And, seen here badged as an "Oahu", from the "Oahu Publishing Company", Cleveland, who were suppliers of mail order courses and "own brand" instruments.
This inovative 1950s 6 string instrument had a lever which could be placed in 3 different positions, which allowed these tunings:
E7 (lever faces towards the headstock), C# minor (lever faces up), A major high bass (lever faces bridge as per picture).
If you are fortunate enough to find one of these, please take care and if the tuning select lever is stiff, then do not force it! The lever is a soft, fragile aluminum casting and will snap. Take the time to dismantle and lubricate the mechanism and it will work well.
March 10th 2008. Replacement cast brass levers are now in stock! Our good friend Peter Sloan has cast and machined a batch of 12 replacement tuning change levers for us. If you need one please
contact me for details.
These look different from the 'factory' levers, but are far stronger and should not suffer the same fate!
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Our thanks go to Mark Makin and Kevin Fairfield for photocopying these instructions for us.
The source of the pictures is unknown. (We probably grabbed them off ebay over the years) If they are 'your' pictures please contact us to be credited.