Did I get a good deal on this Gibson lapsteel?

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 11 May 2014 1:28 pm

I was hoping to find tuners that had "Kluson Deluxe" stamped into the metal like the remaining three original on the guitar have.... I think the ones from Kluson might have that or don't they?...JH in Va.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 14 May 2014 3:53 am

WARNING HARSH REVIEW FROM PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

As a collector the piece is great.

As a player piece - I played it before back when the London Reso Centre still had a shop. Was truly unimpressed. I actually was more impressed with more modern builds as opposed to brand name. Everything about it sounded terrible. It was like the mellow version of the Gold tone cheap-o six string.

Range was low, pickups distorted in the higher register, tuners, and knobs cheap. Hate to say it but you bought History.

GOOD NOTE: History of Gibson = Priceless

I know everyone in here is going to scream at me just because it says GIBSON. But for playability I'm just saying its "Pants". Sorry.

Even the pickups on the Chinese Â£99 Lap Steel sounded superior in range. Doubt me. Test it and see. And I hate the sound of that Chinese 6 string instrument.

For $200 bucks you can have fun. Be careful with it because it'll probably be worth a lot more as times elapses.

David McAnelly · Post by **David McAnelly** » 14 May 2014 7:42 am

I bought a BR9 for $25 back when they were considered garage sale junk (some might argue that they still are). It has the shortcomings the Stefan describes. However, I found that for rock and blues, the thing really kicks butt. The distortion doesn't matter and in fact can actually be an asset. When I was playing with a group at the old Gram Parsons festival in Joshua Tree, i ended up using this instead of some other steels which I consider to be superior for general use. Especially when some extra distortion is added, this thing really screams. It is not what you want for Harbor Lights, though.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 14 May 2014 10:13 am

Makes you wonder though that we make excuses for crap quality builds for Lap Steel Guitars but wouldn't think twice to call it rubbish if it were a normal guitar.

Eg.
Vintage guitar tuning heads - not staying in tune longer than a song or two.
Pickups - muddy and not being able to hear full range of instrument
Knobs - cheap plastic that breaks off easily or numbers that are marked incorrectly
String spacing - uneven
Output - low output with lots of noise.
Pickup - not differentiating tones in low or high ranges clearly.

Imagine these attributes were in a guitar. Would we be so forgiving or would we accept it's just not made well.

Something to think about.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 14 May 2014 10:16 am

I get the sense we forget distortion should be an effect "optional choice" to colour ones playing. Like a spice.

Rather than distortion due to a bad pickup.

David McAnelly · Post by **David McAnelly** » 14 May 2014 10:23 am

Oh, I agree in general. It's just that I did find a use for this instrument and it works well in a limited way.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 15 May 2014 1:48 pm

I went ahead and ordered a set of tuning pegs from Stewart/MacDonald yesterday for the guitar. The salesman said they were of superior quality to the originals so that's good........JH in Va.