Gretsch Electromatic Lap Steel

[eatswodo]

Posting this in the hope that some of our resident experts might be able to help... can anyone help me shed some light on this Gretsch? It belongs to an old friend of mine, who inherited it from his father. He believes it was purchased new around 1950, or maybe a year or two earlier, but has been unable to find much about it... the case is original. He also has a Gretsch amp purchased at the same time. The tuners alone are wonderful!

[rshatz]

That lap steel is a Gretsch Electromatic Hawaiian model produced ca.1940-43.
It was arguably the company's first electric instrument and the only lap steel that was actually produced by Gretsch. All of the other Gretsch models were made by Valco.
These things sound great through good tube amps.

[rshatz]

I stand corrected.

[eatswodo]

Thanks, Richard!

Here's the core of the story:

"This is a Kay product subcontracted by Gretsch. Kay and Regal in Chicago used this Harlin Bros in-line tuner assembly as did Valco on the Oahu Iolana doublenecks."

[whojamfan]

Very nice, post some clips if you can.

[eatswodo]

Sadly, I don't have it. It's a thousand miles away in New York, and I haven't seen or played it for well over 20 years...

[jdogric12]

There is a "modern" Gretsch Electromatic lap steel for sale in Second Strum right now...

[eatswodo]

There is a "modern" Gretsch Electromatic lap steel for sale in Second Strum right now...

If it had 8 strings, I might be tempted...

As luck would have it, business takes me to NY in a couple of weeks, and I will be reacquainted with the Electromatic and its owner