Old Oahu Tonemaster

Darrell Phelps · Post by **Darrell Phelps** » 14 Dec 2023 6:52 am

Hello, new member here. Thanks for having me! I like to collect old guitars, violins. I have an old lap steel and I'm having a hard time determining the age of the instrument. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks. Darrell.

Uploading photos's isn't working so well. Sooo....I used your suggestion of using IMGUR. So below is one pic of the serial number and the IMGUR link is of the actual lap steel. (it worked for me).
Thanks

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 14 Dec 2023 7:00 am

Yeah, pics aren't working.

The image uploading system on this forum is a little odd. If you can't get it to work, you can upload them to an image-hosting site like Imgur and paste the links.

Lee D Kaiser · Post by **Lee D Kaiser** » 15 Dec 2023 7:33 pm

Really nice looking guitar. Congrats.

I can't specifically help with age, but try reading codes on the pots. Google those numbers for potential age.

Noah Miller · Post by **Noah Miller** » 16 Dec 2023 3:34 am

This is the first post-War version, built by Kay. Unfortunately their serials are not precisely datable, but they were catalogued by 1948 and replaced by the Valco-built version by 1953.

Darrell Phelps · Post by **Darrell Phelps** » 16 Dec 2023 8:21 am

Thanks Lee D! I will check the pot codes when I get time, I saw some online pics of similar guitars identifying them as 1938 era. We'll see what the codes reveal. The guitar(s) are in excellent original shape, one has a crack in the nut, and I'm not sure about the jack plates.

Yes I do have two of the same guitars (brothers (or sisters) if you will) you may have noticed the 2nd case below the guitar photo I posted Something very unique is that the serial numbers are sequential 1494 and 1495. How rare is that? Sequential serial numbers from WWII era instruments?

Thanks again!