 am |
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Does anybody know the name of this Epiphone lap steel? And what year was it built?
The logo seems a very early design (pre-war?) and is pinned down with 3 small nails.
The knob is not original; did it originally have a Carousel knob?
It came with a big round black knob usually found on old radios.
Was there a pick guard? There was a wooden case, which was beyond repair.
The original rings around the tunershafts look like eyelets or shoerings.
The tuners are like mandolin in-line tuners and are a bit stiff.
The pickup and the pot are not original, but the guitar sounds great.
Any info is appreciated.
Regards
Nic |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 4 Sep 2007 8:53 pm
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Al Terhune
From:
Newcastle, WA
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Posted 4 Sep 2007 9:26 pm
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Nic -- I've never seen this. I like it. It reminds me of the 10-string Alkires that they made, especially the fretboard, bridge and headstock. I've seen 7-string Epiphones, but I don't think an 8.
_________________
Al
My equipment:
One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 1:30 am
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Electar ?
never have seen a 8 stringer either
or one knob
heck, back in those days many variants were ordered
has the one in the pic been refinished ?
looks like it to me
looks like a winner Nic |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 8:09 am
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No, it is not an Electar.
The guitar was painted black with a paintbrush, and the colour underneath was also black. It has been refinished now.
It was bought on a fleamarket in Holland for 25 cents in the mid-sixties. There was an aluminium triangular logo in the case with a very badly engraved name "Sipson".
It was stuck on the guitar during WWII (between 1940 and 1945) to protect the instrument from confiscation by the Germans. American music and products were not allowed at that time.
Somebody mentioned it might be a Epiphone "Coronet".
Was there such a guitar? |
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Fred Kinbom
From:
Berlin, Germany, via Stockholm, Sweden.
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 12:33 pm
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| Nic du Toit wrote: |
It was bought on a fleamarket in Holland for 25 cents in the mid-sixties. There was an aluminium triangular logo in the case with a very badly engraved name "Sipson".
It was stuck on the guitar during WWII (between 1940 and 1945) to protect the instrument from confiscation by the Germans. American music and products were not allowed at that time. |
Fascinating story Nic!
_________________
www.fredrikkinbom.com - New lap steel album out now - listen here: fredrikkinbom.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-lap-steel-and-harmonium |
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Dan Sawyer
From:
Studio City, California, USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 1:10 pm
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| You have a Coronet. These were made from about 1939 to 1949. Yours is probably a later one, because the 1939 catalog clearly states that the Coronet was only available as a 6-string. The 1939 "Coronet Hawaiian" was a bargain-priced model. The body was a guitar shape made of maple and finished in black. The headstock had the Epiphone metal nameplate and the fingerboard was rosewood, had actual frets (!) and pearl dot inlays. A white Pyralin pickguard protected the top. The pickup was a single bar polepiece. They were supposed to have volume and tone controls, but it looks like yours doesn't. By 1941 the Coronet had an etched metal fingerboard and a side mounted input jack. 1939 prices: $35 or $75 with amp. |
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Dan Sawyer
From:
Studio City, California, USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 3:13 pm
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I just found one online. This looks to have the real frets and separate volume and tone controls. You can see what the pickguard looked like.
http://www.telapex.com/~cejjrpe/epicor.htm |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 5 Sep 2007 5:01 pm
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Wow!
What a lot of information! Thank you so much, Dan.
This guitar had indeed 2 side mounted banana jacks and the pickup was a blade polepiece attached to the side of one internal U-shape magnet. The pickup coil was corroded beyond recognition and the magnet was broken. There was no cover. The frets are slots filled with white Pyralin. Now I must find a carousel knob.
Not bad for $0.25!
Thanks for the link! |
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Mike Black
From:
New Mexico, USA
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Posted 6 Sep 2007 12:08 pm
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delete
Last edited by Mike Black on 10 Apr 2011 7:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 6 Sep 2007 12:13 pm
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| PU looks to be a Wallace TrueTone replacement. |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 6 Sep 2007 1:05 pm
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Nope...It is an 8-string Emmons pickup that was added about 20 years ago.
I just must get rid of the Telecaster knob. |
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Mike Black
From:
New Mexico, USA
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Posted 6 Sep 2007 4:13 pm
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delete
Last edited by Mike Black on 10 Apr 2011 7:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 6 Sep 2007 5:09 pm
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Yes Mike, it is a 22-1/2" scale. It has an B11th tuning on it with extra heavy stainless steel wound strings. Hi-Lo E-C#-A-F#-D#-B-A-F#. 015 to.054.
The sound is a bit "Emmonsy" and the strings feel a bit low. In fact, the fretboard is rather thick (1/4") and the picks are sometimes touching the fretboard. The guitar sounds much better with B11 or A6. When C6 was on it, it did not sound very Hawaiian. I think C6 was too high. A6 or B11 has much more authority in its sound.
The U shape magnet was rusted and broken beyond repair. It had no magnetism left. The attached plate was bolted on one leg of the magnet and acted as the "blade" on which the coil was wound. This coil was green with corrosion and the wire was unusually thick. It was all stuck together in one lump of corrosion, with a cloth tape around it. The blade was very rough. All this stuff was thrown away in the sixties.
I don't think this was owned by a GI as the (Canadian) GI's only arrived in Holland on the 5th of May 1945. So there would be no need to protect the guitar with a fake logo during the war. This fake logo was also lost in the sixties. I have been told that the fake name "Sipson" was a name used by the Egmond guitar factory. I have no way to verify this.
The guitar was bought for One Dutch guilder on the fleamarket which at that time was equal to 25 cents
There was a set of Black Carousel knobs on eBay last week, but the winner put it on automatic bidding, so I had no chance of winning it.
Next: I have to find a case for it. |
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