Reviews, opinions and or suggestions

Joe Breeden · From: Virginia, USA

Some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket. Looking at weissenborn type guitars. ( ? spelling) I would appreciate any and all comments on "Gold Tone" and "Imperial Valley" guitars. That's the price range for the money I have. Thanks for any and all help. Joe

Larry Carlson · From: My Computer

Hello,

I have a Weiss copy from Imperial Valley Guitars.
It is the Royal Hawaiian deep body model.
It is 3 years old.

The good:

It has a very good tone. A nice big mellow voice.
A fairly nice built-in preamp that works quite well.

The bad:

Bad finish. The clear coat has a lot of orange peel in it.
A crack has developed in the left upper bout on top along the rope binding.
The binding and the top are pulling apart.
It's grown to about 2 inches in length and 1/8 inch wide.
I had to remove and re-install the pickup jack before it would work.
It was not installed correctly

The entire guitar, which I understand is shipped unfinished from China and then finished in their shop in California,
seems to be a rushed job. At least mine does.

The better:

I purchased a base model from Twisted Wood. Very plain guitar at about 2/3rds the cost of the Imperial Valley.
Still obviously a low end instrument but much better assembly and it sounds great. It also has a preamp and it works very well.

I'm just a beginning player with not a lot of experience with Weiss copies.
I just thought I'd tell you about my Imperial Valley.
I don't like criticizing other people's work but I would not buy one again.

........and before someone jumps in, if I could afford a high end instrument I would.
I chose to be good looking, not rich.
However I see no reason why a moderately priced Weiss copy can not be made with a bit of care.
My Twisted Wood model is a pretty good little guitar for the price.

Have a good day.
I hope you find what you want.
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying.

Bill McCloskey · Posted 27 Dec 2017 3:48 pm

weissenborns keep coming and going in this house. Just sold 2 in the last month. I had an Iseman, which is fairly inexpensive and a nice tone. The main problem I have with weissenborns is that they are just too quiet. Impossible in a jam situation, unless they are mic'd. And you can't really put a G tuning on them, so people mostly put D tuning which I get very bored with. I personally find them of limited interest once I have one. When I don't have one, I think...maybe it will be different this time. It never is.

Larry Carlson · From: My Computer

Well, the question was not if a Weiss would stand out in a jam.
He was asking advise about a viable inexpensive Weiss copy.
He wants to know what a good introductory instrument might be.
As far as standing out in a jam of course they wouldn't.
A Weiss is not a dominate instrument.
My favorite song on a Weiss is "Killing the Blues".
You want to jam to that?
Go right ahead. I'll wait.
My Weiss and I get along very nicely playing melodic and quiet songs.
Your mileage may vary.
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying.

Bill McCloskey · Posted 28 Dec 2017 7:31 am

Thanks for the lecture Larry. I'll send the OP a dime to compensate him for the time it took him to read my response. Have a happy holiday.

Brad Davis · From: Texas, USA

I have a very high end Gold Tone koa style 4 they made a few years ago, which is nice, but I assume you are looking at the LM and SM models. Gold Tones Weissenborns are mostly okay, and the company has good customer service and stands behind their products. If you do look at Gold Tone I would go for the SM model if you can.

I have used the Newtone Aloha strings in the past to safely put Dobro high G tuning on a Weissenborn, and it worked fine. I don't do it anymore, and the string set is often hard to get anyway.

Joe Breeden · From: Virginia, USA

Thanks for all your help with your input Joe

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