Epiphone Electar Model Lap Steel Electric Guitar, c. 1937, made in New York, NY, black lacquer finish, maple body and etched metal top, tweed original hard shell case.
An interesting early lap steel from Epiphone. The black-painted wooden body is oblong with stepped edges; Art Deco ornamentation is etched into a metal top overlay. The whole effect is very "1930s skyscraper at night." The horseshoe magnet pickup is very reminiscent of Rickenbacker except for a rough black finish instead of chrome on the magnets. The coil is wrapped in black tape and features a solid bar polepiece. There are three black octagonal knobs, two of which are currently functioning as volumes and the third of which is currently nonfunctional.
The bound rosewood fingerboard has multicolored dot inlay and inlaid fret lines. The nut and tailpiece/bridge combination are milled aluminum. The tuners are individual open back Grover Sta-tites with metal buttons. The headstock metal plate reads "Epiphone Electar" and there is a plate on the back referencing the licensed patents of Meissner Inventions, a firm that in the 1930s claimed patent protection on the concept of electric musical instruments and demanded royalties from all manufacturers, Epiphone being one that acquiesced. There are also purple felt-covered pads on the back of the instrument. Housed in an original rectangular tweed-covered case with an Electar plate on the lid.
Overall length is 30.25 in. (76.8 cm.), 7.25 in. (18.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1.75 in. (4.4 cm.) deep. Scale length is 22.5 in. (572 mm.).
Excellent overall with minor play wear, most noticeable on the metal top near the foremost knob. The finish on the treble side of the neck shows the effects of water damage and is partially flaked off; this is localized on one area of the guitar. There are a couple of open seams at the back of the body where it is hollowed out for the electronics; the parts look somewhat ill-fitted but undamaged. The case is somewhat worn and shows exterior evidence of water damage but is perfectly functional with clean insides.
