1951 Vega Triumphal Lap Steel

Up for sale is a Vega Triumphal; the pots date to 1951, and (along with the aesthetics) that makes it one of the last Triumphals built. Vega tried to reinvigorate sales around that time by giving this model an opaque off-white finish, a lucite pickup cover/hand rest, and a second tone knob.

This instrument has been re-wired because the original wire was losing its insulation and shorting, but all the components themselves (pickup, pots, capacitors) are original. The second tone knob barely makes a difference, but this appears to be by design based on the unusual cap value wired to it. The other tone knob works as you'd expect, rolling off the treble and mellowing out the sound. Rolled back up, the steel has a bright and clear sound - check out the clip below.

There is finish damage to one side where it appears the steel rested up against a cable for an extended period (see pics). Otherwise, the instrument is very clean, with the expected finish checking but almost no actual wear. It comes with a similarly clean original hard case.