The First Slanted Guitar Pick-up ?

basilh · From: United Kingdom

Fanciful ?
I won't say who said this, those who know know..

Mark Vinbury · From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

That looks like a model EH-150 with the slanted ES 300 pickup.
I'm just guessing,but when I see an old guitar with a slanted pickup I suspect they just had pickups with too wide a pole spacing and needed to get it under a narrower string spacing. I'm not sure it was done for any tone advantage.

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 19 December 2006 at 08:34 PM.]

basilh · From: United Kingdom

I have a 1939 Model with the CC Pick-up but this is a 41-42 model
From the site :- http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson7.html#eh275

Model: EH-185 LapSteel

Available: September 1939 to 1942

September 1939 EH-185 LapSteel introduction specs:
hollow guitar shaped flamed maple body, shoulder taper into neck, Charlie Christian pickup with triple bound edge, triple bound top and back, 1 piece metal plate (painted black) extends from peghead to pickguard (under fingerboard, where the plate is thicker) covering most of lower bout, peghead is part of metal plate, wood neckpiece bolts onto back of metal plate, rubber non-slip material in shape of diamonds on back of neck and body, single bound rosewood fingerboard with V-end, dot fingerboard inlays, slotted peghead, top tuners with metal buttons, sunburst or natural finish.

1940 EH-185 LapSteel specs:
metal plate has uniform thickness from fingerboard to body and is painted crinkle brown, black line on side of fingerboard binding,

1941 EH-185 LapSteel specs:
metal plate now painted black/gray crinkle, ES-300 type pickup mounted at a slant.

EH-185 discontinued 1942.

Mark Vinbury · From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

This is a link to your picture that calls it a 1939 EH-150 http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gallery.html#gibsonl

Also the writeup on this page says the 150 was available in November of 1939 with the slanted ES 300 pickup http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson7.html#eh275
It's all sort of confusing but at any rate it demonstrates your point that slanted pickups were seen way before 1953.

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 19 December 2006 at 09:07 PM.]

Richard Shatz · From: St. Louis

Basil's EH 150 with the ES 300 pickup pictured above is very interesting, at least to me. I have seen several prewar Gibson lap steels of this era that were probably originally cut to house the EH150 pickup that was mounted parallel to the bridge. They were also cut to accept the ES300 slant mounted pickup. A metal or plastic plate was then added to cover the cutout for the EH150 pickup.
I don't know if this was done at the factory at the time they were making the transition from the EH150 pickup to the ES300 pickup or the modification was made later.
Hopefully another forumite knows.
Here's a photo of an EH185 with that modification.

[This message was edited by Richard Shatz on 20 December 2006 at 12:27 PM.]

Rick Batey · Posted 20 Dec 2006 1:10 pm

Re. Baz's post about the first slant pickup (and I know who the quoted claimant was, though it's very likely he never saw Gibson's lap with the ES-300 pickup), there was also a character called OW Appleton from Iowa who made an incredibly innovative solid-bodied, carved-top, single-cutaway electric Spanish-style guitar in the winter of 1941/1942 - and the guitar had a slanting pickup with a bar magnet, so there were no polepiece alignment constraints to force the slanted mounting. Funnily enough, though, he slanted it the other way.

Appleton apparently displayed it to to Gibson, who showed no interest, so you can understand his dismay when the remarkably similar Les Paul Model appeared some 10 years later.

[This message was edited by Rick Batey on 20 December 2006 at 01:11 PM.]

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

That period was an interesting time for Gibson pickups. I have a Grande Console, D-7,which I think is a '39, that has Charlie Ghristian pickups with adjustable polepiecs, like those on a P-90 type pickup. Seems there was a lot of pickup experimentin' going on during that period.
John
Performance Steel Guitars http://steelguitaramericas.com/

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

I think you meant to say CHARLIE CHRISTIAN.
He is reputed to be the first jazz guitarist to come on the scene playing an electric guitar.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Of course George.

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

I always thought that the pick being slanted away from the bridge on the bass side helped the bass response. Maybe so- maybe not . Question

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Bill, makes sense to me. The pickup would probably see a greater perambulation of the string, a wider vibration. The might equate to a stronger voltage created by the string vibration through the pu's magnetic field. Rick A or Jason L could undoubtedly answer this question in about 10 seconds! Me, I'm just tryin' to make a logic based guess.

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