Electromuse Lap Steel

[Paleo Pete]

Been searching for info and can't find a thing. So maybe you guys might be able to help.

I opened up my Electromuse lap steel a couple of days ago and changed out the capacitor, it was too bright and I put one in that does great, so no problem there, it's done and I'm pleased with it. Sounds great, a lot more like the original, which was an old domino looking cap around 70 years old...I had swapped it out a while back and got the wrong value cap in there, too bright. So that's fixed now.

Got curious though, when was this thing made, so I checked out the codes on the pots. Can't find anything at all, and I just spent the last hour searching...here's what's printed on the pots.

50000 ES680193-5 2253

other pot is the same, (tone pot) but last set is 2246

I can't find anything at all listed with ES in front, none of the other numbers match any ID Code I can find, and 680 is not listed on any database I can find.

Any help?

Not even sure if I got this in the right forum section, move it if necessary, and my apologies in advance if so.

[rjb]

Wikipedia says Electromuse operated "during the 1940s and 1950s"....
Close enough? Oh well, I didn't think so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromuse

According to this site, source-date codes weren't standard until after WWII.
So (maybe) the lack of manufacturer code indicates it was made during the 1940s.
http://home.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html

FWIW, I have one that looks like this- Gryphon says it's from the 1940s
1940s Electromuse blue lap steel

I got mine at a junk shop in the early 1980s.
The owner wanted $20 for the lapsteel and matching amp- but I left the amp because I didn't want to drag it to my apartment!
Oh, well. In those days, tubes and information weren't as easy to come by- and I probably would have electrocuted myself....

Mine has original (I think) Allen Bradley pots- 21K Volume, 140K Tone.
The cap was marked .05uF, but measured closer to .075uF.

[Enzo]

You might contact the good folks at Elderly Instruments and see if they can help.

[Paleo Pete]

Thanks guys, I've always been curious but never found much, and remembered to write down the pot codes a few days ago. Still no help, but earlier when I first got the thing everything I found said they only made lap steels from 1945 to 1947, and I've always thought that was close enough. Now I'm finding they were made through the 50's, so that makes it a different ballgame. Still can't find o0ut anything though.

rjb - That's one of the sites I found yesterday before posting, one of the best lists I found, but no 680 on there, 682 is as close as it gets.

I've been wondering if the last set of numbers might be a date code. 2246 and 2253. But what are the chances both would be made the 22nd week of 2 years that are 7 years apart and wind up in the same guitar??? Highly unlikely it was made in 1922, so that's probably not a date code. So I'm stumped...

Might try Elderly and see what they say, but since date codes weren't used till after WWII I'm pretty sure it's an earlier model, sometime before 1950.

Here's what it looked like the day I brought it home

[rjb]

...when I first got the thing everything I found said they only made lap steels from 1945 to 1947, and I've always thought that was close enough. Now I'm finding they were made through the 50's, so that makes it a different ballgame. Still can't find out anything though.

Well... other than curiosity, what's the difference, really?
AFAIK, they have little or no collector's value (unless signed by Santo Farina or something).
Mine has a blue finish and a steel guard over the pickup. Does that indicate it's a later model? Who cares?
I say just have fun with it!

[Paleo Pete]

Basically just curious, when possible I like to find out how old my stuff is.