Slingerland Songster

[Jake D]

I was pretty shocked to learn that the first electric solid body guitar was the Slingerland Songster, which pre-dated the Log and the Telecaster by more than a decade.
http://www.vintageguitar.com/1931/slingerland-songster/

This photo is from the Smithsonian's collection.

I was wondering if anybody at TDPRI has attempted to recreate a Spongster to any degree? There are a lot of very good photos available of it in detail. I haven't read much about the pickup or the electronics, but I'm sure that there is a lot of information available.

 

[fretman_2]

Cool looking guit!

 

[jipp]

i thought rickbecker got credit for the first electric, patent maybe
? he mentions on his tour on youtube..


chris.

 

[Rock63]

Others

were doing such guitars in 1930s-
E.g. Gibson (EH-150) and Rick (Frypan) all square necked.
Then there was the Electro Spanish also from Rick, that had two version one square necked and one with a playable neck, short scale.
I don't know if those were solid or hollow bodied; I know the Frypan was in Backelite, a kind of plastic material, quite fragile, but no wood in the very small body.
All the PU had a low number of winding and were in the 4-4.5 KOhm range, enough to drive the amps (that were not so different from the early Fenders).
It's amazing, to hear today Charlie Christian playing (the year my father was born ) an electric guitar and the kind of sound they were aiming to.
Mr. Fender has took those experiences to an industrial level. And that was great too.

 

[Bohdan]

I actually own one of these! My dad picked it up at a yardsale for under $50. It had Dearmond goldfoil installed in it and has been refinished. IT sounds pretty killer though. Surprisingly enough the prices haven't been high enough for me to sell it. I saw one all original on ebay for not very much at all. I'll post some pics when I can.

 

[Jake D]

It would be pretty cool with a round neck. Might require some chambering. That is a big hunk of wood.

 

[Bohdan]

Mine is super light.