From: Concord, California Posted 26 May 2010 12:02 pm Re: Gibson Century 6 lap steel Doug Beaumier wrote: I just acquired this Gibson Century 6 lap steel, and I'm wondering what year it was made. I do know that these black ones were made between 1948 and 1954, but I can't find a serial number on the guitar. I think the earliest ones had two knobs. This one has three knobs (two tone controls and a volume control). It's a nice sounding lap steel with a lot of sustain.

Does anyone know if these have a serial number? Doug: I just bought one of those 2 weeks ago! Check the pickup- if the poles are non-adjustable then it is a 1948 or 1949 model. Anthos Dental Chair Service Manual here.

While it looks like a P90 pickup it is actually of the same construction as the Gibson Console Grande with magnetic pole pieces which makes sense because the Century came in 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 string configurations. There was hardly any output on mine- the pickup ohmed out at around 7 Meg (instead of the expected 7-10k) so I was able to get a really good price on it. I found corrosion on two of the pole pieces so I have a hunch that damaged some of the coil wires. Inserting a probe very carefully I got intermittent readings of 10k so I decided to see if I could repair it myself.

Long story short I was not able to make a stable solder joint at 10k, but I could at 6k. Plugging the pickup directly into my amp got an extremely bright and harsh sound- I had to turn the treble on my amp completely down and even then it was too bright- but when I reconnected the controls it sounded fantastic. I could have lived with 40% of the coil not hooked up but I decided to have a friend make me a copy with taps at 7k and 10k. For a few days I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it or return it, but when I saw it featured prominently in the listing at Elderly Music for the new Gibson Lap Steel book I shouted out at the top of my lungs 'That's my guitar!'