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Topic: What this heck is THIS? (eBay auction) |
Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 11:58 am |
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This lap steel appears to have been heavily modified based on the photos. Anybody got a guess as to what it is?
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:03 pm
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| A National, a Fry Pan and a police call box all welded together? |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:08 pm
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It must be something known because that sole bidder is a collector.
Ron |
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Richard Sevigny
From:
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:29 pm
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I'm by no means an expert, but at first blush the body appears one peice, with the box (which looks like some kind of "string bender" device) added on after.
The two tuners on the end of the headstock, while apparently a good match for the other six, don't seem as oxydized. I wonder if they're aftermarket. If looks like there may have been another logo on the headstock previously.
If you look at the "K" on the box closely, it appears to have been modified, perhaps an "R" in a previous life? |
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Derrick Mau
From:
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:30 pm
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| Looks like a rare Century Singing Guitar that was converted to an 8 string. |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:41 pm
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REMOVED
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 28 Feb 2011 3:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 12:58 pm
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| Yup, if Lynn bid on it, it has to be something of interest. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 6:10 pm
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| I believe there is a photo of that brand of guitar in Lorene Ruymar's book. It's one that is in a museum I believe. The "wings" on the body are the tip-off. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 4 Apr 2006 9:12 pm
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Yep, it's a Century Singing Electric that someone badly cobbled, unfortunately. A picture of one appears on p. 10 of Gruhn’s Electric Guitars and Basses. It says that Rickenbacher made the pickup, and the guitar dates to the ’30s. It probably sounded awesome before some yahoo cut it up. What a cryin’ shame.
Here’s a picture of a gorgeous one (from the HSGA web site):
(the volume knob looks like a Fender replacement knob}[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 04 April 2006 at 11:59 PM.] |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 5 Apr 2006 5:21 am
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Too me it looks like someone added pedals AB,
or some such as a home built palm pedal,
at or around the time they got it,
or after hearing Bud Issacs.
Not a collectors item anymore,
but it might be funb to play anyway. |
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Jon Zimmerman
From:
California, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2006 9:14 pm
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| The "K" in the picture comes from a Kelvinator metal logo--from a refrigerator--you old timers shoulda seen that right away! |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 9 Apr 2006 1:29 am
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A similar guitar but all original was up for sale on the web many years ago, I don't remember if it was on e-bay or some where else. Anyway, I never really found out who made it but it showed the Loewy logo on the keyhead (this one is missing it since they used the space to acomodate tuners for strings 1 and 8 as the guitar was originally a 6 string as you only may have guessed already). So, I searched the web for information about the Loewy name and logo and it turned up that it was indeed the logo used by the great designer who designed the Coke botttle, greyhound buses and many other land mark Americana items. I finally got in touch per e-mail with one of the daughters of ol' Loewy who lived in Paris, France at the time, if my memory serves me right, and while she could authenticate the logo and place it into the 30's she could not find any records of the company getting involved with the design of steel guitar, but she was very interested about the whole thing and indicated that her father did at time offer his design ideas to small projects he had a heart for, which raises the question; was Loewy a closet steel guitar simpatisant?? 
The mod apears to be a "vario tuning" device with a "snapping" lock lever system (spring).
... J-D. |
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