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Topic: Dueling Ultratones |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2002 8:39 pm |
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Come on Andy, the coral hue of the Ultratone is very 'way out'. I like it. It reminds me of 1950's kitchen appliances, or the classic architecture of Miami Beach, or the front fenders on my Grandfather's Buick Special.
I owned a Ultratone for a short while. It was very difficult to play. The plastic bridge coverplate covered too much of the 6th string making right hand placement awkward. I did look cool though.
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Gerald Ross
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 27 February 2002 at 08:41 PM.] |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 27 Feb 2002 8:39 pm
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| The Ultratone did not have what I'd call an ultra tone. It was a mediocre Gibson at best IMHO. Also, I think I'm correct, they were not made in the forties, but a product of the ultra "modern" fifties, hence the design. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 5:14 am
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| My grandmother had a bathroom tiled in turquoise and coral. The Ultratone would have been at home there. |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 7:24 am
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| I LOVE the looks of those guitars. I wish they played and sounded as good as they look. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 9:19 am
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Andy, you have more links than Jimmy Dean sausages!  |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 9:30 am
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Andy, you seem to know some nice sites.
Gracias...
(i've got a little ol'Gibson Br6)
Steel what ?....  [This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 28 February 2002 at 09:35 AM.] |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 11:03 am
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http://www.gibson.com/magazines/amplifier/1998/5/img/archives-3.jpg
From Gibson historian, Walter Carter:
"BR stands for Barnes & Reinecke, the Chicago industrial design firm that came up with Gibson's postwar family of electric Hawaiian guitars and amps. The coral-and-cream Ultratone lap steel is one of Barnes & Reinecke's most stunning creations. They also designed a BR-4, a BR-6 and a BR-9, but I've never seen any reference to a BR-3 instrument. Maybe it's the earliest version of the BR-4."
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 12:59 pm
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| The world NEEDS more salmon-colored guitars! |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 2:27 pm
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Geez, Andy, I always thought you had good taste. For me, the Ultratones are the ultimate in lap steel Art Deco cool. I'm certainly fond of both the salmon-and-coral and the black versions, but my favorite is the later, vaguely Les Paul-style version. I agree with Gerald that the Ultratones in general sound better than they look, but I don't think that applies to the later examples with humbucker pickups. I have a Century (first cousin to an Ultratone) with a mini-humbucker, and it's one great sounding guitar.
By the way, Keoki, the Ultratones were both a '40's and a '50's instrument. The first ones came out in 1947. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 28 Feb 2002 4:51 pm
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| You guys must be suffering from "salmon-ella". The Ultratone wouldn't fit into the art deco category - that's the 30's, Ian, it's post-war modernist if anything. I am a retro design fan in general. I just happen to dig 30's & 40's design better. I suppose Jason could hotwire an Ultratone to sound better so you Salmon fans should jump on the $800 one at Elderly. |
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Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 4 Mar 2002 4:16 am
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| What does the third knob do on these things? |
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Tom Olson
From:
Spokane, WA
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Posted 9 Mar 2002 5:10 pm
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| Man-O-Man! Those things are, like, really Groovy!! Can you dig it Daddy-O? |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2002 6:07 pm
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| Quote: |
| What does the third knob do on these things? |
The 3rd knob is a presence control. I have a black one, '48 or '49, and I have a black Century 10, the 10 string version, from 1950. |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 9 Mar 2002 8:34 pm
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Hi Chas,
Those 10 string Gibsons must be very rare. I have yet to see one. Please post a picture of your 10 stringer.
Roger |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2002 12:01 pm
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| Hi Roger--I sent you an e-mail with the only photo I have of the Century 10; and as you'll see, the quality of the photo is not worth posting. Between 1948 and 1956, Gibson shipped 90 of these guitars, it's very light weight and it 'sizzles'. With the treble turned up, it can clean your teeth. |
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John Gretzinger
From:
Canoga Park, CA
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Posted 13 Mar 2002 12:32 pm
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Hey Chas - want me to bring my digital camera by and take some photos for you (of course that would also give me an excuse to hear you play again as well).
John
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MSA D-10 w/Nashville 400
'63 Gibson Hummingbird
16/15c Hammered Dulcimer
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2002 3:58 pm
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| John, you're welcome anytime, be sure you've had your shots. |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 14 Mar 2002 4:49 am
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I owned an UltraTone ones, just like the one mentioned above on e-bay. I think it was my second steel and at that time I had a big and beautiful Console Grande D-8. I had bought the UT because it cost me less than $100.oo. and I liked how ugly it was.
Well, let me tell you, I regret having sold the CG-8 but I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, kicking my but for selling that UT. It had the best sound I can ever remember any steel had I ever touched! A band member back then baptised it "The Fan" because it would literally blow everything placed in front of the amp away. It was just sooo electric. The CG-8 could never compete with it. I wished I had that little 6 string steel now to investigate what the heck made it go like that... I don´t know if it was just one of a kind... no idea. It just was a "stupid" and ugly and aparently cheaply made little 6 string... The CG had two 8 string necks and that beautiful wood and lacquer, so that was my guitar of choice... but it had No way to compete with that UT in maters of SOUND... UltraTone ? You better believe it!
... J-D. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 14 Mar 2002 7:02 am
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JD: It's nice to see someone speak up so vehemently on behalf of Gibson steels, which tend to get pretty short shrift around here.
I've owned about 10 Gibson-made lap and table steels, and the better ones have been among the best sounding instruments I've ever played. My one Ultratone (the "blue" model) was actually farily mediocre, but I had a BR-4 that was a killer, with a fat, woody sound and great sustain. My favorites, though, have been a 7- and 8- Console Grande, a 7-string EH-150 and the Century I mentioned above. I still own all three of these, and it would take something pretty special to make me part with any of them. I see CG's still selling for five or six hundred dollars. As far as I'm concerned, that's one of the best bargains around. |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 15 Mar 2002 7:24 am
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Ian, thanks! But I hate to feel that I have to tell you that I was not trying to speak up for Gibson... I´m one of those Rick fans that just prefers a guitar made of some early plastic
I was just trying to tell that that UltraTone I once owned, had "it". And that I suspect but do not know for sure, that other UT´s just like the one shown on e-bay may have "it" too.
... J-D. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 15 Mar 2002 8:23 am
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| For what it's worth, JD, I don't presume to "speak up" for Gibson steels, either. In the main, I don't think they compare with Fenders or Rickenbachers, and many sound just plain dull (the Ultratone I mention above fit in that category, frankly). Still, there are many great sounding Gibsons, and as prices attest, I don't think they generally get due respect relative to those other brands. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 15 Mar 2002 8:44 am
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| I have a beat-up EH-150 and truth be told, I reach for it about as often as my mint Bakelite. It just feels and sounds "right". Gibson's quality in their steels was much more inconsistent than their standard guitars but when you find a good one you know it. |
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