Picked up a 1940 Oahu lap steel

David DeLoach · From: Tennessee, USA

In what is likely the final trade of my rock & roll cover band guitars and amps for the musical instruments of my true DNA (western swing, country, blues, Americana, etc.) I picked up this guy yesterday in a trade.

It's a 1940 Oahu with a Rickenbacker pickup. It plays and sounds beautifully! It has a 25-1/2" scale which I'm liking (my Gibson BR9 has a 22-1/5" scale).

Noah Miller · From: Rocky Hill, CT

Nice! It's probably not a '40 but a '38, based on the old Oahu catalogs. About 1939 they switched to the more common pickup with the wood cover.

I'm actually not sure that Rickenbacker made these pickups. Certainly, a lot of the horseshoe pickups made in the '30s are mistakenly attributed to Ric, such as those by Epiphone and Vega. All the Oahu horseshoes I've seen had some sort of polarity marker on the outside of the magnets, which is a good indication that they were not made by Ric.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Interesting steel. It has a very 19th century European design sensibility.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com

Forum Index > Steel Without Pedals		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: