1936 Was a Good Year for Sears

Allan Revich · Post by **Allan Revich** » 9 Dec 2020 7:12 pm

1936 was Searsâ€™ 50th anniversary, and to celebrate Harmony was commissioned to create a very special lap steel. The Golden Jubilee and Silver Jubilee. Cast aluminum with a 25â€ scale.

I was fortunate enough to find one for sale, and it arrived at my door today. Very cool. The pickup is not as strong as modern pickups, but it sounds really good, especially with the tube amp turned up.

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 10 Dec 2020 3:01 am

Supertone 2290. The "Golden Jubilee" name was applied to a number of items in the 1936 Sears catalog for the company's 50th birthday, but was never part of the model name of this instrument.

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 10 Dec 2020 6:54 am

The guts of mine - showing the horseshoe PU.

John Larson · Post by **John Larson** » 10 Dec 2020 6:58 am

That headstock is seriously cool.

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 10 Dec 2020 7:41 am

I have one of those too--but I didn't get that great case with mine! It's always been one of the coolest lap steels out there in my eyes. Like yours, mine doesn't have a very strong pickup, but it sounds very good.

Dave

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 10 Dec 2020 7:53 am

Sears originated in North Redwood, MN.
The depot agent wound up with a railroad car full of watches to sell and this was the start of Sears.

Erv

Allan Revich · Post by **Allan Revich** » 10 Dec 2020 10:20 am

Noah Miller wrote:Supertone 2290. The "Golden Jubilee" name was applied to a number of items in the 1936 Sears catalog for the company's 50th birthday, but was never part of the model name of this instrument.

Thanks Noah, thatâ€™s good information. It has become known as the â€œGolden Jubileeâ€ though, having been commissioned by Sears as a catalog item for their Golden Jubilee year. It is not uncommon for a vernacular name to become more used than the manufacturerâ€™s designated product name over time.

It sure would be nice to own the whole set, with the Spanish and the matching amp!

Allan Revich · Post by **Allan Revich** » 11 Dec 2020 1:29 am

Sound sample. The pickup seems very microphonic, but still sounds pretty good.

https://youtu.be/SSPrGbzoa0g

Joe Cook · Post by **Joe Cook** » 12 Dec 2020 8:34 am

Nice one, Allan! I love the look of those.

Glenn Wilde · Post by **Glenn Wilde** » 12 Dec 2020 3:42 pm

Very cool, now to find that amp!

Chris Boyd · Post by **Chris Boyd** » 13 Dec 2020 5:42 am

I'd buy it just to look at that wild headstock !

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 13 Dec 2020 9:02 am

Chris Boyd wrote:I'd buy it just to look at that wild headstock !

The headstock is a lower case "H" apparently for Harmony, who built the guitar for Sears.

Dave

Chris Boyd · Post by **Chris Boyd** » 13 Dec 2020 10:12 am

Thanks for pointing that out David...I missed it completely!

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 13 Dec 2020 12:06 pm

Harmony was owned by the same folks who owned Sears at the time. Oddly enough, I have not found any Harmony catalogs featuring this model. The Spanish guitar was sold as the Harmony 1248, but never the steel.

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1936 Was a Good Year for Sears

1936 Was a Good Year for Sears

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