Description
This is a Magnatone model G-70 lap steel/slide guitar made in Ingelwood California circa 1955. It was designed by Paul Bigsby for Magnatone. It features a solid body construction with a grey mother-of-pearloid finish (MOTS: “Mother Of Toilet Seat”), one single coil Paul Bigsby designed pickup, a fixed, metal bridge, a metal nut, metal fretboard, and an original hard shell case. This lap steel is clean and in good playing shape. There are not many Paul Bigsby designed instruments out there; grab this one fast before it’s gone.Desc
CONDITION:
This lap steel is clean and in good condition. It has been played a lot. So there’s lots of small playing wear from its 60+ years of use. Some of the nails used to hold the fretboard are missing and a new screw is holding down one end of the fretboard. One of the tuner strips has been replaced with a vintage strip (see photos.)
TUNERS:
The Kluson Deluxe tuners, closed-back, 2×3 inline machine-heads with white, plastic buttons are in good working condition. They are smooth and hold the tuning and intonation well. One of the tuners has been replaced along with the screws that hold it in place .Description from VintageSilvertones.com
NECK:
The whole guitar appears to be made from one piece of wood and it has a metal nut, a 24.5″ scale, the metal fretboard has star, rectangle, and diamond position markers and 25 fret markings. They are not actual frets as it is a slide guitar and the pitch is made by the steel’s (or slide’s) contact with the string and not the fret’s contact with the string rendering frets unnecessary. The headstock has a Magnatone water-slide logo. Description from VintageSilvertones.com
PICKUPS:
The one single coil, Paul Bigsby designed pickup sounds very clean, smooth and full. This lap-steel has two black, plastic (bakelite) knobs, one for tone and one for volume. All of the electronics work properly. Description from VintageSilvertones.com
The Dimensions are:
Overall length: 32″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Body width: 8″
Body thickness: 1 5/8″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Scale: 24.5″
Width of the nut: 2.3″
String height at 12th fret: 0.35″ approx.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Weight: 6.2 pounds.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Here’s the original description from the 1955 Magnatone catalog:
Magnatone Steel GuitarsDescription from VintageSilvertones.com
Varsity Guitar – A forward stride in design is found in the new Varsity Guitar. The smart sable finish, solid wood instrument and all the exacting qualities featured throughout the MAGNATONE line, make this model an outstanding value.description from VintageSilvertones.com
The performance of this guitar, with the new stream-lined design, and longer string suspension, makes it the pace-maker in the low price field.
Weight, with case 8lbs.description from VintageSilvertones.com
Model G-70-W ……………………….. list price 47.50 A.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
C-300 Deluxe Hard Shell Case…..List Price 225.0 A.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
