Electar Lap Steel Electric Guitar

Epiphone American

Not on view

Epiphone Electar Model M Lap Steel Electric Guitar, serial # 1062, black lacquer finish, maple body and etched aluminum top. A very early lap steel guitar produced by Epiphone, supposedly designed by Epi Staphopolo, the founder. The Model M was the company's first steel string guitar and features a black wooden boedy with Art Deco ornamentation etched onto a metal overlay. The shape of the body is also stepped, another Art Deco feature. The horseshoe-magnet pickup is similar to Rickenbacker pickups of the same era. The fingerboard is made of rosewood and has colorful dot inlays. The fret lines are inlaid (not raised like on a traditional guitar). The nut and tailpiece/bridge are aluminum. The tuners arne individual Grovers with metal knobs. A metal plate pinned to the headstock reads: Epiphone Electar. This example bears a very low serial number and is one of the earliest Electar instruments produced.

Electar Lap Steel Electric Guitar, Epiphone (American), Maple, etched metal, rosewood, chrome, American

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.