I've owned this for about 15 years or more and don't play lap steel much anymore. Pretty much all original I believe except for most of the glass beads on the neck.
I replaced most of those as they fell out and got lost.
It's nowhere near mint condition but it plays and sounds beautiful.
Chip board case that may be original but is pretty much completely shot.
Can some of you non-pedal experts give me a rough idea of how much I should ask for it?
Thanks,
John
How do YOU know, that those are 1.25 inch magnets?
They look like 1.5's to me.
This is not a question of your expertise or long established credibility......
But rather........HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL THAT?
They don't have that chrome frame work around the pick-up base, that is usually evident. I"m obviously missing a critical visual clue.
How do YOU know, that those are 1.25 inch magnets?
They look like 1.5's to me.
This is not a question of your expertise or long established credibility......
But rather........HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL THAT?
They don't have that chrome frame work around the pick-up base, that is usually evident. I"m obviously missing a critical visual clue.
Those "Half Moon" mounting tabs ... which either have the "Pat Pend" stamp or patent number ... are 1.5" wide ...
To coincide with the pickup bay ... which is 1.5" wide ...
That side view clearly shows the width of the magnets ... vs the mounting tabs ...
My '37 cream wrinkled A25 ... the magnets really don't fit right in ... due to the thickness of the paint ...
And I have to kinda "smack" them past a sticking spot.
The magnets were likely swapped out long ago. Maybe the originals became rusty etc and someone replaced them. Like Rick sez..the mojo about the 1 1/2 vs the 1 1/4 is pure BS.
There is one on ebay right now, don't know the scale, but it appears quite original, and has a fair amount of surface corrosion on it, for 1400+ bucks.
It looks like the white could be the original finish as they used white on a number of models. I can't recall seeing a white frypan before though. Can't be ruled out that it was assembled post war with an existing pre war body.
Sorry, Mark. I have NEVER seen a Rickenbacker A-22 or A-25 lap steel with a painted white finish like that (other than this one). That finish is definitely not original.
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
Fun to see the catalog's term of 'Pancake' for the 'Fry-Pan'. Havn't heard anyone use the term in many years, when at one time it was heard more often than fry pan.
The one I saw on ebay was over $1600 a day ago, and is gone now I think.
Black wrinkle finish is the only color I've seen, on two frypans, with most having the yellow/green tinted clear finish.
High profile players may have ordered one painted white or ?? The history on frypans seems somewhat obscure.
All the post-war types I've seen have solid necks and a cover on the bottom.
I pulled the pickup out. It appears that the paint inside the body cavity is the same color as the guitar but the control knob closest to your body (volume) is not original. The lower knob is recessed into the body a little. The upper knob is not.
It definitely was added at a later date.
A friend of mine has an old metal hollowbody Rickenbacher that has the same color body.
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