Gibson Lap Steel - Can somebody help with date of manufactur

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 8:37 am

Hello folks. I can't believe that my wife let me buy this 7 string Gibson, although it was only $125. It's not the money, it's "how many lap steels do I need" when I can play only one at a time.

I guess it's a Model EH-150. The serial number on the back is EGE-6784.

My questions are, what is the year of mfg?
Is the pick-up original?
Are the knobs original?

I've done a fair amount of looking on the net, but can't seem to fine anything really definitive, which seems to be typical of Gibson history. But, all you kind folks on the Fourm are always so helpful.

Thanks folks.

Geo
georgerout.com

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 30 Aug 2009 9:09 am

George, I would guess it to be a late 36 or 37 EH-150 model since the knobs are on the same side with a Charlie Christian PU. The knobs/pick appear to be original. There was a slight charge for the 7-string model. Since you have too many and you don't want your wife getting mad at you, just sell it to me

BTW- My Grandma was from Clifford,Ontario just up the road from you

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 30 Aug 2009 9:19 am

If you'd care to visit the jerrybyrd-fanclub.com/
web site and look into "About Ray"......

There's a good pix of my 1948 Gibson, purchased NEW at that time.

The fret markers are vastly different as are the volume knobs but the inlay on the headstock is similar as well as the ARM REST at the far other end.

Mine was the then-popular SUNBURST finish. Truly, a beautiful guitar.

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 9:45 am

Thanks Kevin and Ray for your valueable and quick responses.

Kevin, I read out your comment to my wife, and she had a good laugh over that.

Well, I guess I got a "Ray Montee" bargain for once, albeit a Gibson and not a Ricky!!!! Ray, isn't this one a sunburst finish, or is it not light enough?

Thanks again guys. Just a couple of weeks ago, I bought the Eastwood Airline in the picture below. I told my wife that I need one to match my shirt!!!

Geo

georout.com

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 9:50 am

Hey Kevin, I forgot to mention Clifford. We were in "downtown" Clifford a couple of weeks back just passing through. We were with other folks so we couldn't stop and see if the big flea market was there. During WW11, Clifford was a flight traing center for the air force. While I didn't see it this time, they have/had a large radar antenna as memorabilia as you enter the town.

Geo

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 30 Aug 2009 9:58 am

George: You got a great bargain there.

Richard Shatz · Post by **Richard Shatz** » 30 Aug 2009 10:00 am

George,
EH-150 v2 1940.
Looks all original.
It's worth at least 4 times what you payed.
How do you like the tone.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 30 Aug 2009 10:30 am

I'm not qualified to state one way or another about the finishes on the guitars..........

Mine seemed to have a more brilliant, deeper, sunburst within its finish and less of what I'd refer to as 'grain' like yours or the Bigsby I have.
I can only compare my 'finish' to the lead-guitars of those days and I'm afraid I don't know what models they were.

Yours truly is a great looking instrument and with 7 strings, what more could a guy possibly want. I'm sure you're gonna get a lot of music out of that lil' g'tar!

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 10:55 am

Ray, are you telling me that this guitar will enable me to play a lot better????

That reminds me a few months back, I played a new (made in China) Recording King graphic top flat top as an acoustic Hawaiian guitar. My two bits followed several demonstrations of a local guitar builder's high end guitars. When I sat down, I said, "Well, folks you've seen XXXX's fine high end guitars, now you're going to hear the other end of the spectrum. I'm playing (holding it up to show the top) this nice Recording King guitar which came with this nice strap, a book of tunes to play, all in a finely decorated cardboard box for $129"!!! I played Aloha Oe, and Kamiki March solo. After I finished, a few people came over to me and asked, "How do you get such nice music out of a cheap guitar like that"???

I can only assume that those are the folks that think if you buy a two thousand dollar guitar, it's going to enbable them to play better!!!!!

And to Richard, are you saying the Gibson EH-150 is a 1940 version? I don't care, whatever it is, it is, but Kevin I think it was said it was a 1936 or 37 or something like that.

Geo

georgerout.com

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 10:58 am

Richard, I forgot to answer your tone question. It's perfect. And the tone control is like it should be from very mellow to sharp.

Ray, I haven't cleaned the guitar yet. It's fresh out of the flea market by about four hours.

