The Steel Guitar Forum

I was wondering how much these are worth these days and why no one was bidding on this one on ebay. I don't know the seller, but I did just find an earlier model with the one knob.
I've read the strings of posts on these and they seem to make their owners happy. I paid more than this for mine, did I pay too much?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2527809074&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebaylargephotohosting

Many (me included) do NOT feel the Silver Hawaiians have the sound we are seeking. This is known pretty much around the world amongst Collectors.

In comparison to a pre war Rick Bakelite, the SH is probaly only worth half as much, IF that.

carl

"Many (me included) do NOT feel the Silver Hawaiians have the sound we are seeking. This is known pretty much around the world amongst Collectors."

I hate to differ with you, Carl, but I'm a collector and I have a very different view of the Silver Hawaiians. I have a gorgeous '36 bakelite that certainly has that fabled moan, as well as a '37 Silver Hawaiian. If I had to choose between them I'd keep the Model B for its versatility, but it's a tough call. There seems to be a perception that Silver Hawaiians are harsh sounding, closer to the crude tone of the steel-bodied Model 59 than to the more complex sound of the bakelite, but that's simply not the case. In fact, it's a mystery to me why the Silver Hawaiians aren't held in much higher esteem. Certainly anyone trying an A - B comparison of the two guitars through the same amp would get a very wrong impression if they tried to play them at anything like the same amp settings. The Silver Hawaiin has SO much high end that I have to turn the treble and mid range controls all the way to zero before plugging in, but what a sound it produces then! The horseshoe pickup and hollow brass body produce as 'fat' and resonant a sound as any lap steel I've ever heard, and at high volume I've got to say the SH makes the bakelite seem like a shrinking violet by comparison. This is an instrument that sounds great for any type of music, not to mention one of the most
stunningly beautiful of all lap steels. Now if I can just get that frying pan, I'll have all the bases covered.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 03 May 2003 at 04:46 PM.]</p></FONT>

I have two ... I love them.



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<font size=1>www.horseshoemagnets.com </font>

I also have a Silver Hawaiian - actually its a G-Deluxe which was the flagship of that line. It's a mint 1951 8-stringer w/gold trim and it sure is a thing of beauty but besides that,it sings in a very unique voice - something like a frypan with a little more mids. I mostly just hang it on my wall,look at it and meditate on the fact that it was owned by Joaquin Murphey but recently,I put a C13 tuning on it and used it on a TV movie soundtrack remake of "Move It On Over" and it sounded amazing.I used my Stringmaster on another tune on the same project and I found myself much preferring the Ricky when listening to the two tunes back-to-back.(I played both guitars thru an Avalon 737 Pre w/a touch of compression and no EQ) As to worth these days,who knows? A couple years ago down in Hollywood at Freedom Guitar,I did see a fairly thrashed 6-string G-Deluxe which was missing the flip-up tuner cover and they wanted $1800 for it. I thought that was steep but I could certainly see someone paying that much for one like mine.I also owned a "greyburst" model 59 6-stringer for awhile and it sounded good thru a Boogie amp for David Lindley E tuning rock slide type stuff. Hell,I like 'em.....they stay in tune better than a Penguin and they don't shatter when you drop 'em. The only shortcoming for me is the short 22" scale and horseshoe magnet getting in the way of my picking and blocking conspiring to cram my hands together limiting the available range but that's true on a Penguin also.
As an interesting aside,the SH series were stuffed w/newspaper at the factory(to damp out feedback I guess)and you can date them by removing the pickup assembly and digging out a bit of newspaper and looking at the date at the top of the page.Mine was "stuffed" on April 6,1951. Coincidently April 6 was my father's birthday.
-MJ-

<SMALL>I played both guitars thru an Avalon 737 Pre w/a touch of compression and no EQ</SMALL>

Why not thru a tube guitar amp for some authentic-sounding old time distortion?

The guitar itself has about all the authenticty I can use. Anyhow,I like hi-fi distortion - the Avalon is a tube device and you CAN oversaturate it to great effect,BTW.
-MJ-

Ian- the most remarkable thing about my SH is its LOW end- sounds like it has an octave splitter on it- rich and full . My only complaints are the tuners don't hold all that well, and you can't play a silver guitar in a room with overhead lights!

Page: You're certainly right about the problems of playing a Silver Hawaiian under bright lights. Not only are you dazzled by the reflection, the absence of colored fret markers makes it impossible to see clearly where you are on the neck.

My SH has the 5-sided Grover tuners. They look great, but definitely don't hold pitch very well.

I have a mint SH with the large horse shoe magnets. I think it has a great tone although I seldom play it as I prefer 8 strings. My complaint as others have mentioned is the dazzlement of the guitar. Lights reflecting and the frets are difficult to make out. BTW, mine has the tone and vol controls on either side of the pickup unlike the one shown on eBay where they are both on the far side of the pickup. I have no idea what year mine is but I suspect it is pre-war.

All Silvers are prewar .. The G Deluxe came later as a highly ornate "Tribute / Reissue" steel ...

I have a patent pending '37 with pots on opposite sides ... and a '39 with both pots on the audience side. <font size =1> Dates courtesy of the LA Times </font>

The '37 has a chromed brass nut and bridge ... later ones went to bakelite <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 04 May 2003 at 03:33 AM.]</p></FONT>

Well, I feel better for what I paid for it now that the one on e-Bay is getting up there. I'm sure whoever the seller is, is happier too!
The one I found has only one knob. Does that make it earlier?

Thanks,

Dwight

<SMALL>The one I found has only one knob. Does that make it earlier?</SMALL>

Yes... early ones only had volume control... later (after 1937?) a tone control was added.

... J-D.

I would think that not having a tone control would be a huge limitation. Is it?