| Author |
Topic: Weissenborn Guitars |
Ed Boyd
From:
Illinois, USA
|
Posted 29 Mar 2018 9:16 pm |
|
I've been listening to a lot of music played on Weissenborn guitars. I love the sound of these guitars. They have an unique sound.
I heard they are designed around a D slack tuning and they don't take well to higher tension tunings like GBDGBD due to scale ad construction style. I'm just guess if you lightening string gauges they would lose the signature sound..... but I don't know. |
|
|
|
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 1:19 am
|
|
Many people like Weissenborns in D and G tunings but you can use any tuning on them if you pay proper attention to string gauges and the age of the instrument. Modern instruments are braced for higher tunings but vintage instruments may be too delicate for higher tension strings. Newtone Aloha strings are designed for good tone at lower tension but I'ver also had fine results with Asher strings. Here's Bill Asher's advice for tuning a Weissenborn in C6th.
Bill Asher String Gauge Advice
For new Master builds C6
C E G A C E
.039, .032, .026, .022, .018, .013
For vintage acoustic Weissenborn type guitars use this lighter adjusted set.
C E G A C E
.036, .029, .024, .019, .016, .011
*NOTE always use a wound third string for slide guitar sets.
-----------------------------------------------------
And as a primer on all things Weissenborn, here's the text of the 2010 article I wrote for Acoustic Guitar Magazine. The prices/availability section has changed a bit since the article first ran.
| Quote: |
Taking inspiration from such prominent lap-slide guitarists as Bob Brozman, Ed Gerhard, Ben Harper, and David Lindley, more and more guitarists are adding the unique tone and gossamer sustain of an acoustic Weissenborn-style lap-steel guitar to their musical arsenals. Lap-style guitars first emerged in Hawaii in the 1880s, where players raised the action of their standard guitars, laid them flat on their laps, and learned to play melodies with a metal bar sliding along the strings. The yearlong Panama Pacific Exposition (held in San Francisco in 1915) introduced mainland America to Hawaiian-style playing and ignited a 30-year fad for island music.
Although he was not the first to build a flattop guitar specifically designed for lap playing, Los Angeles, California, luthier Hermann Weissenborn refined the concept in the 1920s. His unique integration of a hollow neck with an elongated body yielded responsiveness, sustain, and a glossy, shimmering tone that many aficionados describe in almost metaphysical terms, and original Weissenborns now command eye-opening prices.
Original Weissenborns were lightly built using Hawaiian koa for the entire body. They have unscalloped, X-braced tops; wooden fret markers inlaid flush with the fingerboard; hide glue construction; and shellac finishes. The guitars came in four styles of increasing ornamentation from the plain Style 1 to the Style 4, whose ornate “rope†binding (constructed from alternating light and dark diagonal strips of wood) became a signature of the instrument. The enduring popularity of Weissenborn’s design, and the high price of vintage specimens, has resulted in quite a few contemporary luthiers either copying or expanding on the basic concept. Let’s take a look at what’s available.
OFF THE RACK
If you’re on a budget or unsure exactly how deep you want to wade into acoustic lap-steel waters, several companies offer very affordable Weissenborn-style guitars. For example, George Boards imports two models built in China: an all-laminate model ($399.99) and a solid mahogany model ($599.99). The guitars come with a 24.75-inch scale (original Weissenborns varied from about 24.75 inches to 25 inches), closed-back tuners, and even optional electronics.
Gold Tone offers three budget-minded models: a laminate mahogany version (LM, $699), a solid mahogany model (SM, $899) and a solid Australian blackwood version (Style 4) similar to Weissenborn’s original Style 4 specifications ($1,519). Gold Tone options include a soundhole pickup with an extended bar magnet capable of picking up the wider string spacing of Weissenborn-style guitars.
Superior’s Hawaiian-style guitars, built by luthiers in the mountain village of Paracho, Mexico, and imported by Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange, are another lower cost option. Superior offers a spruce top model with palo escrito rosewood back and sides ($1,100) and a mahogany model with a Canadian cedar top ($1,025). Rope binding and an abalone rosette are available as options on both models.
CUSTOM-MADE LAP GUITARS
Since the original’s body shape, hollow neck and aesthetics are a large part of the Weissenborn sound, contemporary lap-slide guitar builders typically offer a more limited range of variations and options than those available for standard guitars. Hawaiian koa is far and away the most popular tonewood for tops and bodies (in varying levels of figure and cost) followed by mahogany and rosewood, although other woods are often available. Custom lap-slide guitars typically include a scale length of around 25 inches, a bone nut, an aluminum or bone saddle, the choice of dot or Weissenborn Style-4 geometric position marker inlays, and a satin lacquer, gloss nitrocellulose, or (like the originals) shellac finish.
The salient aesthetic option unique to these instruments is the iconic rope binding. Some players love it, and some don’t, so most builders offer rope binding alternatives ranging from rosewood to abalone. Like many standard-guitar builders, Weissenborn-style luthiers are usually willing to discuss adding a unique inlay scheme to personalize an instrument. Lazy River Guitars (whose prices start at $1,500), for example, offers to inlay a customer’s initials for $30 per letter.