Geo

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 30 Aug 2009 11:00 am

i love it when people find bargains like you did George
reminds me of them days when you could get guitboxes & steels cheap in pawnshops & want ads
you done real good there George

if you want to date yer EH150-7 & take her out on Saturday nite or Sunday :
http://www.gibson.com/Files/downloads/b ... ctrics.pdf

looks like she's a beaut from 1941

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 11:08 am

Thanks Crowbear, I always wanted one and about 15 years ago, a friend of mine had one, and was going to sell it to me. The next thing I knew he and his wife had split, and she ended up somehow with the guitar. I really didn't want to ask her so soon about the guitar, and she traded it for cash at a pawn shop and it was gone when I gound out.

It compliments my small collection.

I loved your humour!!!!!

Thanks again.

Geo

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 30 Aug 2009 12:03 pm

From what one of the more vocal SGF Detractors said during a recent post...... in essance, was....

'After one buys all the stuff, only then does he/she discover the SOUND/Tone........is in the hands.'

I guess you'll have to determine that for yourself George whether the above comment is true or false.

Have fun! But do REMEMBER: Don't paint your name on the front of that guitar 'cause some folks here on the Forum feels that that is in bad taste; and also, don't be wearing clean clothes that could be mistaken by some as being 'a UNIFORM' while playing that new 'collector' guitar.

Richard Shatz · Post by **Richard Shatz** » 30 Aug 2009 12:05 pm

George,
The s/n prefix EGE signifies 1939 Gibson electric according to A Duchoissoir and George Gruhn.

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 30 Aug 2009 12:50 pm

You didn't pay enough! That's a 7 string! You better go back and give them more money.
It looks like it is original and it's a '39 EH-150. I love the string spacing on Gibson's 7 stringers from that era. I have gotten spoiled to 8 string steels now because they feel cramped.
Great score.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 30 Aug 2009 1:13 pm

A couple of you guys made a good point.

The price he stole that 7-string g'tar for.... is almost criminal and surely immoral!

I think he's morally obligated to return to said 'seller' and 'fess up, explaining how he'd clearly, knowingly and with aforethought, took advantage of seller and offer to not only pay him a considerably higher and legitimate price but to include a penalty or assessment fee for having been dishonest and letting the dealer mistakenly believe that he was merely a down-trodden, elderly member of the AARP, attempting to eak out his survival on a meager fixed income pension or whatever, the kind of pathetic fellow that never quite got it all together for his chosen career path as a wandering musician.

What say you, eh?

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 1:20 pm

Thanks John and Ray. You won't be angry I hope when I tell you the seller is blind. That's the truth.

But, what you don't know is that I'm blind also. Birds of a feather stick together. I'm what they call "legally blind", which confuses people who don't know me.

Geo

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 30 Aug 2009 3:11 pm

Hey George...We've been good pals for many years and as such, I think it is beholding of me to offer you my 6 string Gibson EH-150 in straight swap for your 7 string ! What will you do with that extra string anyway ? It will only get in the way on your A MAJOR tuning, so do yourself a big favour...ship it to me and I'll send you my 6 string...What could be fairer ?

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 3:43 pm

Hey Keoki, does the deal include that Teisco tube amplifier that's gathering dust in your garage??????

Geo

Jamie O'Connell · Post by **Jamie O'Connell** » 30 Aug 2009 3:45 pm

Wow George, that's quite a find. Last month I happily paid $600 for a 1936 EH-150 -- and that's quite a bit more than you did. Is the back glued on, on yours, or is it screwed on with 12 screws?

--Jamie

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 30 Aug 2009 3:49 pm

George, I'd have to strongly urge you to consider Georges' generous offer.

I've known Keoki for years and he is a man of character and would never attempt to take advantage of a blind man........in particular, one who couldn't look and see the tuner on a 7-string g'tar, anyway.

Straight across sounds like a very good deal, indeed.

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Aug 2009 4:25 pm

First to Jamie, the back is glued on, only two screws to release the electroncs I guess as they're underneath the pick-up area.

Now to Ray. Hey Ray, you've got the right words, but they're in the wrong order. Keoki is not a man of character, he's a character of a man.

I have to be nice to him though as he done some nice favours for me, but not nice enough to make a straight trade. The blind doesn't need to see the 7th string tuner. Do you ever see a blind person turn on a light switch????? I'll get a Braile sticker put on it!!!!

b0b will be throwing us off the net if we keep this up!!!

Geo

John Bushouse · Post by **John Bushouse** » 31 Aug 2009 10:08 am

Ray Montee wrote:From what one of the more vocal SGF Detractors said during a recent post...... in essance, was....

'After one buys all the stuff, only then does he/she discover the SOUND/Tone........is in the hands.'

