The Steel Guitar Forum

Somebody will be in for a surprise. I hope it's not anybody here. It was purchased with a Best Offer. I was ready to jump on this one - until I noticed the neck. I asked the seller ( a large dealer, it seems.) if there was a crack in the neck where it joins the body. Seems it slipped his mind when h...

I hope someone besides me is learning from this. I'm sure getting an education and a half. I suspect this will be useful to have in the archives. I've pulled the pickup apart, and can't believe what a delicate, fine wire goes from the coil to the lead. Can't believe it's held up for 70 years! - Soun...

Thanks Rick, this is really helpful. I'm so impressed with the responses on the forum, and the thoughtful responses off-line. Interestingly, the oldest of my B6's seem to have the highest numbers. My new 7 string, #C69, one knob, chrome, takes the high ohm prize at 2.198k ohms. And my favorite, #C21...

I'm in need of a basic education in horsehoe pickups. Seeing the wiring diagram reminds me that sometimes the expertise of this group is a bit over my head. I'd love it if you folks could give the "horseshoe pickups for dummies" treatment. I have several pre war B6's, and the output varies...

I have a couple of dating questions... I was slow in high school, and still haven't caught on. I'm wondering how the early B and C serial numbers on the bakelite ricks fit together. I believe this was discussed somewhere, but I've done a search, and can't find it. Does a B always come before C, or d...

Thanks for all the advice and kind words. But I'll tell you, ya gotta be careful. I was all set to buy that $2000 parts guitar from Gruhn when I noticed that it has replacement tuners! It pays to read the fine print!

I'm the guilty one here. I bought the latest 7 string. I was outbid on the last one, a real beauty, which went to Andy. So, if you don't succeed at first... As for prices, I know you're all used to paying $50 for these things. I'm spoiled too. I paid $275 for my '59 sunburst tele. Buy, hey, the holy...

<to play only country music, you stand a better chance of success. But for anything else...forget it..> I recently did a great interview with Calvin Cooke for a book I'm working on. As the principal steel guitarist for the Keith Dominion of the House of God for three decades, Calvin has been the pri...

The neck on these is not a whole lot different from a non Hawaaian from the same era. Just a bit chunkier. I have a 00-40H, which coincidentally, I bought from the same dealer. This is the spruce top, rosewood back and sides model with abalone trim. Mine is still set up as Hawaaian, but the vast maj...

as long as school is in session, can I get a lesson on touching up the white lines next to the frets?

Gotta question for you Rick... I know that refinishing a nice original old guitar would kill the value. On a valuable all-original bakelite, like a very early Spanish, would it help or hurt the value to re- chrome the somewhat pitted horseshoes? And how does rewinding pickups affect value? I'm grate...

>>Octagonal knobs, "arrow/pointer" knobs, flying saucer knobs... these changes were certainly driven by mass availability. Rick, I have a chrome plate B with the usual 1 1/8" arrow/pointer tone knob but a larger 1 1/2" arrow/pointer volume knob. Have you seen this combination bef...

>>I just acquired a 1929 2-17H... I've read that the 1922 2-17 was Martin's first guitar designed for steel strings The 1922 2-17 (not Hawaiian) was the first Martin to have steel as a regular feature. By 1929, almost everything was steel. I have a 0-28 and 00-28 from 1926, when steel was still bein...

Any thoughts on whether or not the epoxy and powder trick might work to repair worn bakelite frets on a Spanish model?

Any other suggestions? thanks.

How do you put a value on a guitar like this? I assume with so few made, there isn't much of a recent sales history to go by.

Are any of the price guides worthwhile?

I've just made an interesting discovery. I've found a web page (part of the Rickenbacker Registration Page: http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/mccorp/ ) with a photo of Jackson Browne holding David Lindley's "1930's Electro String Model B Lapsteel": http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/mccorp/jbrowne.html...

< I don't remember him saying that he was any kind of a "Jimi Hendrix".> I recently photographed RR wearing a shirt emblazoned with a huge photograph of Hendrix. But hey, I suppose my photos of JW's tatoos don't even prove that he liked tatoos...just that he wore them. ------------------

I would think that not having a tone control would be a huge limitation. Is it?