Magnatone triple neck

[Duane Becker]

I acquired a 3 neck Magnatone. It plays and sounds great, but there are some issues. Are these models desireable. I dont plan on selling it, but just want some info on it. I think it is a Maestro model name. I like it because I am a big Jules Ah See fan.

The issues are electronic, I think two switches are dirty-I have to slightly move two of them around to get sound out of two necks. Pots seem to be dirty as well. However, the more I move the switches the problem is less. Maybe they have dust on them. The steel hasnt been played in 17 years and not very much before that.
One of the wooden covers for the tuners is missing and one leg is missing-guy I got it from built a homemade aluminum leg that actually works ok. I'm thinking about having the wood tuner cover built.
I will be looking for a replacement leg, plus I will work on the electronics-I have knowledge and experience on guitar electronics so it should be easy-but I may need to replace the sliding switch. Case is in good shape.

[Rich Arnold]

I like it!
I acquired a Magnatone last summer, just as I was going to stop playing the non-pedal steel and it sounded so good I kept playing the lap.
You should be able to really get a great sound out of that! This is what mine sounds like.
https://vimeo.com/1068451244

[Duane Becker]

Nice playing Rich! That kinda sounds like mine. I have always played Fender 'trap pickup' style. I use a 68 Fender Twin, and plugging directly from the Fender to the Magnatone the Fender sounds a bit more on the bass side than the Magnatone does, even when adjusting the tone controls.

[Duane Becker]

I forgot to mention there is a number stamped on metal and attached to bottom of body, I assume serial number. It is 52280.

[Nic Neufeld]

I've got a dual neck. It is missing the front Magnatone badge but otherwise is complete (it doesn't look like there are holes, maybe it didn't have a badge?). Love it, and yeah, it was Jules that got me to acquire it.

A triple, I bet that thing weighs a ton! Hopefully you don't have to cart it around too much...I ended up using a soft double rifle bag to carry mine around which was better than the hard case.

When you get into the electronics...well, if you are up for it and want to sketch out a basic schematic, I've been quite confused by the electronics on mine. Slightly different output levels with each neck, could be the pickups. The tone knob makes no sense to me. It has a weird taper where it is almost like a three way switch...all the way on, one sound, all the way off, another sound, anywhere in the middle, a different sound (but same all the way through).

Here's a recording of mine with it: https://soundcloud.com/tropicstrings/sand

[Jack Hanson]

Chances are, a shot or two of Caig DeoxIT D5 into the pots and switches, followed by some vigorous pot-twirling and switch-switching will clean 'em right up.