Building lap steel guitar pdf professional#

A discussion of the history of the Dobro Company can be found on their web site. The term 'Dobro®' is a registered trademark, but is also commonly used to refer to any resophonic guitar. Inside the book is the real photo, with Sol holding a Dickerson. The cover of the book 'The Hawaiian Steel Guitar' is an artist's rendition of Sol holding a National. Apparently Sol Ho'opi'i was an endorser of the Dickerson line. The patent rights were sold to Gaston Factor in 1944, who later sold the rights to Magna Electronics. At the height of the company's manufacturing career they were building 200 guitars a week under 10 different brands, including Varsity, Southern California Music Company, Oahu, Bronson, and Roland Ball (father of Ernie Ball).

Dickerson began manufacturing guitars in the 1930s. If you have any information on their steel guitars, please let me know.ĭickerson steels were the precursors of the Magnatone line. These are relatively rare lap steel guitars, although not particularly collectible. Carvin made Hawaiian guitars in various combinations, but I haven't seen any information on particular model numbers. Carvin is and was the only sizable guitar maker that sells most of its merchandise through mail order. He renamed his company Carvin (a combination of the names of his two sons, Carson and Gavin) and went on to make a wide variety of guitars, amplifiers, and other musical equipment. Lowell Kiesel started out making steel guitars and amplifiers in San Diego, California immediately after World War II. Most of the guitars I've seen have been double or triple neck guitars, with the name Bigsby prominently displayed on the front of the instrument, usually along with the name of the original owner. His steel guitars were played by Joaquin Murphey, Speedy West, and many other famous guitarists of the day. He's also famous for being one of the first builders of electric solidbody guitars, as well as for the vibrato mechanism seen on Gibson, Gretsch, and many other guitars.

Paul Bigsby is generally considered to be one of the great steel guitar manufacturers. See this link for information on Eddie Alkire and his ten string steel guitars. Alkire Eharps were made by Harmony and Valco. The Alkire Eharp (a ten string lap steel) was developed by Eddie Alkire around 1939 in a search for more harmonic possibilities for the lap steel guitar. 2493 Embassy (different from the Embassy above)

Building lap steel guitar pdf professional#

2499 Alamo Dual Eight String Professional Model Alamo made many different guitars and amplifiers. I have information on Alamo, Alkire, Bigsby, Carvin, Danelectro, Dickerson, Dobro/Regal, Fender, Framus, Epiphone, Gibson, Gretsch, Guyatone, Harmony, Magnatone, National/Valco/Supro, Norman English, Rickenbacker, Teisco del Rey and Vega.Īlamo was founded by Charles Eilenberg as Southern Music of San Antonio, Texas around 1947. Many of the Gibson lap steels shown on this page are from his collection. His comments follow the discussion of each manufacturer.Ĭlay Harrel has a wonderful web site with much more information, not only about lap steels, but all kinds of musical instruments. It is available from any good music store or from Gruhn Guitars.Įric Shoaf has graciously provided me with additional information based on his many years collecting steel guitars. The suggested list price is $27.95 in the USA. If you want to find out more about your specific steel guitar (such as the date it was manufactured, or specifics about the model you own), you ought to buy this book. Published by the publishers of Guitar Player magazine, it's a essential resource if you want to find out anything about good American guitars. Much of the information provided in this page is paraphrased from Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars by George Gruhn and Walter Carter, ISBN 0-87930-195-3.

If you are looking for information on pedal steel guitar models and manufacturers, try b0b's Steel Guitar Links. As I find out more, I'll try to add to this page. I've chosen to focus on electric lap steel guitars, as there still isn't a definitive reference book for these instruments (as there is for the National and Dobro® acoustic guitars). This is necessarily a very limited discusssion of lap steel guitar models. Image below © 2001 Rickenbacker International Corporation.