Alamo Embassy?

[John Rosett]

I'm going to take a look at an Alamo Embassy lap steel tonight that's for sale for $150. I've only seen pictures on ebay, and from searching here, it seems like there are mixed feelings about them.
Anyone have any opinions about these guitars? Does $150 seem like a fair price? Thanks.

[Brad Bechtel]

They're not considered particularly collectible. $150 would be about the most I'd pay for one without knowing anything more about it.
If it sounds good to you and the hardware works (tuners are good, etc.) then it's probably a good deal.

[Doug Beaumier]

I had an Alamo lap steel about 20 years ago and I enjoyed playing it, although it didn't have a lot of sustain. It felt like a student grade instrument, but I did like the plain and simple look of it. I'd say $150 is a fair price if the electronics and the tuners work okay.

Here's a pic of an Alamo Embassy:

[Manfred Nabinger]

I bought this Alamo lap steel some years ago for $ 120:


it seems to have been distributed by Oahu.
good for clear sounds, a lot of trebles.

[John Rosett]

Well, I finally got to see the steel today, and I bought it! Having a nice case is a big plus. From what I can tell, this is a later model, probably from the early 60's.

[Doug Beaumier]

Wow, I had one Exactly like that many years ago. Same fretboard color pattern. Same case too. Seeing that picture brings back a lot of memories. It wasn't the best sounding guitar I've ever owned, but it sure was fun to play! Congrats!

[John Rosett]

This guitar is kind of odd. The pickup is mounted to the one-piece hand rest/control plate. It looks like it was designed to be assembled, and then just dropped into the guitar. The flat head screws on either side of the hand rest are pickup height adjustment screws.