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Post new topic Interesting Vintage Steels: Add Your Vintage Interests
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Author Topic:  Interesting Vintage Steels: Add Your Vintage Interests
Michael Hogan


Post  Posted 13 May 2017 10:58 pm    
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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 14 May 2017 1:28 pm    
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GIBSON 1939 EH-185 (v.1a) 8 STRING C.C. PICKUP
Gibson only shipped 10 EH-185 8 String Steels.




This instrument was ordered directly from Gibson by original owner, George "Hula" Hines, a professional musician,
with knob locations as shown. These facts were verified to me by his son, Larry Hines. This model has a U-magnet
pickup, a.k.a. "Charlie Christian Pickup", and metal insert painted glossy black.
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Last edited by C. E. Jackson on 20 May 2017 8:12 am; edited 1 time in total
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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 18 May 2017 11:29 am    
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1950 GIBSON ROYALTONE (v.1) P-90 Pickup with Adjustable Pole-Pieces

Gibson's First Use of the Famous P-90 Pickup with Adjustable Pole Pieces. Later Used on
Ultratone, Century, BR-6, BR-9, Console Grande, and Consolette Steels.















The Royaltone was introduced in July, 1950, and shipped later in 1950. Royaltones with natural tops were
made from 1950 until 1952. The natural top was a maple veneer glued to the hardwood body, which was
painted chocolate brown.
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Last edited by C. E. Jackson on 20 May 2017 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 19 May 2017 9:07 am    
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1959 GIBSON CONSOLE GRANDE GC-523 "4-8-4" PICKUP TRIPLE NECK
Gibson’s Last Natural Console Grande: 1956-1959: 37 Shipped











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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 22 May 2017 12:04 pm    
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When I purchased this steel from Charlie Norris, it had a green felt covering the entire back up to the
head-stock. Charlie said the green felt was on the back when he purchased it new in 1935, and that he
had never taken it off for any repairs or other reason. Since I purchased it, I have not taken the felt off
for repairs or other reason. I don't have any books showing photos of the pickup, etc.

Several previous Forum posts show photos of pickup details for National 6 string pickups, but I did not
find photos for a 7 string pickup (both are probably the same). If anyone has a 7 string National, I would
appreciate posting of photos of the pickup, if the 7 is different from the 6.

Also, does anyone know how many of these steels were made?

Thanks,

C. E. Smile


1935 NATIONAL ELECTRIC HAWAIIAN 7 STRING
The Details Of This Casting Have Always Interested Me




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Last edited by C. E. Jackson on 7 Sep 2017 4:39 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jun 2017 2:54 pm    
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Here is another of my rescued Gibson lap steels. It is a scarce Century Deluxe model. According to Andre Duchossoir's fine book Gibson Electic Steel Guitars 1935-1967, only 20 were shipped in 1956 and 1957:



When purchased, it had rinky-dink replacement electronic components. It also had the wrong P-90 pickup (some folks don't realize Gibson produced P90s with different pole-piece spacing). The Century Deluxe is on the right. On the left is a standard-issue blue Century for comparison:


Here is a close-up of the Plexiglas finger-rest:


The one piece unique to the Century Deluxe is the Plexiglas headstock cover, similar to what Gibson installed on its top-of-the-line Ultratone models:


Due to the headstock cover, there was no Gibson block logo silkscreened on the headstock:


In addition to the headstock cover, Century Deluxes exhibit two major distinctions from the standard blue Gibson Century lap steels produced from 1951 until 1955. The obvious is the stop tailpiece, similar to those installed on some Les Paul models. More subtle is the placement of the P-90, which is approximately 1/2-inch closer to the bridge than on the earlier blue instruments. The Century Deluxe is on the right. Compare to the 1954 Century on the left:



New tuners, Sentell pickup, pots, caps, wiring, jack, and jackplate were installed. Whether it's the new electronic components, the different tailpiece/bridge, the placement of the pickup, or some combination thereof, this is (subjectively, of course) the best sounding of the half-dozen or so Gibson lap steels in my collection.
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