Ray, I'm pretty sure I wrote that quote, and I meant it as a compliment to Jerry Byrd's playing and not to detract from the effort of getting the same gear to aim for the same tone. It was a compliment, really!

Signed,

Someone who doesn't spend enough time practicing, and too much time looking at guitars on the internet.

basilh · Post by **basilh** » 31 Aug 2009 11:43 am

Jamie O'Connell wrote:Wow George, that's quite a find. Last month I happily paid $600 for a 1936 EH-150 -- and that's quite a bit more than you did. Is the back glued on, on yours, or is it screwed on with 12 screws?

--Jamie

Jamie, it's a Mk2 Charlie Christian with the smaller magnets..1938 as the 39 model ES-300 type oblong pickup mounted at a slant.

January 1936 EH-150 Woodbody LapSteel introduction specs:
hollow guitar shaped body, shoulders taper into neck more gradually than earlier metal model, maple top (often flame maple), screwed-on back, Charlie Christian pickup with bound blade and unbound outer edge, 2 knobs on opposite sides, triple bound top (early models with single bound top), bound rosewood fingerboard with V-end, pearl fingerboard inlays, pearl logo, no peghead ornament, sunburst finish, 6 or 7 strings (more strings optional).
1937 EH-150 LapSteel specs:
glue-on bound back, bound outer edge of pickup, knobs on same side (1 black, 1 brown), triple bound top and back, 4-piece diamond peghead inlay. 2 neck version available 1937-1938.
1938 EH-150 LapSteel specs:
pickup blade split in middle (pickup magnet underneath top changes to horseshoe shape), triple bound top and back, chrome plated bridge cover.
November 1939 EH-150 LapSteel specs: ES-300 type oblong pickup mounted at a slant.
late 1940 EH-150 LapSteel specs:
Fleur-de-lis peghead inlay.
1941 EH-150 LapSteel specs:
square-end metal fingerboard with fancy markers.
October 1942 EH-150 LapSteel specs:
Solid mahogany body, 5 sided metal control plate, metal covered pickup with raised center (some with tortoiseshell material in center), knobs on opposite sides, triple bound top, single bound back, metal fingerboard, fleur-de-lis peghead inlay (specs identical to the EH-125 except for a trible bound top).
EH-150 discontinued 1943.

Info from HERE

basilh · Post by **basilh** » 31 Aug 2009 11:46 am

Quick Overview: Serial Number/FON Identification by Era.

* 1902-1908: Often no serial number or model name on label, picture of Orville Gibson and lyre mandolin, date sometimes penciled under the top (must be seen with a mirror). Or serial number and model name on white paper label, number range from 0100 to 99999, hand inked or penciled 1908 to 1932, ink stamped serial number 1932 to 1947.
* 1908-1930: Factory Order Numbers stamped on neck block inside body.
* 1927-mid 1930s: Some low end models with no numbers. Some models with an ink stamped 3 digit number on neck block.
* 1931: FON 4 digit numbers start.
* 1935-1941: Factory Order Numbers and Letter Codes, containing the letters A to G, ink stamped on the inside back or on the neck block (flattops), or on the label.
* 1938-1941: Factory Order Numbers beginning with the letter D to H pressed into the back of the peghead.
* 1942-1947: Factory Order Numbers with 3 or 4 digits, followed by a hyphen, followed by 1 or 2 more digits, ink stamped on neck block (flattops) or on the inside back,
* 1947-1952: Factory Order Numbers of 3 or 4 digits, followed by a hyphen, followed by by 1 or 2 more digits, ink stamped on the inside back.
* 1952-1961: Factory Order Numbers beginning with the letter Q to Z, ink stamped on inside back, all hollowbody models.
* 1947-early 1955: "A" series serial numbers on a white label, on many models.
* early 1955-1961: "A" series serial numbers on a orange label, on many models.
* 1953-1961: Unique solidbody electric guitar "inked" serial numbers.
* 1961-1969: 4,5 or 6 digit peghead stamped serial number for all models, no MADE IN USA stamped below.
* 1969-1975: 6 digit peghead stamped serial number, MADE IN USA stamped below.
* 1975-1977: tagged (decal) serial number, MADE IN USA below.
* 1977-present: 8 digit stamped serial number, MADE IN USA stamped below.
* 1982-present: Reissue and custom shop serial numbers in various formats.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Gibson Lap Steel - Can somebody help with date of manufactur

Gibson Lap Steel - Can somebody help with date of manufactur

My little 1948 model Gibson...............

About that sunburst finish..........................

Well now George...................

Some really good thot's here.....................

Now George.................................

Re: Well now George...................