Double 8 String

[cjj]

Any guess at what this should go for?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... X:IT#payId

I've seen this one for sale on ebay before, but can't remember what it went for or even if it sold.
If this one doesn't get to high, I'm going to go for it...

[rshatz]

What incredible wood!!!!!!!!
The case looks original.
I'd like to see if it has the original legs before I'd venture a selling price.

[cjj]

He says it only has 3 of the 4 legs, claims they are original, which is why a keyboard stand is included...

And yeah, the wood is why I want it. I'm a total grain freak...
Oh, and I really want a steel guitar too, not just the wood...

[rshatz]

CJ,
I know you bought that pretty thing.
How do you like it?

[cjj]

I don't know. It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow, unfortunately, I'm 800 miles away from home right now, so I won't get to see it until Sunday...

[sloop_john_b]

Wow! Way to go CJ! That is a gorgeous steel. Do you play?

[cjj]

Thanks!

No, I've never really tried a steel before other than a dobro once at a friend's house. I've always liked them and have been wanting to get one and learn. So, this will be a new experience for me. I'll have to figure out how to tune it and what's best to do with 2 necks.

Then there's the picking. I'm half way comfortable with finger picks, well, at least on a banjo, I'm reasonable decent at playing those, but I'm sure things will be quite different with a steel...

[wmthor]

Congratulations CJ on acquiring such a beauty.

[rshatz]

No, I've never really tried a steel before other than a dobro once at a friend's house. I've always liked them and have been wanting to get one and learn. So, this will be a new experience for me. I'll have to figure out how to tune it and what's best to do with 2 necks.

You can't get better help than this.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewforu ... cbe34f473b

[ajish4]

No, I've never really tried a steel before other than a dobro once at a friend's house. I've always liked them and have been wanting to get one and learn. So, this will be a new experience for me. I'll have to figure out how to tune it and what's best to do with 2 necks.

You can't get better help than this.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewforu ... cbe34f473b

Congratulations CJ!

That is one beautiful purchase!

Thanks for the link Richard.

I recently acquired a 1963 Rickenbacker Model 100.

I'm not sure how it's tuned yet, but plan on spending a lot of time trying to figure out which way is the best to go for this total beginner!

[rickenbrother]

Congrats CJ, enjoy it!

[sloop_john_b]

I'm not sure how it's tuned yet, but plan on spending a lot of time trying to figure out which way is the best to go for this total beginner!

Veering off topic, but I've tuned mine to C6 (C-E-G-A-C-E) from the beginning and never looked back. Great for the music I play and is especially great for Hank Williams stuff!

[cjj]

OK, I've finally gotten to take a look at it... This steel in in really great condition! It only came with 2 legs though, the seller stated that it had 3 of the 4 original legs. I need to send a not to find out if they have the 3rd one.

I'm now trying to figure out just what model this is. Looking through the literature archives on the RIC site, the 1957 catalog shows the console 700 series, a model 708 being a double 8 string. This one looks like it might be a 708, it has separate volume & tone controls for each neck and no metal edging like the 500 & 200 consoles have.

Then there's the age & serial number. The serial number is stamped into the wood on the bottom. The first character is actually two, a '2' and a 'D' stamped in the same position. Then 8149B. Looking through the register, it seems a lot of the late '50s serials start with a number then a letter, then more numbers, so would this likely be 2D8149B?

I can guess the age reasonably well since it came with the original sales receipt dated March 22, 1960. So, it's probably an early 1960 or a 1959, but I suppose it could be older and sat in a store for a while. Oh, the original price was $489.

I'll try to get a few more pictures in the next few days...

[johnallg]

Very interesting, CJ. I will be interested in pics and also your playing impressions. Gotta love maple!

[cjj]

Hmm, well, my playing impressions are... I have NO idea what I'm doing!!!


First off, I'm pretty sure this thing needs some new strings. Right now, it seems to have been set up with a somewhat random assortment of strings. The 2 necks are strung as follows:

Near Far
1 .014 s .015 s
2 .019 s .016 s
3 .016 s .028 w
4 .030 w .035 w
5 .024 w .045 w
6 .035 w .055 w
7 .041 w .045 w
8 .054 w .045 w

Where 's' is smooth, 'w' is wrapper strings. All of the strings were quite loose, as if someone detuned it for shipping/storage, so I have no idea how it was tuned before. Anyway, the question is, are there tunings where one might want string 6 lower than 7 & 8, or are these strings really just in some weird random arrangement? In general, I'd think that you'd go from high to low with increasing diameters just like a normal guitar or bass. This jumping around just seems weird.

Anyway, it's got plenty of output, so I guess the horseshoes have held their magnetism for the 50 or so years they've been in existence. Or perhaps they've been re-magnetized or replaced. It's got loads of sustain and the tone seems pretty nice too. Of course, not being a steel player (yet), I don't have an "official" tone bar/slide, so I can't really comment on that aspect. I just grabbed a hunk of 3/4 inch diameter linear bearing shaft (precision ground/polished/hardened steel) from the shop. It seems to work, but I get some noise sliding on the roundwound strings...