Curious Lap Steel on eBay

Jon King · Post by **Jon King** » 21 Jan 2011 3:37 pm

Anyone seen anything like this or recognize the p'up?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0477754801

J. Wilson · Post by **J. Wilson** » 21 Jan 2011 6:31 pm

WOW. That is weird....

But I wonder if it is really as old as it looks ...'cuz most of the really old guitars didn't have tone knobs.

Still, that pickup is a real trip....

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 23 Jan 2011 2:36 am

That's an early Rick Turner pickup...just kidding!

Jon King · Post by **Jon King** » 23 Jan 2011 6:19 am

Jason,
Remarkable resemblance. Maybe it's a Model 0.1 pickup.
I wonder what Turner & Bartolini would think of the old round pup?

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 25 Jan 2011 4:35 am

The metal plate with the Tone and Gain controls might have been added later. As for the pickup I question the flathead wood screws used- it is much more common for mfgs to use round or oval head screws. So my uneducated guess is that both the pickup and the controls were added later.

Thanks for sharing that with us!

Steve Ahola

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 25 Jan 2011 6:02 am

Very interesting. If it didn't have an old original looking logo on it, I'd say very early homemade or experimental at the least. The pickup design is reminiscent of the old radio coils some were experimenting with at the time.
The bridge kind of throws me too as its some form of an extruded design.

.

Jon King · Post by **Jon King** » 25 Jan 2011 6:44 am

Well....For the record. I posted this 'cause nothing much (other than tuners) seems typical. Not even the OAHU decal. I haven't kept track of how many Oahu's I've seen, but I'm guessing it's well over 300. And (it may be due to an aging memory), but I don't recall seeing an OAHU guitars decal that matches the one on this. I can't help but wonder if it's really a homemade lap steel with a decal from something else named OAHU. Something other than made for OAHU guitars. So I'd like to ask if anyone knows of an OAHU guitars decal that matches?
But the pickup is my main wonder. As in I wonder how well it could work? I wonder what the magnet arrangement is?
Tom, I'm totally with you regarding the pickup & bridge. Do you have any data, drawings, photos or source suggestions I might inquire of regarding similar p'up configurations? Maybe being influenced by more common pickup styles affects my thinking, but round winding just seems less than optimal to me.
Steve, Your observation regarding the controls fits with what our brother from Manitoba said about older electric guitars not having tone controls. And I agree the flat head screws were not typically used by manufacturers.
I've been thinking homemade all along, but the decal throws me.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 25 Jan 2011 10:07 am

Isn't that decal actually a letter "O" and an "A" , then am "H" and finally an "O" from a set of letter decals? It does not look like a single complete decal. And the bridge looks like some storm window extrusion. I like the pickup that was probably wound on a drill press. I wonder what the field is like?

I like it.

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 25 Jan 2011 10:16 am

DELETED

J. Wilson · Post by **J. Wilson** » 25 Jan 2011 10:21 am

I was hoping Mr. Allen would pipe in... he is something of an authority on this stuff I have been told (and have witnessed here on SGF).

That said... I REALLY want to know how that pup sounds. Talk about designing outside-the-box!! Neat!

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 25 Jan 2011 10:21 am

I think it is a very heavily modified Bigsby.

On the front I can make out the letters "_ T_ _ L S _ A _ _ ."

I cannot make out the rest.

Robbie Lee · Post by **Robbie Lee** » 27 Jan 2011 8:28 am

I love weird early experimental pickups. If nobody here was planning on bidding, I'm happy to throw a little bit at it, and report back to the group on what the heck it is!

Robbie Lee · Post by **Robbie Lee** » 28 Jan 2011 7:16 am

Well it is mine, this weird thing. I'll let y'all know what I find.

Jon King · Post by **Jon King** » 28 Jan 2011 8:30 am

Glad to know you got it Robbie. Thanks for offering to report on it. I am curious & interested in knowing more. Please let me know if there's anything I can do. I've got some testing gear if you want to go there.