1951 Fender Deluxe 6 lap steel guitar

27 September 2021

I bought this from Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan in September 2021. The serial number is 278. A transitional version of the Deluxe 6 steel, it has a walnut finish on a wood body. The trapezoid pickup had been recently re-wound by Tom Brantley. Tom is a highly respected repairer of guitar pickups, based in North Carolina.

This lap steel is signed "TG" (Tadeo Gomez) and dated 11/27/51 under the tuner assembly. Tadeo Gomez was a well known Fender employee in the 1950s, mostly known as "the greatest neck shaper in Fender's history¹."

It came with the original receipt from April 1952 in the amount of US$236.68 (it looks like this amount also included an amp and the case), as well as a few old letters, the bank loan application, and tuition report cards from the time. The original owner was 26 years old at the time, married with three kids, lived in Decatur Illinois, and had a monthly income of $250. He paid a $50 deposit and then paid fifteen instalments of $13.41. It was paid off in August 1953.

Interestingly, the sales contract (which appears to be a bank loan request for the instalment payments) asked what race he was! Needless to say, he said he was white. If not, I doubt he would've been granted the loan.

The original tweed hardshell case was also included.