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Post subject: K&F
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 12:38 am
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As some of you know, when Fender was first starting out in 1944~, Leo Fender teamed up with Kauffman to create electro lap steels. Only after two or so years did Kauffman drop out and leave Fender to create his company.

I was lucky enough to have inherited a K&F lapsteel, but I honestly don't know much about it other than what I could read up on the Wikipedia page and a few other sources.

It doesn't have a serial number or anything that I can really use, all that is written on it is the logo at the top and PAT PEND. on the shoe of the pickup. Someone had numbered the frets with a red marker, not sure if that was normal for these or the teacher did it.

I know that it belonged to my grandmother for the past 70 years, and her parent's bought it from a music teacher. She quickly quit playing and it's sat in a basement since.

Here are a few pictures of it:

https://cloudup.com/cBezWtWaH5G

Let me know what you think of it, such as what its worth, how to authenticate it, whether I should ever risk playing it in the chance that I break it and ruin it.

I'm definitely not getting rid of it, being a huge Fender fan myself! (owning a Strat and American Standard Jazz Bass).

Thanks


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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:28 am
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First off, welcome Danilixo. That’s a terrific piece of history there. What a memory to have from your Grandmother.

I like it, and I agree that you might want to take care of it. As you may or may not know there are two trains of thought here. One as a collectable or perceived collectable that doesn’t get played, and the other is the non collectable or collectable both having been built to be played, heard, and shared in such fashion.

Long ago I had an uncle who had open heart surgery and was on a research program for related drugs. He was having a difficult time relaxing, and so his doctor suggested that he learn a musical instrument as a hobby,

Along comes a Fender lap steel and a Fender combo amp. Well, it just so happens I got to play it while he slept. I even tuned it like a six string. Heck! Dumb kid. That never worked :lol: Needless to say I left the incriminating evidence. :roll: At least I didn’t get hit (my uncle liked me, and besides, I was a little kid; but, I could tell he wasn’t happy as it is an unwritten rule to have permission to touch someone’s guitar). Someone forgot to remind Keith:


I can’t tell you much more, personally, other than I like lap steels, but not when I tune and play them. :P
Here is an article that may be of interest. Notice the mention of “rare” (go to The Story Behind tab)

http://www.tuneyoursound.com/collection ... uitar-1945

Here’s Joe Bonamassa’s:


As for price? I can’t say. It would be best to find someone who has hands on experience and/or proven knowledge of pricing at this time in this market, etc. I’ve seen a range of $300 - $1500 with a case. It is possible for more, but know that there are a variety available including different heads and finishes, or a limited build time that give it a more or less rare quality, and yes one is in the Smithsonian. Don’t let a museum piece sway you, the piece doesn’t always equate to monetary value. You might see a thimble in that same museum. :wink:
Here is an example of difference:
http://www.hanksguitarshop.com/product- ... -Lap-Steel

Hopefully, others here will chime in to add more history on your K&F. It should spark some interest to find out more. I’ll keep an eye out if I can.

Thanks, for the photos and letting us know about your Strat and bass too. If you find any more about your Grandmother’s K&F please post it here to inform others.

Enjoy the Forum and good luck with your search.

FSB

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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 12:23 am
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Welcome to the Forum Danilixo. Cool first post, great photos. Thank you for posting.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.


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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:50 am
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Welcome to the Forums, Danilixo. Congratulations on owning a beautiful K&F lap steel guitar. That's a terrific piece of history with a wonderful personal story for you. I have no idea what it is worth but FSB kindly posted interesting and amusing videos and facts for you. If it were mine, I would play it, or at least try to. Firstly, I'd have to learn how to tune it as well. :) Maybe I wouldn't play it much though. But I'd have to hear it. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:08 am
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Thanks for sharing - what an awesome guitar to have !!!!

Don’t you just tune it to an open D or G??


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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:23 am
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Awesome photos! Did that come with a K&F amp? I've only seen one working 1X10" amp. It was in an old tech's shop. An example seen about 3/4rd down the lined page. :)

https://sidetracklinernotes.com/2017/11 ... tin-kelly/


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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:09 am
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The most common open tunings for slide guitar playing are open E, D, G and A. Allman and Trucks, widely considered to be two of the greatest slide players ever, have mostly preferred to play slide in open E tuning, which is spelled, low to high, E B E G# B E. With this tuning, the guitar’s open A, D and G strings are tuned up to B, E and G#, respectively.

Taken from: Exploring Slide Guitar in Open E Tuning, Andy Aledort, Feb 6, 2017

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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:36 pm
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Thanks for adding that amp link,
BMW2002Ti. Great article overall.

Marky, Nice job adding the tuning details. :D

A little history:
http://steelguitaramerica.com/instruction/history/

FSB

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Post subject: Re: K&F
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:58 pm
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Thanks for the history site link, FSB. It has a lot of interesting information in it.

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