Anyone know anyone that makes Gibson Electroharp parts?

[Jacob Shelton]

I recently traded a guitar for a '57 Gibson EH-610 that needs some love. I'm trying to get it playing again, but its missing the pedals and hand guard. It seems like these were never popular pedal steels, and its really tough to source parts. Does anyone know of anyone that makes these parts still? Or has specs for them that I could use to have them made?

Thanks!

[Bob Carlucci]

I know Jim Palenscar at Steel Guitars North County has restored these in the past.. I would call him first.. I have my doubts anyone has parts for one of these laying around, but its worth a phone call.. Also be aware, the cost of restoration might be a lot more than the guitar is worth.. The ones I see on Reverb sell cheaper than just about any other pedal steel . Not especially valuable...

[Jacob Shelton]

I'll give that a try. I appreciate the info. I agree, I don't think I'd want to dump too much into restoring this. I would just be sad to see this guitar get trashed.

[Erv Niehaus]

The Electroharp is not like a regular pedal steel.
It basically changes the whole tuning not individual strings like an ordinary pedal steel. I tried one out many long years ago but didn't keep it for very long.
Gibson was sued for patent infringement by the Harlin Bros. who made the Multi-Kord guitar and they had to cease production.
Your mileage may differ but I wouldn't put a lot of time or money into it.

[Lee Baucum]

I'll give that a try. I appreciate the info. I agree, I don't think I'd want to dump too much into restoring this. I would just be sad to see this guitar get trashed.

They are an interesting part of the evolution of steel guitars. I'm glad you are saving it from the dump.

There may be someone out there that would like to have what you have, for parts.

[Jacob Shelton]

The Electroharp is not like a regular pedal steel.
It basically changes the whole tuning not individual strings like an ordinary pedal steel. I tried one out many long years ago but didn't keep it for very long.
Gibson was sued for patent infringement by the Harlin Bros. who made the Multi-Kord guitar and they had to cease production.
Your mileage may differ but I wouldn't put a lot of time or money into it.

Thats my understanding as well. I normally play standard guitar. I had a lap steel for a while, but am not a pedal steel player. I wanted this to fiddle with, but I understand its not like a normal pedal steel.

I'll admit, I traded for this electroharp because I suspected it had the original PAF in it still, which it did. Since its missing the pedals, I pulled the pickup and sold it. If i can get pedals for this, I'll grab a reproduction PAF to get it playing again. I couldn't justify leaving that pickup in a broken guitar that likely wasn't going to get played much.

[Jacob Shelton]

I'll give that a try. I appreciate the info. I agree, I don't think I'd want to dump too much into restoring this. I would just be sad to see this guitar get trashed.

They are an interesting part of the evolution of steel guitars. I'm glad you are saving it from the dump.

There may be someone out there that would like to have what you have, for parts.

If I'm not able to find or make pedals, I'll probably end up parting it out or selling it for parts. I doubt there's many people looking for parts for these though.