1937 Epiphone Electar Trio. Original Owner, Verna Schenker Kreider.

[Michael Kiese]

Aloha All,

I just became the next caretaker of two 1937 Epiphone Electars with their matching 1937 Electar Tube Amplifier. Both have the discontinued Epiphone Horseshoe pickups.

All three items were purchased brand new by Verna Schenker Kreider, the original owner. She kept them her entire life, and passed 4 days shy of her 96th birthday.

I read her obituary at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/de ... d=10256584.

Here's another article about Verna: https://frombrunnervilletobroadstreet.w ... -75-years/

Here's a video on YouTube of a 90 year old Verna playing "I wish I was 18 again" on ukulele: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbqxLYGgs5I

Apparently Verna was quite an accomplished musician and educator in her own right, and a pillar of her community.

One of the sweetest things about being a steel player is playing an instrument that was well played and loved by a musician in its past. The instruments have their own history. They're little time capsules that connect you back to another human being that you have never met, but have something in common with. It's a very sweet thought.

The Trio just arrived today, and I'm glad to report that they all still operate and function perfectly. I know how to do the tender loving maintenance to bring them back to their full potential. They'll be back in 100% performance condition in no time.

The 1937 Electar Amp in particular is super cool. I stepped down the voltage to 110v so I could hear it as originally intended. One volume knob. No EQ. No Tone knob. No Reverb. But it still has that sweet, sweet sound of Old Waikiki.

Thank you for loving these instruments all your life Verna! I'll do my best to carry on and play some Hawaiian music on them!

[Pete Martin]

So very cool Mike, glad they went to a good home!!! Please post something of you playing them soon.

You see these amps in a good number of old pics of many bands.

Hows the mando going??

Pete

[Michael Kiese]

So very cool Mike, glad they went to a good home!!! Please post something of you playing them soon.

You see these amps in a good number of old pics of many bands.

Hows the mando going??

Pete

Aloha Pete!

Mando's going good! I ended up buying a used Kentucky A shape. It's a great workout for tremolo picking. It's a lot of fun to play melodies and try to get the tremolo right.

That 1937 Epiphone Electar Amp is pretty darn cool. Just a volume knob. No EQ. No tone knob. No Reverb. You have to dial in the tone of your steel with your touch and roll down a healthy amount of tone on your steel. But when you have it dialed in, it has the sound of Old Waikiki. Before all the high rise buildings and busy streets.

Uncle Bobby sent me an old picture of Gabby Pahinui playing steel at a live performance. He appears to be playing a Frypan through an old Electar amp.

So naturally, I played my A25 through it. It took me back in time, and I heard the sound of steel guitar from the 30's. It makes you play differently because you're so "naked". You really start to focus on your touch. It was a great lesson.

[Bill Groner]

WOW! I live about 50 miles from Lititz, PA. Never knew of her or the band. Thanks for sharing! Here is the other famous thing from out of Lititz. https://juliussturgis.com/ You can take the tour and make your own pretzel.

[Mike Neer]

Very cool, Michael. It's always cool to know the history of the instruments you acquire. People who really loved and made music on them leave an indelible mark on them, like rearranging the molecules or something.

My Model M was the first lap steel I ever saw, and I bought it at a flea market. It was in rougher shape than yours and I took it home and ultimately messed up the pickup. My advice, don't touch the pickup, lol. They were all made differently from surplus magnets and stuff.

I've owned quite a few Electar amps but nothing as old as the one you got. Mine were like the one Gabby played in the pic, both Zephyrs and Centurys. The amps were designed and made down at the former "Radio Row" in lower Manhattan (which became the World Trade Center area) by Nat Daniels (later the founder of Danelectro).

[Michael Kiese]

Very cool, Michael. It's always cool to know the history of the instruments you acquire. People who really loved and made music on them leave an indelible mark on them, like rearranging the molecules or something.

My Model M was the first lap steel I ever saw, and I bought it at a flea market. It was in rougher shape than yours and I took it home and ultimately messed up the pickup. My advice, don't touch the pickup, lol. They were all made differently from surplus magnets and stuff.

I've owned quite a few Electar amps but nothing as old as the one you got. Mine were like the one Gabby played in the pic, both Zephyrs and Centurys. The amps were designed and made down at the former "Radio Row" in lower Manhattan (which became the World Trade Center area) by Nat Daniels (later the founder of Danelectro).

Aloha Mike,

Mahalo for adding to the conversation!

It's cool to know that my Amp was designed and made in Manhattan by the guy that started Dan Electro. This 1937 Electar Amp has such a unique timbre and voice, that it makes me play differently. It's highly sensitive and raw. It's like riding the edge of a knife where beautifully pretty can immediately become painfully harsh. I can see how early players who used these instruments were highly trained on their touch because of the gear that was available at the time.

