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Topic: Weissenborn Recomendations |
Paul Honeycutt
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2018 1:07 pm |
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It's time I add a Weissenborn to the collection. The top of my budget is probably right at $1500. I see cheaper ones and more expensive ones. What's a good guitar in the middle?
Also what does the bridge plate look like from the inside of the guitar? I plan on using an unusual pickup called an "Acoustech" that required a magnetic disk to be glued to the bridge plate.
Thanks in advance for any tips and suggestions! |
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David Venzke
From:
SE Michigan, USA
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 4 Jun 2018 1:30 am
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Check out Anderwood, Goldtone, Weissenborn Slide Guitar Company, Twisted Wood Guitars. Asher now makes a koa veneer model for under $1200. (Koa Imperial Acoustic Six model).
https://asher-guitars-lap-steels-store.myshopify.com/collections/all-guitars
Bill Asher and Bill Hardin's solid wood guitars are exceptional but are well above your budget unless you can snag a used one. I haven't played the imperial but I can attest that everything Bill does is of high quality standards. Goldstone models are fine for what they are and a fair value but I've never been impressed with their sound. I've no personal experience with the other two makers but their guitars are in your price range.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 5 Jun 2018 6:16 pm
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I just got an amazing Style 3.5 Weissenborn from Bonham Design in Hood River, OR...and surprisingly, it should be right about at your price point, but easily comparable to ones costing twice as much -
He got a late 1920's Weissenborn that had been sat on, restored it, and builds others using the exact measurements he was able to get...Mine has black acacia sides/back and a top from a 1,200-year-old douglas fir, - amazing tight grain...beautiful, airy, resonant sound - my band told me to get rid of all my other instruments after they heard this one at a gig...
He's now making me a hollow-neck tricone in myrtle (a lot like Koa)...
Ben Bonham isn't well known yet, but I predict that will change....and his prices will also...contact him at â€(541) 490-5447‬ or bensound@gorge.net to chat about them if you like...he's easy to talk to...
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
Last edited by Steve Lipsey on 5 Jun 2018 7:40 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 5 Jun 2018 6:22 pm
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And you asked about the bridge plate...here is a shot of the Bonham Design one from the inside during construction.
I use a Baggs M1 soundhole pickup....most pros use the Sunrise soundhole pickup...but this one will sound great no matter what you use!
Ben is happy to customize any instrument to your specific needs...
_________________
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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Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2018 11:43 am
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That design is the third and final variation of what the originals had. I think HW found bridge lifting problems over the years and went from a wide, flat bowl shape with a footprint not much larger than the bridge itself to a two-piece design with an added triangle set under cross of the X braces and finally to the full "Christmas tree" seen here. (At the same time, the width of the bridges shrank as the bridgeplates grew larger.)
Older K&S or Berkeley Music (BMIE) copies, both done under the supervision of Marc Silber, were used for a time on the road by David Lindley after he retired his originals from touring. They're inexpensive and sounded fine amplified.
And in a shameless note of self-aggrandizement, American Guitar Co. (myself and some OMI/Dobro refugees) briefly made about 100 instruments just after Gibson shut down the Huntington Beach factory. Of these 100, there were some Gibson L-0-style standard guitars, leaving I'd guess no more than 70 Kona, Weissenborn and teardrop models--and not all of those got completed. Many were sold off without finish, strings or hardware. Most have a rubber-stamp American Guitar Co./Los Angeles Cal/" shield logo on the backstrip, a la the Weissenborn originals. All but a handful were mahogany but they all sounded terrific. All that's missing to my ear is the koa "shimmer" and 80 or 90 years of gentle aging. (Some visual aspects are charmingly erratic.)
There are doubtless others, but the few I know are beyond the price range we're discussing.
(The Bonhams look great by the way.)
_________________
"Gopher, Everett?" |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2018 12:10 pm
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| Steve Lipsey wrote: |
I just got an amazing Style 3.5 Weissenborn from Bonham Design in Hood River, OR...and surprisingly, it should be right about at your price point, but easily comparable to ones costing twice as much -
He got a late 1920's Weissenborn that had been sat on, restored it, and builds others using the exact measurements he was able to get...Mine has black acacia sides/back and a top from a 1,200-year-old douglas fir, - amazing tight grain...beautiful, airy, resonant sound - my band told me to get rid of all my other instruments after they heard this one at a gig...
He's now making me a hollow-neck tricone in myrtle (a lot like Koa)…
I've hung out and jammed with Ben many times at PSGW's Winter Retreat. He's a monster old time steeler (King Benny Nowahe, Sol Ho'opi'i. etc), and he's a great guy to boot!
Ben Bonham isn't well known yet, but I predict that will change....and his prices will also...contact him at â€(541) 490-5447‬ or bensound@gorge.net to chat about them if you like...he's easy to talk to...
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Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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