What guitar is Sol playing?

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 16 Dec 2014 9:58 am

Can anyone identify the steel guitar Sol Hoopi is holding in this photo?

Aaron Jennings · Post by **Aaron Jennings** » 16 Dec 2014 10:19 am

My guess is that this is an early Dickerson.

This looks like the whole photo:

Diamond motif on the headstock might be a clue too.

I sure hope that guitar found a nice home.

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 16 Dec 2014 10:33 am

This picture of Sol with Dick McIntire shows couple of Dickerson amps and (what is presumably) a Dickerson guitar. It looks quite different to the guitar Sol is holding in the original photo.

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 16 Dec 2014 10:36 am

Full picture:

Bill Sinclair · Post by **Bill Sinclair** » 16 Dec 2014 2:21 pm

Yep, the script up top says Dickerson. I bought one like the second picture off ebay for about $30, with case. The pickup (located under the MOTS covering) must have been bad because a previous owner had cut away a big section of the plastic on top of the guitar to get to it. When I got the guitar, the pickup was just a mass of tangled copper and a big ol horseshoe magnet. I made up a pickguard to cover the wreckage and mounted an Aria strat-style pickup. I still need to route the body a little so the pickup poles will line up with the strings. Also need to install a resistor & capacitor in there to cut down on the brightness. Ground down an inexpensive Gretsch lap steel bridge and replaced some crumbled tuner buttons and I have a working (if somewhat cosmetically challenged)guitar with a pretty cool tommy-gun case. I'm afraid that neither the guitar or I will ever sound like Sol though.

Aaron Jennings · Post by **Aaron Jennings** » 16 Dec 2014 3:31 pm

From 'The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians' (edited by Lorene Ruymar'

It looks like Delbert made Sol a custom guitar, and I bet it wasn't the student model. Also, the headstock shape is very similar.

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 17 Dec 2014 12:12 am

Thanks guys!

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 17 Dec 2014 12:27 am

Thanks guys!

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 17 Dec 2014 6:15 am

Here's mine, It's almost exactly the same.

Paul Alcantara · Post by **Paul Alcantara** » 17 Dec 2014 10:48 am

OK, that's a Dickerson John?

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 17 Dec 2014 3:32 pm

The short version:
Dickerson, became Magnatone and sold Mother of Toiletseat finished guitars under Oahu, Bronson and a dozen other names.