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Topic: Performance brand steel guitars |
Howard Montgomery
From:
Topeka, KS US
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 3:43 am |
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| Can anyone give me the scoop on these guitars? I see them for sale from time to time, but can't find much on them. Some underside pictures would be great if anyone has them. How do they compare to currently available high end guitars? Thanks. |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 11:33 am
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They were made in the early 2000s in Cleveland OH, by my friend Jerry Brightman. They were a mica covered all-pull guitar of the modern cosmetic design; I recall the guitar had undercarriage features common to many high-end guitars of that period; square crossbars, multi-position bellcranks, etc.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 11:48 am
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| Jim Cohen wrote: |
| But the really unique feature was that the entire undercarriage slid out from under the guitar so it could be worked on apart from the body. |
Whoa! I did not know that. 
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 12:31 pm
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Herb,
Actually, they were built in Cuyahoga Falls, an Akron suburb. I worked there until the end. Very, very good guitars! Excellent design, easy playing, and great-sounding! The reverser was the best I've ever seen. Here are a couple of pics of the first guitar I assembled for Jerry.
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 12:36 pm
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"the entire undercarriage slid out from under the guitar so it could be worked on apart from the body."
That's a "sort of" situation. Yes, you could slide the undercarriage out as an assembly, but you needed to hold the side rails together, or it would fall apart. Easily done though. I assembled the last few using giant rubber bands to hold the rails. |
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Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 3:27 pm
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So John whats the scoop on why it didn't work out for them ...I remember at the time it looking like a well funded, fairly professional and slick organisation, and the guitars looked really great ??
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14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2013 3:47 pm
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Paddy,
Far be it for me to totally understand the financial pressures. But,,,,, We didn't actually make anything in shop except for pedal rods and pull rods. All the parts were contracted to a machine shop. I just assembled all the parts. We had no machines, so I think that the machine shop costs, the rapidly rising material costs, and a low profit margin were the reasons. A well known dealer added to the problem too. He'd sold two guitars, and was very enthusiastic. He ordered two more, which I went overboard on making them perfect, and he sent them back. No explanation! I figure he got intense pressure from other manufacturers that he did business with.
Then again, I don't know all the reasons. I wasn't privy to them. As I said before,,, Very, very good guitars! |
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