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Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:49 pm
by 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!
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:32 pm
by Ontario_RIC_fan
The register is your friend!
It's a gray model 100 methinks...
http://www.rickresource.com/register/ga ... =0&month=0
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:33 pm
by Ontario_RIC_fan
You get the year from the serial number on the jackplate where the guitar plugs in BTW....
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:55 pm
by vintagetenor
Thanks. The serial number is stamped on the back, not the jack plate. It is U 8505 A.
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:57 pm
by vintagetenor
Yes, Brian, the photos of the 100 match the one I have. Thanks very much!
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:04 pm
by Ontario_RIC_fan
vintagetenor wrote: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?
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:24 am
by 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
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 2:55 pm
by 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.
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:08 pm
by vintagetenor
I see. Thanks for the tip! Mike
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 10:55 pm
by 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?
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:51 pm
by rshatz
Re: Please Help ID This Lap Steel
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:07 pm
by 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.