Fender Champion Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1953)
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Item # 10459
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Fender Champion Model Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1953), made in Fullerton, California, yellow pearloid finish, hardwood body, original tweed hard shell case.
This is a really superb example of Fender's "bread and butter" lap steel guitar from the first half of the 1950s, one of the still-growing company's most important cash-generating products. Although designed as a student instrument, the Champion Steel was -- and remains -- a great-sounding guitar fully suited to professional use then or now. This one has the serial number 6448 stamped on the bridgeplate where the strings anchor through the body. The original pots and wiring are completely untouched; the date code visible on the volume pot is the 21st week of 1952. It took more than a year for this component to get wired into a guitar by Gloria, who soldered this rig together on August 16, 1953 leaving her masking tape signature in the cavity. The Champion model was revamped for 1956 with a less iconic pickup and different overall design, and these earlier versions have since been widely considered superior both sonically and aesthetically.
The flashy plastic-covered symmetrical two-bout body has a chrome bridge and cover plate with dome-top knurled knobs. A metal fingerboard pinned to the body has black paint screening to outline fret positions. The headstock has metal facing with integral nut stamped with lighting bolt logo and "Fender Electric Instrument Co. Fullerton, California". Over the years many of these 1949-55 Champs have sacrificed their pickups to provide the engine for vintage Telecaster recreations -- this one has fortunately avoided that fate and remains pretty much as it left Fullerton. It remains a truly fine-sounding steel guitar with a bright, singing tone and a genuine early 1950s Fender instrument at a relatively reasonable price!
Overall length is 29 3/4 in. (75.6 cm.), 7 1/2 in. (19 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 1/2 in. (572 mm.). Width of nut is 2 1/4 in. (57 mm.).
This is an especially nice original Champion, showing some very minor wear overall but no notable issues. The metal handrest, fingerboard and headstock show some light wear, while the plastic body covering shows a few minor nicks and dings. There is one small worn-through spot at the higher end of the fingerboard. Most of the flocking is gone from underneath the body, as is nearly always the case. The buttons on the original Kluson strip tuners have been neatly replaced with the correct style repros; the originals have nearly always crumbled by now so this is almost unavoidable if the instrument is to be played.
The original Telecaster-style pickup and electronic components remain complete and unaltered, all solder joints are untouched original. This steel sounds excellent, with that singing Fender treble tone but a wide range of expression available via the very effective tone control. Sadly the trend of stripping the pickups and wiring components out of these original Champions for Telecaster reproductions has accelerated in the last few years leaving fewer and fewer intact original examples like this. It remains pretty much as it left Fullerton in 1953, including the excellent original tweed-covered hard shell case which is a rarity in itself as many period buyers went with chipboard or a canvas bag instead, to save a bit of cash. Only a fairly small proportion of all Champions come so equipped! Overall Excellent + Condition.
This is a really superb example of Fender's "bread and butter" lap steel guitar from the first half of the 1950s, one of the still-growing company's most important cash-generating products. Although designed as a student instrument, the Champion Steel was -- and remains -- a great-sounding guitar fully suited to professional use then or now. This one has the serial number 6448 stamped on the bridgeplate where the strings anchor through the body. The original pots and wiring are completely untouched; the date code visible on the volume pot is the 21st week of 1952. It took more than a year for this component to get wired into a guitar by Gloria, who soldered this rig together on August 16, 1953 leaving her masking tape signature in the cavity. The Champion model was revamped for 1956 with a less iconic pickup and different overall design, and these earlier versions have since been widely considered superior both sonically and aesthetically.
The flashy plastic-covered symmetrical two-bout body has a chrome bridge and cover plate with dome-top knurled knobs. A metal fingerboard pinned to the body has black paint screening to outline fret positions. The headstock has metal facing with integral nut stamped with lighting bolt logo and "Fender Electric Instrument Co. Fullerton, California". Over the years many of these 1949-55 Champs have sacrificed their pickups to provide the engine for vintage Telecaster recreations -- this one has fortunately avoided that fate and remains pretty much as it left Fullerton. It remains a truly fine-sounding steel guitar with a bright, singing tone and a genuine early 1950s Fender instrument at a relatively reasonable price!
Overall length is 29 3/4 in. (75.6 cm.), 7 1/2 in. (19 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 1/2 in. (572 mm.). Width of nut is 2 1/4 in. (57 mm.).
This is an especially nice original Champion, showing some very minor wear overall but no notable issues. The metal handrest, fingerboard and headstock show some light wear, while the plastic body covering shows a few minor nicks and dings. There is one small worn-through spot at the higher end of the fingerboard. Most of the flocking is gone from underneath the body, as is nearly always the case. The buttons on the original Kluson strip tuners have been neatly replaced with the correct style repros; the originals have nearly always crumbled by now so this is almost unavoidable if the instrument is to be played.
The original Telecaster-style pickup and electronic components remain complete and unaltered, all solder joints are untouched original. This steel sounds excellent, with that singing Fender treble tone but a wide range of expression available via the very effective tone control. Sadly the trend of stripping the pickups and wiring components out of these original Champions for Telecaster reproductions has accelerated in the last few years leaving fewer and fewer intact original examples like this. It remains pretty much as it left Fullerton in 1953, including the excellent original tweed-covered hard shell case which is a rarity in itself as many period buyers went with chipboard or a canvas bag instead, to save a bit of cash. Only a fairly small proportion of all Champions come so equipped! Overall Excellent + Condition.