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Topic: Del Vecchio electric steels |
Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 27 Jul 2017 6:25 am |
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As part of my never-ending quest to uncover the coolest old steels in existence, I've snagged this Brazilian creation. I remember when it was on sale in an NYC store a few years ago, but today I saw it come up for less than half the old price and decided to jump on it.
There's not much talk about old Del Vecchio instruments on the interwebs, and most of what's out there discusses the shoddy craftsmanship that went into their resonators. I've found pictures of exactly one other Del Vecchio electric steel, and it looks like a more recent design. Does anyone have an idea of when this one was manufactured? I have no real frame of reference, but my gut feeling puts it somewhere between the '40s and the '60s.
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2017 7:35 am
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nice find. as you say most of the dv guitar talk is on the resonator that chet atkins used. the workmanship is not really shoddy....as they play ok, but when you want to record with them you will be lucky to find one that does not need a more in tune tweaking etc. they have a sound like no other resonator and the main interest is from atkins fans. there were some nice ones imported in the 80s by a guy in georgia. his wife was from there and he went to the factory and had their head luthier build up some to much better specs. sometime after that, the company seems to have gone through a lot of changes and i dont really know who is even making dv instruments.
your lap steel is interesting. they made all sorts of other acoustic guitars and mandolins and banjos but i dont remember seeing any laps. they were in biz for a very long time, so im not surprised to see one. if is has a brazilian rosewood fretboard then i would say 60s on back to who knows. |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 27 Jul 2017 8:46 am
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I know that a few builders moved away from Brazilian rosewood at the end of the '60s, but according to Del Vecchio's English-language site, they're still using it. The other DV steels I've found look more modern to my eyes, though, so I tend to think this one is older.
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