national dobro lapsteel pickup/electrics

bandmaster188

hi folks, i've just been given this to see if i can get it going and possibly buy it. i'm not really familiar with these at all, but from first inspections the pickup system looks well and truely knackered. there is an individual coil for each string, one which has no winding on it. the coil windings are then connected to the plate on the next pickup. there are also 2 magnets that sit under the top plate that screws down to the steel control plate assembly thing, are these part of the pickup system?

is this system something that could be replaced or brought back to life? or would it be best to cut out a hole in the steel plate for a new pickup altogether.

the fella who has given it to me is not sure if it is 30's or 50's made, any wisdom on the age? cheers for any info on this folks!

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/image.jpg4_zpsehmlmbaa.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/image.jpg1_zpsvl9ancyu.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/image.jpg2_zps2itfrdbu.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/image.jpg3_zpsny1f5s8y.jpg

WezV

It coil be rewound and no reason it wouldn't be a great lapsteel afterwards.

Nit sure if they stopped all instrument production in the early 40's, or just resos

bandmaster188

Looks like it could be expensive @WezV. Not sure how much I want to throw at this yet. Can't find any info on what this might be worth either. I think the fella wants about £120 for it. It would be nice to keep it all original but depending on cost I think I might want to stick a p90 or a humbucker in it.

WezV

I wouldn't expect it to cost too much, certainly wouldn;t expect it to be much more than an average aftermarket brand name humbucker.  sure, its 6 coils to wind and it looks like the bobbins either need repair or replacement, but its not a complicated design or build.  although i think its missing its cover

i would @theguitarweasel to wind a (broadcaster style??) single coil to fit  in the space you have or see if he (or mojo, catswhisker etc) are interested in doing it as a rebuild/rewind project

I would guesstimate working value at £150-200.  look for supro and valco too, same thing with these... apparently this is a princess model

bandmaster188

princess model you say, that makes it a lady lap steel geetar!

cheers for that @WezV. i think i'll drop the weasel an email to see what he reckons.

bandmaster188

one other thing, the scale length is very short approx 19 1/4" . seems quite small?

OilCityPickups

The pickup looks a bit of an pain to rewind ... doable... but probably not going to be particularly cheap or quick. I'd have to get my paws on it really to tell. Anything is possible but a busy custom winder's time (and I'll bit there will be some re engineering required too) is fairly limited. There may well be room to get a slim profile P90 or failing that a firebird style humbucker under the strings ... again one would need to get the little beast into the workshop to tell. 

My gut instinct as a repairer is that getting the original pickup back to spec would maintain the instrument's value ... but then I'm not sure of the value of a working one of those! If you are prepared to allow me to work on it in my slack periods and are prepared for possibly a few months of wait, PM me and perhaps we can sort out something that won't break the bank :-)

bandmaster188

cheers for the reply Ash. it definitely looks to me like it could be a time consuming job getting this thing up and running. i'm still not sure if i'm gonna buy it yet but i'll be in touch if i do decide to go ahead. i'm a bit torn at the moment, its a great little thing which is around 70 years old so it would be nice to bring it back to life, but i had also been getting ready to make my own lap steel before this came up, so i'm debating wether to spend some money on new bits and pieces or throw some cash at this one.

whats got me concerned with it at the moment is the short scale length which doesn't seem very standard where lap steeels are concerned.

thanks again!

WezV

22" is common, tbh as its shorter than that I would probably say your own.

bandmaster188

To try and gather some more info on this lap steel I am joining the Steel Guitar Forum. I could be gone for a while or never return. Wish me luck!

Ché

Just don't hook it up to a brownface Fender or you'll be gone for good.