New member here. I've played electric and acoustic guitar for over 35 years. I owned an Oahu lap steel and amp combo for a few years ages ago and even learned a song on it with my (roots rock) band at the time for a recording.
I stumbled upon a Gibson Royaltone project at a flea market recently and decided to take the plunge. It is mostly there and needs some love to get into working order again but I've got the know-how and time to do it. Once that's done I'll start taking some lessons.
The Gibson Royaltone of this style was made from 1950 - 1952. This one was disassembled, parts in bags inside the case. The tall speed knobs and the jackplate were missing. Probably taken by a scavenger because those two parts alone are worth more than this lap steel complete. 😟
But the P90 (ish) pickup is there and measures as functioning on my multimeter. The volume/tone harness is there and the original Mallory caps are too. The Kluson tuners are complete but the buttons have decayed and crumbled.
Someone painted over a few of the fretboard markers crudely with gold paint or fingernail polish. I'll need to fix that.
Here are a few pics.
The first thing I did was just clean it up. Then I replaced the crumbled/decayed tuner buttons. Bernunzio music has some really nice vintage looking replacements. I wanted to leave the originals but two were already missing and the others were coming apart in my hands with even gentle use. They turned out really great.
A replacement jackplate and speedknobs are on the way. Then I'll get it reassembled and get it making music again.
I'm glad you are all here. I've enjoyed reading all the posts here and seeing the videos of such great players.
Thanks
Brian
