Please Help ID This Lap Steel

[(vintagetenor)]

I just purchased this c. 1960 (?) Rickenbacker lap steel, but I've had no success in determining the model and year. It came with an M-8 amp. Can anyone shed some light on this? I can send other photos. Thanks!

[(Ontario_RIC_fan)]

The register is your friend!

It's a gray model 100 methinks...

http://www.rickresource.com/register/ga ... =0&month=0

[(Ontario_RIC_fan)]

You get the year from the serial number on the jackplate where the guitar plugs in BTW....

[(vintagetenor)]

Thanks. The serial number is stamped on the back, not the jack plate. It is U 8505 A.

[(vintagetenor)]

Yes, Brian, the photos of the 100 match the one I have. Thanks very much!

[(Ontario_RIC_fan)]

Thanks. The serial number is stamped on the back, not the jack plate. It is U 8505 A.

The serial number system is not precise prior to 1961, but I think that serial number means your lap steel was made in 1958.

Someone here will hopefully chime in with a definitive answer...

So how does the vintage horseshoe pick up sound?

[(vintagetenor)]

Hi Brian,

The p/u is pretty powerful and sounds great. The folks who sold me this lap steel with an M-8 amp believed that the two were sold as a set. I see now that they might have been offered for sale together, as a package, but they were also sold separately. Since I purchased them for resale, I just wanted to verify this before I sold them separately. Thanks! Mike

[(doctorwho)]

A serial number on that model of that era doesn't contain any date of manufacture information. I used the date codes on the potentiometers of the 1959 Model 100 that I once owned to establish an approximate date of manufacture.

[(vintagetenor)]

I see. Thanks for the tip! Mike

[(MikeZito)]

I just purchased a lap steel that looks very similar to this, but I have noticed that both the S-100 and the SW look alike. Is there a way to tell the difference?

[(rshatz)]

The look is similar. Here is an SW.

http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/ ... hir_so.jpg

[(MikeZito)]

OK - my lap steel arrived earlier this week, (LOVE it) and as near as I can tell it is an S-100 that probably dates around 1960; (I haven't pulled it apart to look at the pot codes).

From what I have been able to see, the major visual fact in distinguishing between the two is the headstock - the SW is mostly metal, and the S-100 is mostly wood.

Any corrections appreciated.