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Topic: Acoustic steel guitar? |
Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 13 Dec 2022 10:45 pm |
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There's plenty of great old round neck guitars out there needing neck resets to play regular that are bargain priced imo. I have reset necks on these and it's work but not impossible, also, many have only been played Hawaiian style, like this 1939 Harmony, it cost me $150.00 and is just a lovely little thing.
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 14 Dec 2022 6:58 am
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
| I have had an urge to play an acoustic instrument again. I would want something with a big pianistic sound and at least 7 strings, probably 8. The music I am working on now would sound grand on an acoustic instrument. But I have gotten used to playing an instrument on a stand and don’t think I want to get into adjusting my playing posture just for that. Also, some of the techniques are demanding and I think that the stability of playing on the lap could affect that negatively. |
https://reverb.com/item/17318207-gibson-roy-smeck-radio-grande-custom-7-string-hawaiian-acoustic-guitar-c-1935-brown-gig-bag-case
The Grand Piano of acoustic guitars. You need a grand bank account to afford one as well! |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 14 Dec 2022 8:09 am
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Tim! I have an offer in on that Gibson and now I will have to compete with everyone here! 
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Joe Burke
From:
Toronto, Canada
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Posted 17 Dec 2022 8:01 am
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| I’m inspired by these acoustic guitars for lap steel playing. It seems to me that they all have a glued bridge and saddle, not a tailpiece. Is there a reason for this? |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2022 10:25 am
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| Joe Burke wrote: |
| I’m inspired by these acoustic guitars for lap steel playing. It seems to me that they all have a glued bridge and saddle, not a tailpiece. Is there a reason for this? |
My guess that for manufacturing ease they use as many parts as a regular acoustic does to save costs. If you really want a tail piece, any luthier could remove the bridge, patch the top, add the tail piece and make a bridge like a jazz arch-top has (flat across the top of course).
This actually has an advantage for a steel player: you could get any string spacing at the bridge you want. And it would simplify conversions to a 7 string.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2022 10:37 am
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| There's plenty of great old round neck guitars out there needing neck resets to play regular that are bargain priced imo. I have reset necks on these and it's work but not impossible, also, many have only been played Hawaiian style, like this 1939 Harmony, it cost me $150.00 and is just a lovely little thing. |
Glenn,
Nice guitar! I lightened up your photo a bit to show more detail.
And some detail:
I'll have to keep an eye out for one.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 18 Dec 2022 10:32 am
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I have a Seagull S12 that I would like to turn into a steel.
My question is; to straighten thé compensated bridge, which part of the bridge
do you measure to to keep the scale correct or does it matter? |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 18 Dec 2022 11:48 am Acoustics
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Dobros and resonators need a 7 degree angle. Paul Beard taught me that years ago… 
_________________
Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side
Last edited by Larry Allen on 18 Dec 2022 5:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 18 Dec 2022 12:22 pm
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| Paul DiMaggio wrote: |
I have a Seagull S12 that I would like to turn into a steel.
My question is; to straighten thé compensated bridge, which part of the bridge
do you measure to to keep the scale correct or does it matter? |
Ideally you would position the saddle so that the string break point where it leaves the saddle is unifornly at the scale length (straight across) This would probably be just in front of the existing High E saddle position. But unless you have the tools and skills to fill and recut the saddle slot, dont bother, you will be able to make small adjustments in bar slant to bring it back in tune.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 18 Dec 2022 4:51 pm
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These are the some of the finest looking Smeck copies I have seen. I have no affiliation with the builder, I am just a fan! His waiting list is stretching into 2024. I wish I would have snatched up one I saw on Reverb he sold for around $1000. He called it his shop guitar and it was a bit banged up. That would be a steal now. He seems open to customizing them in any way.
https://www.minervafretworks.com/de-luxe |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2022 4:28 pm
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| Tim Toberer wrote: |
These are the some of the finest looking Smeck copies I have seen. I have no affiliation with the builder, I am just a fan! His waiting list is stretching into 2024. I wish I would have snatched up one I saw on Reverb he sold for around $1000. He called it his shop guitar and it was a bit banged up. That would be a steal now. He seems open to customizing them in any way.
https://www.minervafretworks.com/de-luxe |
Those look great. There's a company called Prewar making some real nice flattops too. |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2022 4:39 pm
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| Tim Toberer wrote: |
These are the some of the finest looking Smeck copies I have seen. I have no affiliation with the builder, I am just a fan! His waiting list is stretching into 2024. I wish I would have snatched up one I saw on Reverb he sold for around $1000. He called it his shop guitar and it was a bit banged up. That would be a steal now. He seems open to customizing them in any way.
https://www.minervafretworks.com/de-luxe |
Those look great. There's a company called Prewar making some real nice flattops too. |
https://www.pre-warguitars.com/
Bring your checkbook. These ain't cheap
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 20 Dec 2022 7:54 am
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| Tony Oresteen wrote: |
| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| Tim Toberer wrote: |
These are the some of the finest looking Smeck copies I have seen. I have no affiliation with the builder, I am just a fan! His waiting list is stretching into 2024. I wish I would have snatched up one I saw on Reverb he sold for around $1000. He called it his shop guitar and it was a bit banged up. That would be a steal now. He seems open to customizing them in any way.
https://www.minervafretworks.com/de-luxe |
Those look great. There's a company called Prewar making some real nice flattops too. |
https://www.pre-warguitars.com/
Bring your checkbook. These ain't cheap |
Those are gorgeous! I am not sure how I feel about fake distress however. For that price you can get the real thing. They really make them look old though. Pretty cool...
