Hawaiiana - Hawaiian Steel Guitars

Because the Hawaiian steel guitar was originated in Hawaii, I thought it appropriate to post pictures of my steel guitars.

All but 1 of mine are from the 1950's, because I feel that they are superior to those manufactured today. In addition, wood ages and so do the magnets in the pickups; this provides a rich sustaining tone that is unmatched.

The above is a 6-string 1953 Supro 'Airline' lap steel. I like it's art deco styling. Notice the wing like curve of the white front side piece. The body is covered in grey and white pearloid, affectionatly called MOTS or mother of toilet seat.

It was designed in an era when the airplane was a vision of the future and I'm sure the Supro company thought the buyer would also think so.

This a 6 string Chandler. It's a contempory guitar modeled after the legendary Weissenborn guitars of the 1920's.

The body is a solid slab of mahogany with Art Deco-style fretboard inlays. Notice the palm tree island motif on the first fret. The binding is tortoise and it has a Charlie Christian style P-90 pickup.

This is a 1953 6 string double neck Rickenbacher console. One neck/finger board is tuned in G major and the other is tuned in E major.

Rickenbacher was the first company to produce the electric lap steel guitar in the 1930's. The guitars were manufactured in Los Angeles up until the 1960's; the Rickenbacker company is now located in Santa Ana, CA.

The company owner - Adolf Rickenbacker was a cousin of the WW I flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Adolf hoped to cash in on Eddie's fame when the company first marketed electric lap steels. The company name was changed to Rickenbacher (with an 'h' instead of a 'k') after WWII.

This is my 1951 Fender Custom triple neck 8 string console. Each neck/fingerboard has 8 strings. The necks are tuned in E7th, C6th, and A9th respectively.

The 8 string setup allows steel players to play more varied chords such as 6th's, 7th's, 9th's, augmented, and diminished.

It has a sweet sound, but the only drawback is tuning 24 stings each time I play.

The tools of the trade - steel bar and finger picks.

Well going through my collect I found my father in laws old steel. I think I've id'ed it as a Console 8 6 string.