Lap steel, model B6?

dwright · Post by **dwright** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 5:57 pm

I found this at a garage sale and from what I have read in the forum, I believe it is a model B6. From what I have read here, I believe this to be a pre-war model. It has a metal name plate the says,"Rickenbacher Electro - Los Angeles, CA". The body has been repaired around where the cord plugs into the body. It seems to play well and is in pretty good shape besides that. It has white plastic plates with a couple of chips around where the plates are screwed in to the body. What type of value would this model, in this condition bring?
Thank you for any help you can give me,
Dennis

rshatz · Post by **rshatz** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:34 am

It sounds like a great yard sale find. If it works and isn't too beat up, it's worth at least $500, much more with orgiinal hardware and case. Are you sure the white plates are plastic? I don't think they used plastic plates until after the war. Please post detailed photos.

rshatz · Post by **rshatz** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:02 am

The photos nail it down nicely. It is a prewar B6. It is one of the best lap steels ever made and is in great demand by many collectors and players. The tuners are not original, nor is the case. The prices of theses are rising rapidly. I've seen a few of these sell on Ebay for over $1000 in excellent original condition. You should be able to get at least $750. There's one similar to yours currently running on Ebay. It doesn't have a case, but it does have the original tuning gears. I would use the sale price of this one to guage the value of yours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7341270232&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

rshatz · Post by **rshatz** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:18 pm

Wow,
It went for $1030 without case. I guess I'll start going to garage sales.