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Topic: Gretsch Artist Lap Steel |
James Rauch
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 12 May 2015 9:04 am |
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| I'm a new guy on here, so please forgive me if I break some type of protocol. I'm not a musician, but I love music. I have one brother that is a mando bluegrass player and another that is a banjo guy with a group in Wisconsin. I'm retired and restore old tube radios and amps. I recently purchased 5 old lap steels at a garage sale. They had been in a barn in their cases for at least 35 years. They belonged to a long time music teacher at our local middle school. They were put in the barn by his family when he passed. There is a Magnatone from 1947, Supro from 1952, a Calvin, a crackled white Epitome, and a Gretsch Artist. My question is to the rarity of the Gretsch Artist. From what I read, they dabbled in lap steels in the 30s. This appears to be from that era. The pickup is very primitive and working great. The volume, tone knobs are real bakelite. It is 7 strings with 4 on the left and 3 on the right. I was only able to find one image of it when I googled it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. |
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Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 12 May 2015 9:42 am
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I'm assuming you are referring to this link.
http://gretsch.forumactif.com/t737-gretsch-electromatic-lap-steel
The question is are you looking to refurbish it?
Sell it? At a loss or a profit?
Gretsch Lap Steel Guitars didn't really float my boat the ones I came across in the past.
Is I found the Volume and tone knobs to be in a unplayable position where you had to move your hand entirely off the strings for tone/vol adjustment.
I don't know if you the think you have a gem or not but it could be an interesting refurb project.
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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James Rauch
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 12 May 2015 9:58 am
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| Thanks for the info. That is the one. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with these. I paid $300 for the whole lot and after careful cleaning and electronic go through, they all present very well. All the pickups work and the pots test good. None of them have strings and some tuners will need replaced. Like I said, I'm not a musician and will try to get them to where they are appreciated while not losing money. |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 12 May 2015 11:54 am
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Boy, I see barn finds all the time on the vintage car forums but not usually with steel guitars. I don't think you could go wrong spending $300 on five guitars. I think each of those guitars will be in the $150 - $300 range depending on condition and the model. Cases are a big plus if they don't smell like the barn! The Gretsch might even be worth more since I imagine 7-strings are somewhat scarce. We'd love to see some pictures.
You mentioned tuners. You may want to try replacing any crumbled tuner buttons with just the plastic buttons available from Stewmac. That, or just leave it to the buyer/restorer. They'll sell better with strings so that you can demonstrate that the pickups work. You may want to click on "strings" at the top of this page and order a couple of sets of open E six string, a couple sets of C6 six string and maybe a set of C6 eight string for the Gretsch.
I'd normally say sell them here or on Ebay but if you're anywhere close to Portland, Craigslist might be another option. Key in lap steel guitar and check the "used" box on ebay then check the completed auctions to get an idea of what similar models have sold for. And send us some pictures!  |
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James Rauch
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 12 May 2015 1:34 pm
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Thanks for the info. The cases aren't in the greatest of shape, but serviceable. I'm doing a bit of rehab on the Gretsch case. It will still be sweaty, but at least useable. This is a picture I took before they were cleaned up. I will add individual pictures soon. Thanks again for the help.
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