Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, experts, I looked up the patent number, and it appears to be an original horseshoe to me, but I know very little about Rick steels. Thoughts?

Ebay item 280112274112

http://cgi.ebay.com/RICKENBACHER-1937-MODEL-59-LAP-STEEL-RICKENBACKER_W0QQitemZ280112274112QQihZ018QQcategoryZ41439QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks! J

I looked at this as well Jdog! It looks pretty straight to me?

It's the real deal.
You payed about what I think is market price, which is way below what I think they should be worth. The 59s sound really great. It's only a matter of time before players and collectors realize their true value.
Let me know how you plan to set it up and what kind of music you plan to play.

Will do. The other guitarist in my band plays a lot of lap steel, which influenced my recent purchase of a funky new Gretsch lap steel, and this one. Probably will start off with Floyd stuff, and just use it for my original stuff, to fill in where a keyboard synth sound would normally go.

Steels are totally making a comeback. Ben Harper, John Butler Trio, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Me and the guys in my band are going to make about 4 or 5 lap steels this summer from scratch and see how it goes.

Very cool pickup, J! Be sure to get yourself a volume pedal.

Can I put this pickup on a bass? Even if yes, I probably won't, but I'm curious.

It would have to be 1.25 inches wide, not 1.5 inches wide. Most pre-1940s steels had the 1.5 inch shoes. They won't fit in a modern bass.

Just measure them, if they are 1.25 inches wide, then it is a possibility

Dang. 1.5.

Good,
I would hate to see one of these butchered.
If you're not going to play one the finest lap steels ever made, just put it away for a year or so and list it on Ebay again. You will be delightfully surprised at the increase over what you payed.
If you can't wait that long, email me. Maybe we can work something out.

After work I got to band practice, showed it off, plugged it in and rocked. This thing sounds freakin' amazing. I've never heard a lap steel with such nuts! (Please pardon the expression)

The only problem is the strings are really close to the magnets on the pickup. I'll have to take it apart tonight to see what can be adjusted. Pics to come...

Jason,
If the strings aren't touching the magnet and it sounds good, don't mess with it.
If you need to make an adjustment, here's the link.
http://horseshoemagnets.com/userfiles/nonadjust.rtf

Cool. Thanks man!

Hey J dog...Can you post some pics when you get a chance?For some reason, I can't see the pics in the auction listing.

SAme here, JDog!

By the way, the pictures are missing only because eBay deletes the photo files by the time an auction is a month gone into the past. The way to avoid that, when you auction an item, is to use web links to another web page, instead of uploading actual photo files to eBay. That way, the photos stay live for all 3 months or so that the listing itself remains up.

Man, this thing is impossible to photograph! Here goes anyways.