So, I went to the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany last week. It was huge (apparently the biggest in the world)! Of course, here in Europe, steel guitar isn't as big as in the US, but I found two Weissenborn-style guitars to try out.
This one was a "Model 4" by an Italian maker whose name I have forgotten. It looked good but wasn't impressive. It wasn't tuned up or even strung properly when I picked it up.
Here I'm trying an all koa guitar by German luthier Andreas ****z. It was very pretty indeed, but it didn't captivate me either.
[OK, this is funny - the "****z" was done by some anti-profanity function here at the forum, as this luthier is named Andreas CEE U N TEE Z... A harmless German name but troublesome on the international market!]
In fact, I prefer the sound and feel of my old $81 Oahu. Maybe it's because I'm used to it, and the noisy trade fair wasn't the ideal environment to check out acoustic instruments. But these guitars were priced at €1,600 and €3,000 respectively, so I'm pleased with my Oahu. 
One of the highlights of the Musikmesse were the Krüger Brothers at the Deering Banjo stand. They are from Switzerland, but based in the USA, and play amazing bluegrass/old time music. The banjo player Jens Krüger is out of this world! (I know there are plenty of banjo jokes about here, but they do not apply to this guy!) A versatile player who can play as impressive as Earl Scruggs and who brings so much variety out of the instrumnet. I got their "Up18North" CD - check out the track "Shower" - sheer beauty! Highly recommended!
http://www.krugerbrothers.com/
The Deering banjo company's most expensive instrument is the "Banjosaurus", which retails at $54,000! What is that all about!?
It was a shame that there were no Manzanita Weissenborn guitars at the Musikmesse. David Lindley has called them "the best". Manfred (the luthier) e-mailed me about a Manzanita player who would be there, but I couldn't find the time to locate him at this huge event.[This message was edited by Fred Kinbom on 06 April 2006 at 03:40 PM.]
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