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Topic: Wechter Scheerhorn Rob Ickes Sig |
Rick Langdon
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2012 12:27 pm |
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Has anyone tried these out? I am looking at one day upgrading to something better in the Squareneck department .... I really want to have a pickup in it but need it to sound great acoustically most of all ... in general, how are the Wechter Scheerhorn's or are there other/better choices out there for the price?
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-- Rick
Featured demo (played on Appalachian Reso): https://soundcloud.com/rick-langdon/als-workshop
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 27 Nov 2012 12:59 pm
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For what an "Ickehorn" costs new, there are a number of American-built instruments from small operations that you might look into. In many cases the instruments will be more, but not by a whole lot and you might be able to stretch the budget. McKenna, Appalachian, DeNeve, Redline, and likely others I'm forgetting, have some very reasonably priced instruments.
That said, at the Nashville ResoSummit 2010 in the merchandise room, Rob had for sale one of his Wechter/Scheerhorn models. I took it for a test ride, and Rob was standing about 10 feet away. I don't think he was just being a salesman, but he said to me "I can't believe how loud that thing is!" And it was. Maybe i was the first person beside himself that played it so he could stand back and hear it project. And it wasn't just loud - it had great tone. Come to find out that Tim Scheerhorn had given it his setup. I've played a few others, and they have all sounded pretty good - but this one was truly exceptional. I wanted to take it back to California with me, but my wife wasn't all that hot on me making the trip to Nashville in the first place and if I showed up with a new guitar upon returning home there would have been hell to pay.
One of the guys on Reso-Nation who is from Florida had a similar experience a couple years ago. He posted that he played an Ickehorn that sounded almost as good as his maple Scheerhorn ("Realhorn"). And I've heard his Scheerhorn up close and it's a great guitar. I don't recall if the one he played also had a Tim setup.
I guess in conclusion the bottom line to me is that a well set up Wechter/Scheerhorn Rob Ickes model is very nice guitar, and when you have one of these imported guitars set up by the guy who actually designed the thing for Wechter, and his name is Tim Scheerhorn, you're in some tall cotton.
I don't really know what makes them different than the other Frugalhorns. Not sure if there is something as part of the design that is different than lower cost models. They are all laminate wood guitars, and IMO that negates some of the characteristics of the wood from which the instrument was built, but even in laminate guitars, not all wood sets are created equal. For example, the Beard Mike Auldridge Signature is made from laminate birch (Finnish?) and it is a very high quality version of "plywood," obviously unlike what is found on the typical Asian-built guitar.
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Mark |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2012 4:55 pm
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Resos are a different animal than other acoustic instruments in that the body is mainly a bass reflex cabinet for the cone, rather than a tone-producer itself. Many of the better sounding resos I've played have been laminates... I'm currently playing an Ickes model W/S, and it's at least as loud and good sounding as any I've had before, including a custom Beard and a high-end Dobro. I've been really happy- it records very well and plays great.
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Steve Branscom
From:
Pacific NW
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Posted 29 Nov 2012 4:56 pm
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Elderly has a used W/S Ickes for $850. Didn't see if it had a p/u or not. Wouldn't shock me that there might be a little wiggle room in the price. There is free shipping and you can send them back if you don't like them.
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Steve |
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James Trout
From:
Louisville, KY
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Posted 3 Dec 2012 3:53 am Rob Ickes Wechter
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As a previous owner of a Wechter Scheerhorn Rob Ickes model I will give you my opinions:
- Construction seemed solid
- Setup was horrible
- Once I had the guitar set up by a reliable builder the guitar sounded lots better
- I've played various Beard models, Benoits, and even some Guernseys and I must say hands down that anytime you can go with solid wood construction over the plywood the tone just gets sweeter.
- Although the cost will go up - once you go solid you will never want to go back.
Remember - these are just my opinions - and others may disagree. As with anything - try to find a display that offers both types (preferably made by the same builder) and you can listen to the tone differences yourself... |
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