The Steel Guitar Forum

Picked this up for a whole 20 clams today, well loved and a little rough. Two different sets of tuners. Dirty as sin. A few gashes in the celluloid. The name badge must have fallen off, but looks like a Carvin. What do you think it is? I've never owned a Carvin before, just seen pictures.

Reading a bit about Carvin (the only experience I have with Carvin is with their electric guitars and amplifiers... they made fantastic guitars in the 70s and 80s).

He changed the shape of the steel guitar body from aquiline to straightedged sometime around when he changed the name of the company from Kiesel to Carvin and relocated from Gothenberg, Nebraska to Los Angeles. Maybe a Kiesel? Maybe codes on the pots will shed some light on it?

the two little holes in the back of the neck. didnt national and other makers like valco pin a little serial number plaque there? i dont know if carvin did. PS from the net. "The most effective way to date a Valco guitar or amp is by its serial number. From the ‘40s until 1964, the serial could be found stamped into a small metal plate that was tacked onto the back of the headstock or the back of the cabinet." im going with a valco made guitar.

There's no question it's a Kiesel/Carvin, definitely not a Valco. By '54, that body shape was out and the MOTS covering was in. I haven't been able to find another with that combination of features, but I'm guessing it's an early '50s transitional steel.

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/playersgallery/kiesel.html

I'm convinced that's a circa 1950 Kiesel or Carvin based on pictures from the Carvin museum website. They don't have a picture of your exact guitar, but notice the similar knobs, grey pearl covering, and the one guitar pictured at the bottom with your identical fingerboard design.

Also, I think the white plastic pickup is a give away. Congrats on the $20 find!

Scott Thomas wrote:http://www.carvinmuseum.com/playersgallery/kiesel.html

I'm convinced that's a circa 1950 Kiesel or Carvin based on pictures from the Carvin museum website. They don't have a picture of your exact guitar, but notice the similar knobs, grey pearl covering, and the one guitar pictured at the bottom with your identical fingerboard design.

Also, I think the white plastic pickup is a give away. Congrats on the $20 find!

Yup. I found that, too, and I can't find any pictures of a 'guitar shaped' lap steel from Carvin or Kiesel with the same pot placement, in grey celluloid.

A little more, after opening it up and starting the job:

Pots date to 33rd week of 1948. '304833'



Ever seen a broken string repaired like this? Hey, Jethro, nice knot! We sell those wires by the gross in town!



Also noted the original filter cap. I'll stick it on the multimeter tomorrow and see if it's still any good. No signs of oozing, though. Funny how pretty old industrial electrical supply looks.


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It's getting there. Girlfriend is pleased (it is shiny and clean). I told her I would use the Maguire's I bought for the celluloid to wash and wax her Chevy. Probably buffed 50 years of nicotine stains out of the surface.



The tuners go on tonight or tomorrow. Bought a set of old Kluson pattern in-lines made by Wilkinson. They got decent reviews. We'll see.



Resolved the issue of the string-thru ferrules on the back and string balls getting stuck inside the wood by inserting some washers against the original shelf inside the body. Re-used the original ferrules, but now have a pawful of new ones from Stew-Mac.

Pots date to 1948, which is consistent with that transitional Kiesel-Carvin time period before 1950 we were discussing. Cool!



Almost ready to go, cant wait to crank out a few tunes.