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Topic: Asher owners |
Olli Haavisto
From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
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Posted 12 Jul 2001 1:48 pm |
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According to the steel survey there are (at least)3 Asher lap steel owners among the forumites.I`ve got one and Dan Tyack has one.
So, who is the 3rd lucky one and would he/she care to comment on this unique guitar?(Just curious...) I LOVE mine!
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Olli Haavisto
Polar steeler
Finland
[This message was edited by Olli Haavisto on 13 July 2001 at 12:09 AM.] |
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Alan Barley
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 6:11 am
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| Olli, I have the third Asher. I purchased mine after hearing Greg Leisz play one here in Austin. Danny, at Guitar Traditions, mentioned someone from Finland wanted one too. You may have even seen a picture of it. It has a highly figured koa top with grain running in two directions. It has a big, round acoustic tone and is particularly satisfying to play at the end of the day when I am trying to wind down. I use it frequently when backing an acoustic guitar player and singer. Its tone draws you into playing it more. |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 6:28 am
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I heard Leisz play his Asher with Bill Frisell. They are great (and different) sounding lap steels. I wish I could afford to own one!
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Olli Haavisto
From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 7:26 am
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Bill and Alan,
Did Leisz use his Asher for the "weissenborn-with-a-sunrise"-sound or for the overdrive stuff.Did the Frisell band play the tune "Greg Leisz" off the "Blues Dream" album?If they did,what lap steel was Leisz using?
Alan,I think the tone and sustain of the Asher are so amazing that it makes you want to play fewer notes just to be able to enjoy the sound of it more!
Olli[This message was edited by Olli Haavisto on 13 July 2001 at 08:31 AM.] |
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Alan Barley
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 7:59 am
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Olli, when Leisz was here with Frisell they did selections from Good Dog Happy Man, Gone Like a Train, and Ghost Town, if I remember correctly. I think they did do "Greg Leisz" too. For all the overdriven sounds (which was the majority of the set) Leisz was using a National Dynamic and a Reverend overdrive pedal, playing through a Trainwreck combo. He had several other floor pedals connected but I could not tell what they were. For the softer pieces he used the Asher and when Frisell played acoustic Leisz used a dobro. The sound of the National overdriven was pretty amazing. And I agree, the Asher's qualities tend to make you want to slow down and enjoy each note. It has great sustain.
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 11:12 am
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What Alan said, except I didn't see a Trainwreck amp, just a couple of Twins.
His National's overdriven tone was awesome. I didn't notice the pedal setup. |
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Sage
From:
Boulder, Colorado
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Posted 13 Jul 2001 8:54 pm
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The Asher is beautiful. Does anyone know how many have been made, or other production figures? What serial numbers do you folks have?
T. Sage Harmos |
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Alan Barley
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 14 Jul 2001 10:35 am
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| The serial number on my Asher is #052. It is dated 1/01 inked in on the rear of the peghead. |
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Alan Barley
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 14 Jul 2001 11:20 am
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| Sage, to answer your questions on production figures I talked to Randy with Guitar Traditions, Bill Asher's company, and he said the first prototype was made for Ben Harper in early 1998. It had a Sunrise pickup mounted on it. By mid 1998 they started production runs in batches of five with the standard two pickup configuration and now produce them in batches of ten. They are currently up to #080. They will be offering an additional model, the "Dual Tone," for sale in September and are currently producing the first batch. The protoype, made for Ben Harper, was seen here on the Forum a few weeks ago for sale on Ebay. It will have a horseshoe style pickup combined with a piezo under-saddle bridge pickup. Randy mentioned they will have photos of the Dual Tone up on their web site GuitarTraditions.com soon. |
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Sage
From:
Boulder, Colorado
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Posted 14 Jul 2001 7:51 pm
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| Wow- Thanks Alan! |
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