Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

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!

The register is your friend!

It's a gray model 100 methinks...

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

I see. Thanks for the tip! Mike

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?

The look is similar. Here is an SW.

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

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.