Slingerland 6-string

Jim Kelley · Post by **Jim Kelley** » 3 Jul 2000 4:27 am

Hi! I'm ordering a Slingerland 6-string lap steel (I'm sorry, that's all I can say about it right now---I haven't even seen it) Can anyone give me any info about this brand? I'm anxious to get started on it/I won't get it until Friday.
Thanks, Jim

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 3 Jul 2000 6:39 am

These are very nice looking lap steels. Slingerland is much more famous for their drums than their guitars, but during the 1930s they made a standard guitar and a lap steel.

I've never had the pleasure of playing one myself, but the pictures I've seen have looked similar to the Gibson EH series of the period (in terms of construction and wood quality).

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Brad's Page of Steel:
www.well.com/~wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

J D Sauser · Post by **J D Sauser** » 3 Jul 2000 9:57 am

Are they "on-line"?

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jaydee@bellsouth.net

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 3 Jul 2000 11:20 am

Slingerland is now part of the Gibson family. No indication on their web site that they've ever sold anything other than drums. (That's not surprising, given how long ago they stopped!)

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Brad's Page of Steel:
www.well.com/~wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Ian McLatchie · Post by **Ian McLatchie** » 3 Jul 2000 11:45 am

Jim: As Brad says, Slingerlands are roughly similar in appearance to the EH-150.
If I remember correctly, Slingerland was one of the earliest lap steel makers. I believe there was something on the Slingerland laps in Guitar Player magazine a few years ago.

Don Sutley · Post by **Don Sutley** » 3 Jul 2000 1:43 pm

Jim,
The article that Ian is talking about is in the Feb.'93 issue of Guitar Player. It states that Slingerland came out with a solid body electric guitar (Spanish, not Hawaiin) about 18 years before anyone else. It also says that their humbucking pickups predate Gibson's by 20 years! I don't know what year yours is or how long they were in construction but like Brad says they look like Gibsons (in other words, pretty cool).
Oh yeah, check your email.
-Don