Lap steel identification ?

John Speck · Post by **John Speck** » 11 Jan 2015 11:43 am

Can anyone ID this old lap steel. My dad gave me this in 1964. I messed around with this for a while. I stripped the finish from the top. I wish I hadn't done that. About 15 years ago I gave it to a luthier friend. Today I got it back and plan to give it a face lift and electronic restoration for the purpose of playing it.

Jack Gentle Jr · Post by **Jack Gentle Jr** » 11 Jan 2015 2:37 pm

It could be an Electromuse. The bridge design looks identical to an Electromuse I have. The body is different. It is probably and earlier version than mine.

Jack

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 11 Jan 2015 2:37 pm

It's an Electromuse, probably 1940s or 1950s.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 11 Jan 2015 3:43 pm

The bridgeplate is shaped like an Electromuse, but that's where the similarity ends. Different body, different headstock, different pickup. The Electromuse pickup looked different and said "Eye-Beam" on it. It's possible that this is an early or late version of an Electromuse, but I've seen a lot of E'muse and I owned one (unfortunately) and they all had a "canoe paddle" shaped body. If you Google Electromuse Lap and click on Images you'll see a number of them. I read somewhere that the Electromuse lap steel was offered as a kit guitar, owner assembled, and they were given away as prizes... send in a number of boxtops from a certain product and they would send you a kit. The one I had was an absolute piece of junk. Very little sustain, and weak output. I took it out on a gig once and made a fool of myself (more so than usual)!

Jack Gentle Jr · Post by **Jack Gentle Jr** » 11 Jan 2015 3:55 pm

Did a Bing search and found this which looks similar.

http://www.gbase.com/gear/electromuse-l ... -1948-blue

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 11 Jan 2015 4:16 pm

Yes, I've never seen that version before. Just seen the 'canoe paddle' version.