The Steel Guitar Forum

Yesterday I just picked up a Rick Fry Pan A-22! Yeeehaw! Yeah I know, I'm a lucky guy !

Seems to be an early one as it only has one control (volume):

<small><u>Electro Hawaiian (Frying Pan) LapSteel:</u>
<ul>[*]1932: Electro introductions specs: Circular cast aluminum body, horseshoe pickup, magnet 1 1/2" wide, no knobs, dot fingerboard markers, slotted peg head, "Electro" logo engraved into the peg head.
[*]1934: Electro specs: volume knob added, "Electro" metal plate added to peg head.
[*]1935: Electro specs: tone knob added.
[*]1946: Electro specs: magnet 1 1/4" wide, chrome tailpiece, Phillips head pickup adjustment screws.
[*]1950: Electro discontinued
[*]1954: Electro re-introducted Bakelite back plate, decal on peg head.
[*]1958: Electro discontinued .[/list]</small>

Based on this information, I assume that it is a 1934 model as this seems to have been the only year that they had only one control (volume).

No mention of any patents (applied for or received) anywhere on the guitar(?). Looks like this one:


Anyway, it has a killer tone.

However, although very playable, it came to me in shape that in my opinion calls for restoration and I need your help:

<ul>[*]The guitar came to me in blank aluminum. Now, as I understand they where painted with some sort of "silver-gray" color(?).
Were they all painted or did some come in blank (polished?) aluminum (and if yes to polished, how well were they polished?)?
If they were all painted, can anybody help to find out what type of paint was used (I guess back then the only choice was "nitro"?) and what color exactly it was?
[*]Also the nut (insert at the head stock) seems not to be the original and the original is missing. I could use some close-up pictures of that.
[*]I suspect that the (volume)-pot has been changed and I would like to know what type, brand and value were used (codes), so that I can try to find an original vintage one.
[*]The control knob (on the volume pot) is not original either. Some close-ups could help here too (or if somebody has an original for sale, which would surprise me quite a bit.... but one never knows .
[*]I am going to re-chrome plate the pick-up's horse shoes as they're all scratched and rusty. I am told that this process may deteriorate the magneticity <small>(spelling?)</small> of these plates and that I may therefor have to re-magnetize these plates after the plating. Has anybody done this before and who can reliably help?
[*]The "Electro" screw-on label plate on the peg head is missing (there are the holes and they're in the correct spacing).
Anybody have one 4-sale?
[*]Finally, I don't have a case... so I could use pictures of that too.
Thanks in advance to y'all for your kind help on this project!

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[email]jaydee@bellsouth.net?subject=A22 restoration/SG-Forum/No Peddlers[/email]
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by J D Sauser on 14 July 2000 at 06:16 AM.]</p></FONT>

I saw this frypan sell on ebay its unfinished and has non original pot and knob etc sounds exactly like the one you got except this one has a case.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=374285498&ed=963169579

Yeah...I had a bid in at $500. Anyways, I'd look for one of those gray painted Rickenbacher Electro student hollowbody laps and raid it for parts. You sure that knob is not original? Good luck! Lew

<SMALL>I saw this frypan sell on ebay... ...sounds exactly like the one you got...</SMALL>

Well, no wonder, 'cause that's the one !

Forget the case. That was a violin case... and it was garbage. But anyway, I like the guitar. What am I saying? I LOVE it.

The pot is a CTS of 1973 and the knob, although vintage and bakelite, is quite certainly not the original one.
The keys might have been changed too, however in a surprisingly civilized manner (without drilling a random number of holes).

The only other Frying Pan I've ever had in my hands was Scotty's (Sr.) last March in Dallas. If I remember right, his is a long scale and I think it had some kind of silver-gray-greenish paint on it. I'll ask Scotty next week...

Anyway,if there are any Rickenbacher Frying Pan owners here, I need your help very much, so that I can get that thing back to it's original shape (Tefal-guys please abstain )

[email]jaydee@bellsouth.net?subject=Fry Pan/SG-Forum/No Peddlers[/email]

JD, for what it's worth, the only one of these I've actually had in my hands didn't seem to be painted, just raw aluminum(or "aluminium" for our European friends). Could it be that they just put clear laquer on it?

Chris, was it polished then?
<a href="mailto:jaydee@bellsouth.net?subject=Fry Pan/SG-Forum/No Peddlers">...J-D.<a/>

JD go over to the buy and sell section and look at the pictures of the Jerry Byrd Frypan I sold. The thread is locked but you can still see the pics. I took some closeups so you can see the paint they used which is a grey with a swirly design in it.

I dont know how close this paint is to the originals but it might give you an idea for yours.

I have an early Frypan-it has a yellowed clear finish on it that I have been told is original. I was also told I should remove it and "clean it up". NO WAY!

Doug, is it polished underneath the lacquer? I mean, is it (or was it supposed to be) shiny?
Do you have pictures and maybe close-up shots of the guitars and the details I mentioned above that you could e-mail me?
[email]jaydee@bellsouth.net?subject=Fry Pan/SG-Forum/No Peddlers[/email]