So I was watching a show this evening on the Smithsonian channel about the history of the electric guitar. And although it had little to no success it appears Slingerland built the first solid-bodied electric guitar. It was called the Songster and was advertised for sale as early as 1939. I thought that was an interesting bit of trivia. Anybody ever heard of or even had the chance to play one?

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Good call Tim! I remember the Slingerland factory was on north Milwaukee Avenue in Niles, Illinois when I was much younger and the Ludwig factory was on the near north side of Chicago but I don't remember their location. I found this info that refers to the first solid body electric guitar.
http://www.tbcnet.com/~slingerland/history.htm

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It looks like a squareneck lap steel to me, Tim. If that is the case, some Rickenbacker predates the Slingerland.

http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/frypan2.html

I have no idea which manufacturer was first with solid body electric lap steels. It might be Rickenbacker. I would guess National was an early manufacturer of them as well.

As a metro Chicagoan, 'heard of them, saw one once at a show, never played one.

There were a few solids all about the same time, hard to make the true "Who's first" call, because new info then pops up.

notice the built in guitar cable guys?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Nope, not a squareneck, and not intended as a lap steel, just shared the basic body shape. Rickenbacker's early lap steels were no doubt one of, if not the most important inventions on the way to solid bodied guitars coming out.



I didn't notice that in that photo (just a stock pic I found on Google) but that's pretty cool.

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One of the steps along the way might have been Les Paul's 1938 "Plank". Two 2x4s nailed together with a hindge for a bridge.

Tim, consider this:

http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/185U-342.htm

Elderly calls it a lap steel. Either way is no big deal. We are just sharing knowledge and learning in the process.

Interesting. From those pictures on their site, the neck almost looks like it's in between a square and roundneck shape.

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