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Topic: Archtop steel guitars |
Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 2:26 pm |
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| Has anyone ever heard of an archtop lap steel or Weissenborn guitar? |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 3:31 pm
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Someone posted this Scott Walker steel just a few days ago:
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Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 3:46 pm
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| That is very interesting, and beautiful, too. I inquired because I am building an acoustic archtop, Weissenborn. I thought someone before me must have done this and I wanted to see what they did. Thank you for posting. |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 4:05 pm
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Built by Ben Bonham...the arch top aspect is more obvious in person....check out the eye (and ear) candy on https://www.bonhamdesign.com
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Greg Forsyth
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 5:22 pm Builders Corner
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Hi Bert,
If your interested would you please make a posting in the Builders Corner section of the forum about your build process incl.photos as you go. I think it would be beneficial for us to see your process and also to be able to advise you with your questions. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 5:49 pm
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| HowardR commissioned an archtop dobro from Carroll Benoit. Maybe he will post a picture if we ask him nicely. |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2025 6:01 pm
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I have lots of construction pictures, also....
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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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K Maul
From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
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Posted 7 Jan 2025 5:24 am
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Jeremy Wakefield recently got an 8 string archtop acoustic steel guitar.
https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/steel-jeremy-wakefield/
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Danelectro, Evans, Fender, GFI, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing. |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 7 Jan 2025 12:26 pm
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The late Carroll Benoit built a hand carved 9 string archtop resophonic for me......probably about 15 years ago.....
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Lloyd Graves
From:
New York, USA
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Paul Seager
From:
Augsburg, Germany
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Posted 13 Jan 2025 7:27 am Re: Archtop steel guitars
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| Bert Graham wrote: |
| Has anyone ever heard of an archtop lap steel or Weissenborn guitar? |
My first acoustic was a converted archtop. General problem is that, acoustically, even in a "jam-around-the-table" setting, no one can hear the thing when it's on your lap! Probably why they've not caught on - one will always need a pick-up and amplify it.
A friend of mine is one of Europe's best known Archtop builders for jazz guitar enthusiasts (but not lap steel!) He strives for strong acoustic volume and tone and I'm always surprised at how loud his instruments are (and know that I can never afford one!). I now have a National Tricone which is loud and can keep up with him acoustically but if the audience are maybe 10 feet away, I know that I'm looking like a Mime!
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\paul
Bayern Hawaiians: https://www.youtube.com/@diebayernhawaiians3062
Other stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@paulseager3796/videos |
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Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2025 10:29 am Why I build Weissenborn Guitars
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When I started building guitars, I built electric and flat-top acoustic guitars from kits. When I was ready to build something from scratch, I researched and discovered the Weissenborn Guitar.
If you are reading this post, you already know that building a guitar is not a simple, easy process. Building a square-neck slide guitar does have two advantages over a flat-top guitar. First, it does not require a hand-carved neck. Second, the frets do not have to be spaced and leveled to within a thousandth of an inch. |
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2025 12:39 pm
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That Monteleone of Ben Harper’s is pretty sweet looking
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2025 1:01 pm Gorgeous!
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| I bet it sounds as good as it looks. |
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Gil James
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2025 8:13 am
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  Thanks for posting these guys! I've been wanting to try to find something acoustic that was more mellow sounding than my dobros, thinking weissenborns or Oahu types. I've had a Gretsch New Yorker hanging on the wall for a while,that I rarely play. I popped a nut riser on it and tuned it to E7, and wow! Gonna fashion a straight bridge for it and play it. The flatwound Chromes I have on it sound great. It's loud enough for our small acoustic jam sessions in our living room. But what really surprised me was how good it sounds plugged in. That monkey on a stick pickup slides from bridge to neck. All the way to the bridge is best to my ears. Thanks to the Forum, I've got a new toy,without the GAS. |
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Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2025 1:48 pm That Gretsch looks familiar
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I think I have the same Gretsch New Yorker. I bought it three years ago from Amazon. It is great as an acoustic but really shines when it is plugged in. The only thing I didn't like about the guitar was the satin finish. After three months, I put a gloss finish on it. Now, I could not be happier with how it looks and plays.
When I saw your post today, I hadn't played it for a while. I took it out of its case, plugged it in, and gave it a tickle. Thanks for posting the photos
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Joe Kaufman
From:
Lewiston, Idaho
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Posted 3 Feb 2025 8:15 am
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| Some of the NIOMA guitars were archtop acoustic lap steels with a round sound hole. I had one for a while. |
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Lee Rider
From:
Fort Bragg, California, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2025 2:41 pm
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My friend David Dart builds unique lap steel guitars. He has done them for Ben Harper, David Lindley and Ed Littlefield. David built a few bowl back steels, one for Ben Harper that has sympathetic strings like a harp guitar. Headstock is a carved head of a lady....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMSFBnpuqCg
https://luthier.com/bowl-back-steel-guitar-lady-steel/
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Bowman SD10 push pull 3x5, Modified Hudson PedalBro, Sarno Tonic preamp, Evans FET 500. with Altec 418B, Standel Custom 15, '67 Showman with D-130F in cabinet, Ganz Straight Ahead, custom Wolfe 6 string dobro, '52 Gibson Century 6. |
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Bert Graham
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2025 3:24 pm
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Lee,
Your friend does amazing work. His instruments are lightyears beyond my humble efforts. Thank you for posting the links.
Bert |
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Levi Gemmell
From:
New Zealand
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Posted 4 Feb 2025 3:45 pm
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I don't have any photos of it, but Glenn Ross Campbell plays an archtop converted into a non-pedal steel these days - I heard him play some jump blues in a tuning of his own devising, on it at his house.
It has the beautiful anodised fretboard off an old 8-string Commodore lap steel on a new-built neck.
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Commodore S-8
John Allison S-8
JB Frypan S-8
Sho~Bud LDG SD-10
1966 Fender Super Reverb |
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