The headstock has metal facing with integral nut stamped with lighting bolt logo and "Fender Electric Instrument Co. A metal fingerboard pinned to the body has black paint screening to outline fret positions. The flashy plastic-covered symmetrical two-bout body has a chrome bridge and cover plate with dome-top knurled knobs. The Champion model was revamped for 1956 with a less iconic pickup and different overall design, and these earlier versions have since been widely considered superior both sonically and aesthetically. It took more than a year for this component to get wired into a guitar by Gloria, who soldered this rig together on Augleaving her masking tape signature in the cavity.
The original pots and wiring are completely untouched the date code visible on the volume pot is the 21st week of 1952.
#Fender champion lap steel case serial number
This one has the serial number 6448 stamped on the bridgeplate where the strings anchor through the body. Although designed as a student instrument, the Champion Steel was - and remains - a great-sounding guitar fully suited to professional use then or now. This is a really superb example of Fender's "bread and butter" lap steel guitar from the first half of the 1950s, one of the still-growing company's most important cash-generating products. Fender Champion Model Lap Steel Electric Guitar (1953), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 6448, yellow pearloid finish, hardwood body, original tweed hard shell case.