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Topic: Bakelight ACE Lap Steels |
James Knox
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 20 May 2021 6:03 am |
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With Rickenbacker B prices off the hook these days, one can still find Bakelight Ace’s for less than 1K. It seems like a lot to me, but then again I’ve never played a Bakelight Lap.
These Ace’s were built by Rickenbacker, right? They have the Horseshoe pickup, right?They should sound “in the ballparkâ€, right?
Anybody have an ACE? Have you compared to a Panda? What did you think?
Look at these two Aces. One, the Horseshoe is covered, one is not. Did someone carefully cut off the PU cover on the green one?
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Eric Dahlhoff
From:
Point Arena, California
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Posted 20 May 2021 8:17 am
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Do the Ace's have chambers like the B6 or are they solid?
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan) |
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David Venzke
From:
SE Michigan, USA
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David Venzke
From:
SE Michigan, USA
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Posted 20 May 2021 9:02 am Re: Bakelight ACE Lap Steels
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| James Knox wrote: |
| ... Look at these two Aces. One, the Horseshoe is covered, one is not. Did someone carefully cut off the PU cover on the green one? |
I believe it is the earlier ones that had the molded hand rest and the later ones were made without. In addition to the Ace, Rickenbacker marketed an Academy, and an American Academy ... all of them basically the same. |
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John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 21 May 2021 12:10 pm
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The Ace was a 1-piece body/neck made of Bakelite. One of my favorite steels.
_________________
Time flies like an eagle
Fruit flies like a banana. |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 21 May 2021 3:32 pm
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Several decades ago I had a beautiful blue ACE, along with a matching blue Electro amp.
That little guitar sounded great through a Fender Dual Showman on Allman Brothers songs. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 3 Jun 2021 7:58 pm Re: Bakelight ACE Lap Steels
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| James Knox wrote: |
With Rickenbacker B prices off the hook these days, one can still find Bakelight Ace’s for less than 1K. It seems like a lot to me, but then again I’ve never played a Bakelight Lap.
These Ace’s were built by Rickenbacker, right? They have the Horseshoe pickup, right?They should sound “in the ballparkâ€, right?
Anybody have an ACE? Have you compared to a Panda? What did you think?
Look at these two Aces. One, the Horseshoe is covered, one is not. Did someone carefully cut off the PU cover on the green one?
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This one is n its way to me now. I’ll soon be able to let you know how it sounds next to my late 40s B7 panda.
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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Jeff Spencer
From:
Queensland, Australia
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Posted 4 Jun 2021 3:57 am Ace & Academy
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2021 4:37 am
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| Doesn't seem like they made alot of these. I have seen many metal bodies and B's in my travels and never got to lay hands on an Ace model. B's are now firmly in the $1000.00 to $1500.00 range but that is still not bad, comparatively speaking to regular guitars imo. Ive seen some ridiculous things happen to the used guitar market in my time, the B prices just seem like a natural "supply and demand" thing to me, other steels, not so much, i see some real mediocre stuff that's way over priced all the time, all we can do is speak with our wallets here, i want a B, i should have held onto one but i didn't, i know i have to pay up to get one now. |
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David DeLoach
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2021 8:20 am
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| David DeLoach wrote: |
| Is anyone making Bakelight lap steels these days? |
I don't think anybody's using Bakelite for anything nowadays, EPA would probably not allow it. |
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Robert W Wilson
From:
Palisade, Western Colorado
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Posted 6 Jun 2021 10:19 am
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| David DeLoach wrote: |
| Is anyone making Bakelight lap steels these days? |
I don't think anybody's using Bakelite for anything nowadays, EPA would probably not allow it. |
There are safer formulas available, we make bakelite discs to hold metal samples that are prepared for analysis.
The mold/tooling cost is crazy $$$$. Starts as a super fine powder in a mold, compress it hard to remove air and heat while under pressure. No small task for a guitar shape!
Pictures of the molds/manufacturing process would be interesting. I wonder if Rickenbacker has any? |
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Robert W Wilson
From:
Palisade, Western Colorado
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Posted 6 Jun 2021 10:42 am Cost of new Bakelite
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Vacuum instead of pressure would be better, safer when heating. I would love to try this! You’d need 2 massive pcs of Al billet. If somebody wants to be a sponsor/investor I have access to engineering students and 2 HAAS VF3 super-speed CNC mills.
Won’t know how it sounds until the investment is made. Could be that the aging of the Bakelite contributes to the character. |
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