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Topic: Gold Tone instruments: opinions, impressions? |
Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 10:13 am |
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Hello folks,
I'm curious what people think of Gold Tone brand instruments in general, in terms of quality, tone, etc. I ask because my local music store (The World of Strings), which is a great independent shop and whom I like to support, carries a lot of Gold Tone stuff.....they've got a few banjos and a Wesssenborn there right now. The pieces I played seemed okay, but I wasn't blown away, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time with them. The prices seem good, but these struck me as perhaps mid-range Chinese or Korean instruments, but I couldn't find any labeling that indicated a country of origin. Any feeling on these instruments? Any better buys out there for new instruments in the below $1,000 price range?
Thanks for your help!
Cliff |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 10:22 am
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My impression based on what I've read on this and other forums are:
Dobro - very good
Lap steel - fair
Weissenborn - get a "Superior Hawaiian" instead, or add another 2-300 bucks for a custom Lazy River or Celtic Cross.
Banjos - huh? 
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 10:27 am
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| I had a Weissenborn by Gold Tone and was quite impressed. |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 10:37 am
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| Keith, I think you are the first (but I'm happy you got a good one...the one I played was very underwhelming). |
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Travis Bernhardt
From:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 2:51 pm
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Yeah, the Gold Tone Weiss copy I played was no great shakes, either. The lap steel is okay, though, and the dobro is really good.
-Travis |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 3:10 pm
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| Oh yeah, forgot to mention I liked the lap steel and the Dobro. |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 3:20 pm
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| I had one of the solid top ones. I took it to Mark Van Allen and he was favorably impressed as well. One of the more reputable shops here in town, Midtown Music, actually picked up the whole line based on that guitar. |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 3:49 pm
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I have one of the deluxe 6 sting banjos they make. I tune it like a guitar and use it for shows and concerts that call for me to double on banjo, usually melody lines and chord stuff. I like the instrument and in spite of not wanting to play it that much, I do get calls for work on it. In the next couple of months I am playing Porgy and Bess and the Shostakovich Jazz Suite Nr.1 on that thing.
Very good quality instrument. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 4:15 pm
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Bill, is that one of the models with an internal pickup? If so,- is the pickup any good? I've been close to buying one of those more than once.....
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 5:33 pm
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Steiner. The one I have is a model that I don't think they make anymore. It has the 3 on a side tuners. Nice maple neck and maple resonator. The pickup inside the body slides on the neck bar so you can position it where you like the sound. The pickup is a Bill Lawrence! Nice sound. This banjo was around $800 new. I traded into it.
I like it because I can tune it like a guitar and in the situations I play in, nobody cares. The shows and such never call for official 5 string bluegrass banjo, just some melodies and chord ricky-ticky type things. If you find a pic of the 6 string you are looking at, send it to me and I will compare it. I do know that they make another model with basically a strat style neck on it. Mine is not like that-much nicer.
Edit. Steinar. I went to the Gold Tone website and looked. The instrument I have is like the GT500 Banjitar. $799 Check them out.[This message was edited by Bill Hatcher on 04 October 2005 at 06:37 PM.] |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 6:05 pm
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| Quote: |
| Steinar. I went to the Gold Tone website and looked. The instrument I have is like the GT500 Banjitar. $799 Check them out. |
Yeah, that's the model I was thinking of,- thanks for the info Bill!
I'm not too fond of traditional banjo playing, but lately I have grown to like what I call "the lonesome plunk", and I can definitely see a 6-string banjo coming my way one day...
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 7:00 pm
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Cliff,
Check out the previous comments in this same forum by doing a search and you'll see that the Gold Tone Beard resophonic and lap steels are very highly thought of by most people.
World of Strings is a great store; I used to frequent it when I lived in Long Beach, and try to get back there whenever I am down in Southern California.
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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Craig Prior
From:
National City, California, USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2005 7:35 pm
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Scott Houston said,
"...This is the Gold Tone through a Pignose in a little backyard shed jam (not in it's best light)."
Great little jam, Scott!! Very reminiscient of the Cheap Suit Serenaders.
Me likums!!!
Craig.
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Terry VunCannon
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 5 Oct 2005 6:46 am
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I have one of the Goldtone lap steels & I like it a lot. I can get a good clean sound & a kind of "Duane Allman" sound when pushed with a little gain. It lends itself more to the Allman sound, it is a little harder to get the David Lindley type sound, but it will get close(Not as close as my National Dynamic). For the price, it is a great little lap steel & I always take it on a job where I may be outside, or somewhere where I worry about one of the vintage laps.
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'49 & '51 National Dynamics, Harmos Model One, Lazy River Weissenborn, Mesa Boogie DC-3, SRV Strat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/keefriff
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 5 Oct 2005 7:28 am
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Thanks for the qualifications. Your help is appreciated!
Cliff |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 5 Oct 2005 11:04 am
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| I have both a gold tone weissenborn and a superior hawaiian. The superior is....well....superior. And by a long way. Much sweeter sound, better looks, more volume. I have to admit, though, that I have had my superior altered to move the strings closer together and have a more conventional nut installed. The original nut arrangement and string spacing was unplayable for me. I did contact the manufacturer, though and they may have corrected it. More likely though they are selling models in both configurations. According to the people at Elderly Instruments, through whom I got my gold tone, they are made in europe. Germany, I believe. I used to live in Long Beach. Love world or strings. [This message was edited by Edward Meisse on 05 October 2005 at 12:06 PM.] |
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