I keep waiting for someone to make a 12 fret dread with a short scale for less than $1000. I am ok with laminated back and sides as long as it has a solid top. I may be waiting forever I guess. Recording King made a 12 fret slope shoulder, but it had a 25 1/2" scale. They can be found pretty cheap, but are quite rare these days. |
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2022 12:04 pm
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Have acoustic steels fallen out of favor? They haven't with me. I still write songs for acoustic and I currently have three acoustic steels. In my case I found that I actually like to convert 12-string acoustics to 6-string steel. I have two of those plus a 6 string cigar box (cedar).
The 12-strings are great because they are built to withstand the stress of 12 strings unlike their 6-string counterparts that might not fare so well after jacking up the strings.
_________________
https://markmansueto.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/65dQ3EyZC2RaqawA8gPlRy?si=dOdqc5zxSKeJI9cISVVx_A |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2023 12:25 pm
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So, here's another idea for a flattop steel, I really just bought this one on a whim, there weren't many details in the listing, I couldn't tell that it was a 3/4 size guitar or much else, it looked complete and was real cheap, $75.00 I think, at least I'd have a nice decoration. Well, the neck is warped, so it's either a steel or neck reset and I don't want to put that time into it. Turns out it's a fun little steel, 22 3/4 scale makes it very comfortable under the bar, the spacing is a bit tight at the nut but I've ordered a grover for it, at the bridge it's exactly like a Valco steel.
It's made by United Code in the '50s and is real fun to play. Here it is next to a regular electric steel.
And a little Hawaiian teacher's steel.
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Dane Carlson
From:
Bay Area, California
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Posted 31 Jan 2023 9:07 am
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| Miles Lang wrote: |
| Here’s a little garage recording I did with it (mix of pickup and mic). It ended up on the next album https://youtu.be/CeVX7NA3Xac |
That's a great sound! What tuning did you use on that recording? |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 4 Aug 2024 10:33 am
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This thread had me thinking. I have a number of mid-70s Epiphone acoustics that have bolt-on necks (really "screw-on") so why not get one and have a square neck made for it?
In Dec of 2022 I bought a cheap 1975ish Epiphone FT-130 "Caballero" for $130 shipped. Here's a typical photo of an FT-130 Caballero (not mine):
These FT (for Flat Top) series have a horrible reputation for bad glue (well deserved) and the neck blocks 98% of the time needs to be re-glued along with the top braces. The bridge plate sometimes has to be replaced.
They came with an "adjustable" bridge which was a feature for the factory not the buyer. These bridges sound horrible but allowed the factory to set them up faster & cheaper.
Every one of my Epiphone FT-xxx guitars all have the adjustable bridge removed, the bridge saddle slot filled, and re-cut, and a Fishman Infinity Matrix saddle pickup installed. Then they sound awesome IMHO.
As expected, the FT-130 was in bad shape with neck block & top braces all loose. Ugh! So why do I like them?
As a young 19 year-old on active duty in the Army I was stationed at Ft Devens, MA in 1971. I wanted an acoustic guitar and I ended up buying a new 1971 Epiphone 6832 for $88 out the door - all the money I had saved at the time.
Here I am in a show in Ft. Devens Feb 1972 playing the 6832:
Note the hat !! I wore a top hat before Slash ever even picked up a guitar.
In late '72 Epiphone renamed the 6832 to FT-135.
Due to family issues, the FT-130 guitar just sat until Feb of 2024 when I took it to my tech and asked him to make a new square neck for it. He made the new 24.75" scale neck, re-glued all the braces & neck block, filled & slotted the bridge, made flat nut & saddle, installed new Epiphone Deluxe tuners, and installed the Fishman pickup.
I have had it for a few months now & love the way it sounds. The Ft-130-SQUARE is set up for A6. I refer to it as the "FT-130 Square Caballero".
It's the companion guitar to my 1936ish May Bell C6 acoustic (24.0" scale):
Here's the A6 string set up:
Wound strings are acoustic bronze wound.
So yeh, you can get an inexpensive good sounding acoustic slide guitar. It just takes a vision and the will to get it done.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 4 Aug 2024 12:27 pm
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I have a few acoustic steel guitars.....
Here is an 8 string acoustic steel built by Michael Dunn....it has a solid square neck.....inspired by Selmer/Maccaferri gypsy jazz guitars.....
This one was built by the late David Hodson.....he was building a 7 string acoustic guitar for a customer who didn't take delivery on it and so I had David put a square neck on it for me....another gypsy jazz inspired...
This is a Melobar steel body with an angled neck.....originally 10 strings, but now strung with 6 strings......
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 4 Aug 2024 4:07 pm
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One more........this one was made by Gibson when they bought the dobro brand sometime in the 90s.....the Dobro logo is on the headstock.....I probably bought it on ebay back in the very early 2000s as there was no facebook or reverb.....this is the only one I've ever seen so I don't know how many they made or if this is possibly a protoype.....it has a pick up built in.....
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 4 Aug 2024 4:23 pm
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| HowardR wrote: |
One more........this one was made by Gibson when they bought the dobro brand sometime in the 90s.....the Dobro logo is on the headstock.....I probably bought it on ebay back in the very early 2000s as there was no facebook or reverb.....this is the only one I've ever seen so I don't know how many they made or if this is possibly a protoype.....it has a pick up built in.....
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Cool. What does it sound like, when comparing it to your other instruments?
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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I don't know why anyone would want that anyway, probably just a piece of junk 
