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Topic: Bakelite Guitars and Tone Bars-Questions |
Dennis Smith
From:
Covington, Georgia, USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2012 2:16 pm |
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Hi
There is a 1940 Kiesel bakelite guitar on ebay and some bakelite bars. I didn't know that anybody made a bakelite guitar other than the Ric's. How many mfg made steels out of bakelite?
There are a couple of bakelite tone bar's on ebay are these any good? One that I looked at the photo's looked like it had wear groves on it. Are they just collectable?
Dennis
Last edited by Dennis Smith on 30 Nov 2012 3:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2012 3:47 pm
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Dennis,
Looking at the thread title, I thought maybe you were talking about guitars that light up! Thought maybe you were talkin' about a guitar like my Orpheum, which has lightbulbs in it, and it does light up! Although the wisdom of plugging a guitar into a wall socket, then putting it on your lap????? Well,,,, I don't always plug it in! It's "Backlit" but not Bakelite.
Well,,,, sorry for the diversion! Maybe you can correct the thread title? |
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Dennis Smith
From:
Covington, Georgia, USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2012 3:53 pm
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Hi John, I fixed it. sorry.
Dennis |
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Paul Arntson
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 1 Dec 2012 6:58 pm
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| Bakelite does something magic to the tone. I've played an "Academy" I think it was and the acoustic tone was something magic. I attributed it to the body material. Bakelite tone bars don't hold a candle to a Dunlop in my opinion. I've got a collection of like 20 tone bars and I keep going back to the Dunlop steel that is 7/8 x 3.25. I think it's number 923 or something like that. But when I listen to tapes of my really bad dobro playing from 1970 when I was using a red plastic bar on a dobro, there is something cool about the tone. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 2 Dec 2012 2:17 pm
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The Bronson brand made Bakelite steels in the style of the Rick's, they were just slightly differing in dimensions to allow them to avoid lawsuits.
There are old Bakelite bars that have a large brass center, the Bakelite coats it about 1/8" thick, but the ones I've seen are sans rounded ends, so of limited use. Supposition, but they probably sound better than any other non-steel bars from those days. |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 2 Dec 2012 3:22 pm
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deleted
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 21 May 2018 2:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2012 10:12 am
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| I've seen the two Bakelite brands matched together and there is slight size differences, no matter where/who they were made by. |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 4 Dec 2012 8:52 am
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deleted
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 21 May 2018 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 4 Dec 2012 10:23 am
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| I've yet to venture into the realm of needing to argue on this point, and you've seemingly done even more than me on the matter at hand, so I'll concede victory to you until further proof says otherwise. It's always been a fun issue to ponder, your points and others have long been a curiosity to me, and I can appreciate input that I may have concerns with as the facts become more widely known. I certainly don't need to be right, more of a Sgt. Friday 'just the facts, ma'am' attitude, and whatever gets us there is my goal. |
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