info on Silvertone hawaiian lap steel guitar

James Hughes · Post by **James Hughes** » 16 Sep 2019 11:25 am

I came across this Silvertone Hawaiian lap guitar in my uncles attic. He has long passed away. I remember him playing this guitar 50 years ago. I am not sure how long he had it before then. It is a gray pearloid guitar serial number X68541. It is in great shape, no cracks or stains or damage to the body. The pickup works, as well as the electronics. The only issue is that the tuner buttons were dried out, and crumbled as soon as I tried to tune the guitar. The box it came in says it was shipped from Sears Roebuck. I am going to replace the tuner buttons, and add new strings. I would like to know a little more about this guitar. If anyone can help me with the history of this particular, I would be greatful. I have included some photos. The tuners are removed so we can install the new buttons.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 16 Sep 2019 11:30 am

It's a model 1307 built in 1956; it originally sold for $29.95. As the sticker on the box indicates, it was built by Valco. Crumbling buttons are a common issue on those old Kluson tuners.

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 16 Sep 2019 11:57 am

James, a great find. You will probably enjoy playing this steel. I am not
an appraiser, but my best guess is it is worth $300-$500. Maybe other
members who appraise steels can give a better estimate. I like the tone
of my Silvertones.

C. E. Jackson

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 16 Sep 2019 1:06 pm

I had one just like it... that Valco pickup is the best sounding one from that era! I had to replace my tuners and the Volume and tone knobs had also crumbled. The plastic from 60+ years ago seems to dry out and fall apart. I don't know if the all plastic being produced nowadays will last longer... I won't be here by then! Dom

Steven Cummings · Post by **Steven Cummings** » 17 Sep 2019 3:42 am

To me it looks like a Magnatone with a different pickup setup (and a nice one at that). Even the serial number tag is quite like those on my Magnatones.

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 17 Sep 2019 3:50 am

The only real similarity to a Magnatone is the MOTS covering. Magnatone serial tags had different dimensions:

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 25 Sep 2019 7:51 am

James, Your Silvertone is definitely a Valco in every respect; A nice find I think you'll enjoy the heck out of. Valco jobbed (made) guitars and amps for many major department stores who had their own brand names applied at the factory. Valco is better known for their own brands Supro and National.

Here's some info you might want to casually browse through sometime to learn about the pickup and electronics in your Silvertone:

viewtopic.php?t=151941&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

And:
viewtopic.php?t=208212&sid=d5fda83c00cf ... 3e5d3dbe8e

And:
Do an SGF search for "supro pickup wood slug" to learn how to tell if your Silvertone Valco has two magnets or has one magnet and one wood slug in place of a 2nd magnet, ...and other useful info that will come up in conjunction with "wood slug" search.

Lee Holliday · Post by **Lee Holliday** » 3 Oct 2019 1:24 am

It,s ll in the book, this should be on everyone's Christmas list, forget aftershave and socks tell the family what you really want, plus you have an excuse not to speak to the visiting family as you are reading their present.....
Lee

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 3 Oct 2019 3:43 am

Noah Miller's 'Old Frets' website has more info about the Valco company, it's history, it's guitars and amps and it's affiliations with other guitar manufacturers and brands:

http://www.oldfrets.com/Valco/

(Nice job, Noah)

...

Jeremy DeHart · Post by **Jeremy DeHart** » 18 Oct 2019 10:39 am

How about this one?

Jeremy DeHart · Post by **Jeremy DeHart** » 18 Oct 2019 11:01 am

I think I found it here under model 1352:

http://silvertoneworld.net/steelguitars/steel.html

But I've never had that bridge cover!

Jeremy DeHart · Post by **Jeremy DeHart** » 18 Oct 2019 11:16 am

The Harmony half way down this post appears to be the same build:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/silverton ... el.645703/

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 18 Oct 2019 11:40 am

Jeremy - that model was built by Harmony. It's a model H6 with a different finish job.

Keith Aiken · Post by **Keith Aiken** » 18 Oct 2019 12:31 pm

how do these h6 steels sound?

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 18 Oct 2019 2:11 pm

Jeremy's Silvertone has the prewar Gibson pickup (commonly referred to as the "P-13" pickup nowadays) that was sold by the bucket-load to Harmony after Gibson decided to go in a different direction after the war. Harmony installed the Gibson pickup in untold numbers of Harmony, Airline, Silvertone, and other brands of guitars, both Hawaiian and Spanish. Gibson's ownership was based in Chicago, the home of Harmony.

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 19 Oct 2019 5:30 am

Jeremy DeHart wrote:How about this one?

Jeremy, I really like those old Gibson made "METAL COVERED PICKUPS". I have
Silvertone and Gibson steels with that type pickup and am very satisfied with all.

C. E. Jackson

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info on Silvertone hawaiian lap steel guitar

info on Silvertone hawaiian lap steel guitar

harmony h6