What Do I Have Here?

[Stephen Watson]

First post on the new forum, posted a few times on the old forum, so "Hello from Texas".

Bought this without really knowing much about it. It came out of Alpine, TX.

Jason at National says the serial number ID's it as a 1950.

Closest he can come to identifying it is a picture showing a "Chicagoan".

Pots are clean, pup is strong as garlic.

My friend and steel player in our band, Mel Stephens, is replacing the tuner buttons, restringing it, and will soon be using it in our shows.
I'm not really concerned about any dollar value it might have, just appreciate its soul.

Anyone have any more info?
And what about the art deco letters, "NOCHE"? Added later?
And, finally, who could "BK" be?

thnx

[Jerry Overstreet]

It's a Chicagoan. The Noche letters are someone's add on. Same with BK. These are wonderful sounding little lap steels. I'd venture a guess of worth somewhere around $400 mint w/orig. case and down from there.

Oh...and Welcome to the Forum.

[Stephen Watson]

Thanks, Jerry.

Can't wait to hear Mel lean on it.

If it could only talk! I'd like to hear about "BK" and his custom "NOCHE".

Those letters seem to be vintage themselves and well attached.

[Jerry Overstreet]

You're welcome. I'm no authority on these old guitars, but a friend has one. The only real issue is that his has an original screw on amphenol cord connector that gave us some problems.

Some people update that connector to a 1/4" female phone jack, still others find the adapter that goes between the orig. screw on and a standard jack.

He elected to have me restore the connection to it's orig. config.

The string through pickup has a terrific tone. Don't let anyone talk you into doing anything there and good luck

[Stephen Watson]

HA! At this ripe old age I don't modify anything without doing a LOT of homework.

I used the screw on adapter to test it last night and noticed the guitar input was a little loose.

You think replacing the missing tuning buttons with ivoroid from StewMac will be ok?

Jason suggested ivoroid or off white.

I went with the ivoroid but could easily exchange them.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Sorry, I don't remember what buttons are on my friend's guitar or what was on the originals. Stew-Mac parts should be just fine. Always had good luck with them.

Maybe someone else with more knowledge about the particulars on these guitars will look in on your topic.

Some of these old Amphenol connectors fit a little loose. As long as it works OK, don't worry. Sometimes, the center solder blob needs to be built up a bit for a tighter fit.

My experience is mostly with pedal steels so....feel free to ignore my comments as desired.

[Rick Winfield]

I believe I've seen the amphenol cords, for sale at
Elderly Instruments, or StuMac
Good with a great axe
Rick

[Stephen Watson]

I believe I've seen the amphenol cords, for sale at
Elderly Instruments, or StuMac
Good with a great axe
Rick

Thanks
Sound and tone quality-wise, are the amphenol cords up to snuff?

[Tom Franke]

Anyone have any more info?
And what about the art deco letters, "NOCHE"? Added later?
And, finally, who could "BK" be?

thnx

The guitar facts have been established, but that's only part of the mystery.

Let's eliminate BK - Burger King and NOCHE refers to the Northeast Ohio Council for Higher Education (thanks, Google).

My best guess is that "BK" is a former owner's initials and "NOCHE" refers to a band name or a best known song title. It could also be a nickname for the owner, and it is Spanish for "night" or "evening." I guess that could make it a message to the audience, like Ernest Tubbs' "Thanks," but that seems unlikely since there is no "Buenos" and no "s" on "Noche," although the internet tells me that is ok in some Spanish dialects. I don't know Spanish, though, so maybe someone else will have a better idea. I guess "NOCHE" could be an affectionate name given to the guitar, like BB King's "Lucille."

Buddy Knox and Baker Knight both wrote or played music that might have included steel guitar, but I don't know if either played steel. BK could be a relatively unknown player, but with all the knowledge on the forum, I'll bet someone has a clue. Maybe it's even a forum member.

[Tom Pettingill]

... Sound and tone quality-wise, are the amphenol cords up to snuff?

Sure. While technically the capacitance of different cords / cables in your signal chain can impact tone, the connector in of itself will not be an issue.
http://elderly.com/accessories/items/MS20.htm