Gibson EH-150 Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1940)
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Item # 9814
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Gibson EH-150 Model Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1940), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # F-925-41, sunburst lacquer finish, maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original tweed hard shell case.
The EH-150 with the "Charlie Christian" style blade pickup is generally considered the best lap steel guitar in Gibson's history, one of the most successful and popular instruments of its type from the 1930's until now. This superbly well preserved 1940 model is fitted with the second generation blade pickup with the smaller U-shaped magnet underneath but the same coil structure as earlier models. This also allowed Gibson to make the body a bit sturdier, doing away with the screwed-on back body plate of the original 1936 design.
The tone and volume knobs on the treble side are (subtly) color coded brown and black; the output jack is still located on the bass side as it had been since the beginning. The individual Kluson tuning machines with metal buttons are specific to the 1940 period. A removable chromed bridge cover is mounted over the cast tailpiece/bridge unit.
With a beautiful shaded maple top triple-bound in celluloid and fancy pearl peghead inlay this is a very attractive instrument, maintaining a typical Gibson look on a 'new-fangled' electric. These semi-hollow maple steels from Kalamazoo have a rich, powerful tone with plenty of definition, and along with the Rickenbacker B-6 the EH-150 was generally considered the top professional choice of its era. This one does not appear to have seen much use over the last 80+ years and remains an excellent playing and sounding steel with a uniquely classy Gibsonic appeal.
Overall length is 32 in. (81.3 cm.), 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 1/2 in. (572 mm.). Width of nut is 2 in. (51 mm.).
This Gibson steel is in very fine condition for its age, showing only light signs of use over the past 80+ years. The finish does show a number of small dings dents and chips overall but as a whole the instrument exhibits very little play wear. There is one small patched chip near the bass side neck joint that appears to be factory work. The sunburst lacquer has a deep, rich patina and does not appear to have faded much. The cast metal buttons on the original tuners show slight disturbance to the surface but are solid and functional. The instrument remains totally original with no alterations, complete in the original tweed case with red and black striping; even the surprisingly clean strings fitted appear period or at least many decades old. This is a superb pre-war Gibson electric package, increasingly hard to find well into the 21st Century. Excellent + Condition.
The EH-150 with the "Charlie Christian" style blade pickup is generally considered the best lap steel guitar in Gibson's history, one of the most successful and popular instruments of its type from the 1930's until now. This superbly well preserved 1940 model is fitted with the second generation blade pickup with the smaller U-shaped magnet underneath but the same coil structure as earlier models. This also allowed Gibson to make the body a bit sturdier, doing away with the screwed-on back body plate of the original 1936 design.
The tone and volume knobs on the treble side are (subtly) color coded brown and black; the output jack is still located on the bass side as it had been since the beginning. The individual Kluson tuning machines with metal buttons are specific to the 1940 period. A removable chromed bridge cover is mounted over the cast tailpiece/bridge unit.
With a beautiful shaded maple top triple-bound in celluloid and fancy pearl peghead inlay this is a very attractive instrument, maintaining a typical Gibson look on a 'new-fangled' electric. These semi-hollow maple steels from Kalamazoo have a rich, powerful tone with plenty of definition, and along with the Rickenbacker B-6 the EH-150 was generally considered the top professional choice of its era. This one does not appear to have seen much use over the last 80+ years and remains an excellent playing and sounding steel with a uniquely classy Gibsonic appeal.
Overall length is 32 in. (81.3 cm.), 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 1/2 in. (572 mm.). Width of nut is 2 in. (51 mm.).
This Gibson steel is in very fine condition for its age, showing only light signs of use over the past 80+ years. The finish does show a number of small dings dents and chips overall but as a whole the instrument exhibits very little play wear. There is one small patched chip near the bass side neck joint that appears to be factory work. The sunburst lacquer has a deep, rich patina and does not appear to have faded much. The cast metal buttons on the original tuners show slight disturbance to the surface but are solid and functional. The instrument remains totally original with no alterations, complete in the original tweed case with red and black striping; even the surprisingly clean strings fitted appear period or at least many decades old. This is a superb pre-war Gibson electric package, increasingly hard to find well into the 21st Century. Excellent + Condition.