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Topic: help identifying this Fender lap steel for a friend |
John French
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 9:47 am |
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I am looking for some help in identifying the Fender Lap Steel in the photos. This belongs to a 90+ year old friend of mine. He says he bought it when he was around 22. I have included the photo of the headstock, the fretboard and the guitar. I cannot find any numbers of any kind on it. I am getting it repaired for him. There is a short in it somewhere. He also wants me to change the tuners so he can tune it by hand instead of using pliers. As you can see the tuners has long since gone if it ever had any. Please let me know your thoughts and the value that could be assigned to the guitar.
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 10:21 am
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That’s a Champion I believe... lowest model at the time. Don’t change the tuners, just melt new buttons on, get them at Stewart-Macdonald.
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New FB Page: Lap Steel Licks And Stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195394851800329 |
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John French
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 10:31 am
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| thank you Stephen. |
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Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 12:25 pm
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The serial number might be stamped on the bridge plate below the pickup. (And don't confuse it with the sequence of numbers for Teles, Strats, etc. Steels had their own sequence.) There might be a date (M)M-YY penciled in a body cavity.
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"Gopher, Everett?" |
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John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 3:20 pm
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The marker dots on the fingerboard are larger than common Champion style. These were only on the earliest ones. The back is usually painted blue not yellow on early ones as well. That would put it at 1949-50 I'd say. The knobs look original (too early for a Tele). There may be date codes on the tone and volume pots to help date them.
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Time flies like an eagle
Fruit flies like a banana. |
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John French
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 5:24 pm
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John,
The back is painted blue or black, which I thought was interesting. I will see if I can find any dates when the guitar is being worked on. Does anyone have any idea of a fair price for the instrument. I want to give that info to the owners family.
Thanks,
John |
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Mark Helm
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 9 Aug 2018 9:45 am And a word of caution...
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These often have the pick-ups robbed and replaced with something cheap (same goes for the vintage knobs and pots).
Also, sometimes you can find a date inside the wiring/pots cavity. I've found several in 50s' Deluxe, Dual Pro, and Custom console steel models.
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Remington Steelmaster S8 w/ custom Steeltronics pickup. Vox MV-50 amplifier + an 1940's Oahu cab w/ 8" American Vintage speaker. J. Mascis Fender Squire Jazzmaster, Hofner Club bass, Ibanez AVN4-VMS Artwood Vintage Series Concert Size Acoustic Guitar. 1920s/30s Supertone Hawaiian-themed parlor guitar. Silvertone parlor guitar. |
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