The Steel Guitar Forum

Well, new to me. I couldn't resist posting some pics of my new acquisition. I bought this 37' Silver Hawaiian about a week ago and just got done with a thorough cleaning, polishing and tuner replacement. I also cleaned the original volume pot which was just a tad scratchy and now works nice and quiet. One of the orginal tuners was missing a button and so with Rick Aiello's advice I replaced the originals with some Grover sta-tites and they work very nicely and look good. Had to do just a bit of filing to accomodate the new tuners but the alternative was a guitar with tuners that had a bit of play and slippage and using vice grips on the tuner with the missing button. The pickup is very loud and sounds just great with just the slightest bit of a hollow sound from the hollow body but I really love the tone. The chrome plated finish is in pretty good shape aside from a couple of minor dulls spots on an otherwise very shiny surface. The volume knob appears to be original with the pointer on top and the single volume knob signifies an early model but just after the Pat. Pending date of Aug. 10th 1937. I believe they went to the volume and tone in 1938. All in all, I'm very happy with this guitar and have always dreamed of acquiring one.

These are the original tuners

Very Cool

Very cool Andy!

You have done a great job polishing it up. Now you will nedd some of these when you play it!

Freakin Gorgeous!!
Silver Rics are just so darn beautiful!
Yours looks about as perfect as you can get.
Enjoy Andy

That thing is really a looker!! I like the tuners,Don't see those kind very often

I have never heard one played yet

After playin this guitar all day with the new tuners I'm very convinced I made the right decision. The new tuners are very smooth and the guitar now stays in tune much better than before. I'm all for preserving a classic and keepin it original but if you can't play and enjoy it with the original hardware than it becomes a wall hanger and I wanted one I could play.

I also have a Silver Hawaiian, (with both vol and tone controls, and original knobs), in pristine condition...everything is clean and original. While it is a great guitar, the very fact it shines so much makes it a bit difficult for me to see the frets when under the glare of a spot light. I presume my guitar was made in 1938. No doubt, they are beautiful attractive guitars and, with that large horseshoe magnet, produce a great sound.

Hi George, I can see mirror like finish being a problem but I usually play for my own enjoyment so I can dim the lighting when I play. If your controls are not on the same side but separated one on each side then I'm thinkin yours is indeed a 38'. I believe they put both controls on the same side starting in 39'.

Andy,

Do you have some more pictures to show other features and angles?

A beautiful looking guitar and probably a terrific sound and tone.

Aloha,
Don

Hi Don, I'll try and get a few more posted tomorrow. I'm havin fun showin her off.

Andy,
You're bragging.
And forgiven.

Andy,

Your guitar looks like an identical twin to my Silver Ricky. When I first saw your pictures I thought you had my guitar, but I remembered seeing it before I left for school today. I think you will really like it. I am so glad I purchased mine back in the early 80's. The value of it has increased a bunch. Also mine still has the original case too.

Next, I recorded my latest steel CD on it this winter. It is titled "Hawaiian Gospel Steel Guitar." Good luck with your Silver Baby.

May GOD bless!

Terry Wood

Ok Don, as promised and so as not to use up all of b0b's bandwith these will be the last of the photos. This guitar is very photogenic but I really enjoy playin more than photo shooting.

Bellissima!!!
I would like to hear the sound!

Andy,

Did Ric in 37' manage to get the strings excatly over the pole centers?

Andy...Yes the controls are on each side which probably dates it 1938 (10 years younger than me but in far better condition!)

Sometimes I'm amazed at the great condition some of these wonderful guitars are in.

Gary, the strings are exactly dead center over the poles. I'm thinkin when they made a 7 or 8 stringer they used the same neck. I checked my B7 and it's got a seven pole pickup in it, also the strings are centered directly over the poles.

An amazingly clean steel guitar for it's age, Andy

Thanks for all the nice pictures.

Aloha,
Don

Andy -- those are some gorgeous pics of a gorgeous looking steel!

Do you have a way to post some clips of you playing it? Would love to hear it. Also, did you leave it hollow, or do you stuff the cavity with newspaper, foam, etc., like some folks did with those back in the day?

Sweet guitar!
TJW

Todd, when I was workin on it prior to puttin on the new strings I noticed it was stuffed with news paper already. Next string change I might pull some out to look at them. I've got a Ricky B7 that had news paper stuffed in the cavities under the plates and it was some interesting readin for sure.

Andy,

That guitar is amazing! The Sta-tites look great on it too.

Looking at those pictures (on green grass, its miserable here in PA) is better than looking at girly mags!

Andy,

I was checking out that Ricky when it was on ebay. Beautiful! I ended up buying an identical '37 Ricky, also from ebay. It looks like the twin of yours. It came from Hilo, HI. How cool is that?

Mine had a major issue though. Someone had glued a felt backing to the guitar. Why would you do that? It broke my heart to see it. In addition, the felt was mildewed and smelled really bad.

Thankfully my wife works for the National Archives and knows a thing or two about glue and solvents. We managed to get the felt off and what was left behind were two types of glue residue all over the back. I was freaking but my wife did some tests and found one type of glue could be removed with isopropyl alcohol and the other with acetone.

After an evening spent working on it, all residue was removed and the glorious silver back shown forth. Some cleaning with Flitz and this Silver Ricky is back in action. Beautiful as well.

Oh yeah, the pups sound wonderful, but I still need to make a visit to Casa Aiello to get the Professor's opinion.

Les

Dave, Rick Aiello recommended the sta-tites and compared to the waverley's they were lots less expensive and I liked the nickle plating much better than the ivoriod buttons.

Les, I also was watching the one you wound up with too and the felt on the back scared me a bit and bein so far from here I opted for a quick ride down to Whittier to look at the one I wound up with.

I am VERY jealous!

Andy: My eye balls are still spinning from looking at your beautiful acquisition. What a fantastic purchase. You done good, man..Bet " Little Grass Shack" will sound great on your beauty.. Cheers..Bernie