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Topic: National Silvo Lap Steel |
Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 9:54 am |
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I recently acquired a National Silvo lap steel.
I know these are extremely rare.
Does anyone know how many were made?
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Richard Sevigny
From:
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 11:05 am
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Is that a string through pickup on top of the plate?
Would love to hear sound clips!
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If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
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Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 11:12 am
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| It's a split bar pickup. The plate is a cover. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 11:16 am
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That is cool. Looks like a tenor guitar body.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 11:35 am
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
| That is cool. Looks like a tenor guitar body. |
It is. |
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Rick Batey
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 11:41 am
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What a cool guitar. It's like the missing link - the actual point at which National turned from reso to electric. I think the answer to the question is "very few".
Last edited by Rick Batey on 23 Feb 2007 4:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 12:35 pm
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| How unbelievably cool is that! How's it sound? |
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Richard Shatz
From:
St. Louis
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 1:00 pm
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Peter,
With the old strings still on it the sound is very clear but a little on the dull side. I'm in the process of restringing some of my steels, not a small task. I'll post more about the sound after it gets new wires. |
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John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 3:38 pm
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| Really nice find, Richard. I have only seen a couple in many years of looking. It's a '37ish I would guess. I can't tell from the picture but it kind of looks like rolled F holes. I don't think it can be on a tenor body. Is it just the photo? Are they stamped (flat cut)? I would love to see pictures of the guts when you take it apart. |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 2 Feb 2007 4:21 pm
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Wow, what a find. That is one of the most interesting pieces I have seen come up on here in a long time. Nice work, Richard. If you ever need a place to store it...
Never mind. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 3 Feb 2007 9:12 am
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That's a nice looking instrument Richard. And with a pickup on it, who needs Projection 
BILL |
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Russ Young
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2007 9:54 am
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Bob Brozman's book lists a few "Silvo tenor body electric lap steels" that were made in 1937 and 1938. He says that all tenor bodies have flat-cut f-holes.
As mentioned above, there was also a Silvo mandolin -- here's one of a few pictures from notecannons.com:
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2007 12:35 pm
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| I have a friend who has one of these, and I've spent a few hours playin' it. His sounds, and plays, just great.I believe that National sold Silvio plates for anyone wanting to convert their Reso Natty to electric. |
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