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Topic: My new Asher Hawaiian deep body |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:12 am |
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I went through a lot of years and a lot of electrics to finally realize I was an acoustic steel player deep down. I've been playing a lot of standard guitar for the past few years and only back to steel recently, a couple people pointed out to me that I had a real connection to the acoustic hollow-neck guitar.
As a result of cashing in a few chips and a bit of wheeling and dealing, I was lucky enough to snag this amazing Asher. It's made from a cello set of Canadian flame maple. It's truly breathtaking and the volume, bass response and depth and color of the tone is really something. It's funny how a new instrument will make you play things you never played before. Sometimes I struggle and struggle over arrangements and sometimes they just show up fully realized. On my first morning with this new baby a medley of Pipeline and Surfin' Tragedy came tumbling out. Go figure.
Last edited by Andy Volk on 6 Jun 2013 4:58 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Joe Snow
From:
Argyle,Texas, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:28 am
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| beautiful, enjoy! |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:39 am
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| Incredible. |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:52 am
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NOW you're talking!  |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:59 am
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Andy, that's a gorgeous instrument. I can imagine how it speaks to you. It's great that you've found your voice with acoustic instruments -- I'm sure there are plenty of happy surprises waiting inside that hollow neck.
_________________
Peter
---------
www.splinterville.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@splinterville6278/videos |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 4:59 am
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| Beautiful guitar Andy! |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 6:00 am
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| Gorgeous instrument and quite an endorsement for Bill Asher's acoustic instruments coming from the guy who literally "wrote the book" on lap steel guitars, Enjoy! |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 6:13 am
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Beautiful Asher...played one in Pali's store in Oceanside, they sound remarkable.
_________________
Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Jim Newberry
From:
Seattle, Upper Left America
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 9:30 am
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What a beauty! Congratz.
_________________
"The Masher of Touch and Tone"
-1950 Fender Dual Pro 8
-1950's Fender Dual Pro 6
-Clinesmith D8
-Clinesmith 8-string Frypan
-Clinesmith Joaquin
-~1940 National New Yorker
-~1936 Rickenbacher B6
-Homebuilt Amps |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 9:34 am
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Andy, that's beautiful. Best of luck with her.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 12:47 pm
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Bill Asher makes some of the best steel guitars in the business. This one is no exception. Congratulations, Andy. May you find all the good music that's hiding in that guitar.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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James Williamson
From:
California & Hawaii
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 3:33 pm Asher
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| Congratulations Andy, what a Beauty! And Bill is a great guy to boot.... |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 5:30 pm
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| Thanks all! |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 6 Jun 2013 10:12 pm
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| Congrats on that amazing looking instrument. I like surf music too, so I think it's great you came up with that. |
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Brandin
From:
Newport Beach CA. USA
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Posted 7 Jun 2013 8:23 am
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Andy, beautiful guitar, and "Surfin' Tragedy" is one of
my favorites.
GB |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 7 Jun 2013 10:20 am
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| There are so many good tunes that are way under explored on all kinds of steel guitar. Surf music works so well if if it's a little weird to think of it on a big woody hollow neck. At least for me, having limitations fuels creativity. |
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Paddy Burgin
From:
New Zealand
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Posted 7 Jun 2013 8:20 pm
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| That is a very beautiful guitar. Congratulations Andy. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 8 Jun 2013 5:59 am
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Wow!........  |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 8 Jun 2013 6:37 am
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| Andy, how does thie Asher compare to the Bear Creek you had? |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 8 Jun 2013 7:02 am
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It's kind of an apples and oranges comparison, Bill. I still have the Bear Creek and I love that guitar. It has tremendous sweet, overtone-rich tone, playability, and a beautiful koa top. It also has the advantage of having been played constantly for 15+ years so a true comparison is probably not fair.
Over the last few years, I've played 3 or 4 of Bill Asher's standard body hollownecks and while they all sound terrific, it's my opinion that they really need about two years of playing to really open up and produce the sound of which they're capable. This is true of almost any new acoustic in my personal experience and it was certainly the case with the Bear Creek. The music emporium currently has a standard Asher style IV in stock. This guitar has a cool experimental translucent yellow/amber finish and even the fret makers are yellow. I played it and it will be a killer guitar once it's been played in.
What struck me immediately about this Asher maple guitar (aside from the stunning visual factor) was how it already sounded broken in just a month or so of the work bench. Having a deeper body, it has a greater dynamic range than the BC with deep bass, full mids and singing trebles. The tone is a bit more transparent - at least right now - than the BC. In my experience, maple guitars seem to be stronger on punchy fundamentals with lesser overtones but strangely, this Asher is very overtone responsive and seems to really demand extra care with blocking - there's just so much Technicolor sound coming out of the thing. Maybe I'll post a sound clip comparison sometime.
I'm really lucky to be able to acquire such an instrument and I'm grateful to my late mother for making that possible via her legacy to me. I also traded a bunch of stuff in the same day and picked up a cool little National Triolian uke. Its re-entrant G-string is kicking my musical butt! Sorry for such a long answer to a simple question! |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 8 Jun 2013 8:03 am
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I won't derail your excellent thread Andy, and perhaps a topic in its own right. but I've always been skeptical about the need to "break" an acoustic guitar in. I've never been convinced that playing an instrument does something fundemental to the wood to change its sound. I've always felt that the effect you notice is your brain becoming more and more familiar and used to a guitar where you are able to bring out sounds that were harder when your hands and brains were still getting used to the instrument.
Definitely something that deserves its own topic. |
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Liz Williams
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 Jun 2013 9:04 pm
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| Andy, congratulations on your gorgeous new hollowneck I hope you will do a sound comparison of the 2 guitars. I'd be very curious t hear that. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 14 Jun 2013 3:10 am
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| I'll try to do that at some point, Liz. Right now, I'm experimenting with the new Tonerite device I just bought on the BC. To be fair, I'll have to use on the Asher too. |
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