Somehow the harmonics are more sensitive as well, they pop out easier, but at the trade-off of terribly harsh clams if you don't touch it just right.

Makes me further appreciate the old players like David Keli'i and Feet Rogers. I already had a deep appreciation for their mastery of harmonic lines. Now that I've played similar gear to what they were using, that appreciation is more refined and deep. They were likely playing these types of small tube amps and cranking them all the way up. It's all touch at that point.

Playing through an old amp like this is really great training.

Oh! One piece of advice I'm happy to share is that I used a "Brown Box" Variac, to step down the voltage from 120v to 110v. The USA switched from 110v to the 120v/240v modern standard in the late 1960's. It happened gradually, but everything was pretty much switched over by the late 60's.

So all electronics made before the 1960's were likely designed to run on 110v.

The sound is noticeably smoother and mellower at 110v. I stepped the voltage down further as far as I could down to 105v, and it mellowed out even more.

It's a bit of electronics archaeology, but it's a rare treat to play these vintage instruments in their original state, as intended AND with the correct voltage.

Regarding the pickup....lol. I'm most likely going to re-magnetize the horseshoes.

It's not my first rodeo, I re-mag all my Rickenbacher horseshoes.

Luckily, I live close to Lindy Fralin's shop, and he showed me how to do it, and Rick Aiello has been kind enough to give me lots of insight as well.

That said, this is my first MEISSNER horseshoe magnet, so I'm going be extra careful taking 'em apart.

I'll consult Lindy and Rick before I take 'em apart though.

After all the work I've done on my Rickenbachers, and the experimentation I've done, I'm convinced that re-magging is an essential part of getting these old horseshoe pups to sound their best.

Wish me luck!

Enjoy!

[Joe Cook]

Good luck Mike! Great story on that gear. What a fun project! Sounds like you have some expert authorities to work with as well

[Michael Kiese]

Good luck Mike! Great story on that gear. What a fun project! Sounds like you have some expert authorities to work with as well

Mahalo Joe! Take it easy!

[Michael Kiese]

Very cool, Michael. It's always cool to know the history of the instruments you acquire. People who really loved and made music on them leave an indelible mark on them, like rearranging the molecules or something.

Yessir. Hawaiians refer to that as "mana".

There's a lot of Verna's mana in the 7 string. It's 100% performance ready as-is. Ready to gig right out of the case.

It must be because Verna's mana and aloha are still alive within the steel.

[Michael Kiese]

WOW! I live about 50 miles from Lititz, PA. Never knew of her or the band. Thanks for sharing! Here is the other famous thing from out of Lititz. https://juliussturgis.com/ You can take the tour and make your own pretzel.

Cool! Apparently Verna performed at Hershey park a lot.

Maybe one of these days, I'll take a trip up to Lititz and find Verna's grave. I'll play her steel for her, and bring a pretzel for her too.

[Michael Kiese]

If anyone is interested, I found some extra photos of Verna and her Hawaiian Band.

I also found a YouTube video of her singing and playing ukulele on YouTube.

The extra material is edited into my original comment at the top of this thread.

[Bill Groner]

I'm interested!

[Bill Sinclair]

Thanks for posting the added info. That second article from when she was 93 is a great read. I'd love to know why one of the members of the Hawaiian Revue is wearing ice skates in that first picture?! Was tropical ice skating part of their act? I'm glad that someone with your obvious interest and respect for Verna's legacy has become the guardian of her prized instruments. And a seven-string, how cool is that?

I couldn't get the YouTube link to work. I think you only pasted the last part of the link.

[Michael Kiese]

Thanks for posting the added info. That second article from when she was 93 is a great read. I'd love to know why one of the members of the Hawaiian Revue is wearing ice skates in that first picture?! Was tropical ice skating part of their act? I'm glad that someone with your obvious interest and respect for Verna's legacy has become the guardian of her prized instruments. And a seven-string, how cool is that?

I couldn't get the YouTube link to work. I think you only pasted the last part of the link.

Aloha Bill,

Auwe! E kala mai! (Oh! Pardon me)

Thank you for pointing out the faulty link. I fixed it. My copy/paste might have pasted the wrong thing. The link goes to her performance now. There's another video of her addressing her congregation at Temple from the same YouTube channel. Just by hearing her voice, you can tell she was a very sweet and gentle lady.

Thanks for taking the time to read that second article. She was quite a person. I'm sure her sweetness and goodwill lives on in her 7 string steel. It has a lot of mana!

I also thought the ice skates were a funny choice. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that. They were teenagers in the 30's, so anything to make your band stand out was good I guess, lol.

"Hawaiian Sweetheart Revue...ON ICE!" kinda has a nice ring to it, don't you think? lol.

[Anthony Lis]

Thanks for posting this—very interesting to read of the career of Verna Schenker Kreider.