Luthiers Bill Hardin of Bear Creek Guitars, Bill Asher, and Tony Francis (whose instruments start in the $2,200–$2,800 range) are among several custom builders whose passion for unraveling the secrets of the original Weissenborns has enabled them to build very accurate reproductions both in terms of construction and tone. Asher developed his line of hollow-necks via meticulous study of a 1928 Style-1 owned by Ben Harper, while Hardin enjoyed access to Bob Brozman’s collection of Weissenborns. Francis has also spent many hours measuring vintage instruments in an effort to create a flawless copy.
Several builders make guitars that bow to tradition while breaking new ground. Instruments developed by the Breedlove Guitar Co. and luthier Jayson Bowerman for fingerstylist Ed Gerhard can be ordered with the option of partial standard guitar–type frets to allow fretted bass notes in additional to slide techniques. Breedlove offers the guitar as its Acoustic Lap Steel (starting at $2669.00 (for mahogany), and Bowerman, who now works independently, builds a similar guitar called the Weissenborn (starting at $3440). New Zealand luthier Paddy Burgin offers Weissenborn-style guitars (starting at $2,440) made of Tasmanian blackwood, walnut, or sapele that feature a deeper body and internal bracing designed to deliver greater volume and consistency throughout the guitar’s range.
Others find inspiration beyond the rarified world of Weissenborn. Joseph Yanuziello’s guitars (which start at $6,200) are informed as much by the sound of Martin flattops as by Weissenborn’s Hawaiian guitars while Michael Dunn’s hollownecks (Starting at $3800) reflect the originals reimagined through a fine arts lens. Cole Clark’s Violap ($3,020) uses the Weissenborn body shape and hollow neck (tweaked with f-holes and a choice of piezo and magnetic pickups) to enter electric lap-steel territory.
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Eighty years after their heyday, Weissenborn-style guitars are hipper than ever and guitarists have a wide range of choices across the price spectrum. Like standard guitars, higher end Weissenborns will get you closer to the slide guitar tonal Nirvana that’s the hallmark of the hollow-neck design. There’s never been a better time to put bar to string and discover for yourself, the magic of lap-style guitar playing.
Andy Volk (volkmedia.com) is the author of Slide Rules: Tunings for Lap Steel, Bottleneck, Resophonic, and Indian Slide Guitar.
SIDEBAR: Contemporary Makers of Weissenborn-Style Guitars
Asher Guitars: asherguitars.com
Bear Creek Guitars: bcguitar.com
Bowerman Guitars: bowermanguitars.com
Breedlove Guitars: breedlovemusic.com
Burgin Guitars: burginguitars.co.nz
Michael Dunn: michaeldunnguitars.com
Cole Clark: coleclark-america.com
Tony Francis Instruments: tonyfrancisinstruments.com
George Boards: steelguitarcamp.com
Gold Tone: goldtone.com
Lazy River Guitars: lazyriverguitars
Superior: berkeleymusic.com
Yanuziello Stringed Instruments: yanuziello.com |
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Last edited by Andy Volk on 30 Mar 2018 5:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Brad Davis
From:
Texas, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 5:17 am
|
|
To me, if you do a high G tuning, yes the guitar will still sound like itself, but it probably won't sound like the recordings you are hearing. D tuning is where a lot of it is at to get "that" sound. And coming from a background in high G it's not really very hard to adapt. You get a root on top above your usual 5th, and there is a fun power chord on the bottom. I tried high G early on just to quickly start playing the instrument, but decided I really enjoyed the instrument more in D.
And Mr. Volk here has an excellent book on open D.  |
|
|
|
Ed Boyd
From:
Illinois, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 7:15 am
|
|
| Thanks a lot guys. They have of their own. I'm find the sound relaxing. |
|
|
|
Joe Breeden
From:
Virginia, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 7:24 am
|
|
| How would tuning to open F work? Just wondering. Joe |
|
|
|
Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 7:29 am
|
|
| I tune mine to an A, high bass, tuning with no problem. |
|
|
|
Orville Johnson
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 11:48 am
|
|
I was unaware that Weissenborn made regular guitars as well. I was doing a session yesterday and one of the players had a small, not quite parlor size guitar that was made by them. It clearly had the H. Weissenborn stamp and was made of the same type of koa I've seen in the Hawaiian guitars.
Anybody else ever seen one? |
|
|
|
Brad Davis
From:
Texas, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 12:50 pm
|
|
| Assuming you don't mean Kona guitars, there were also Weissenborn ukeleles and apparently a small number of conventional guitars that looked like Martin "O" bodies, possibly made in the mid-20s. I've only seen pictures of them. |
|
|
|
Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 1:02 pm
|
|
I just acquired a new one...a luthier in Hood River, OR, just restored a late-1920s Weissenborn for a customer that had been sat on - so he got to see the inside, in detail, and really scope out what was there.
He used black acacia for back and sides (like mainland version of koa) and wood from a 1,200 year old Douglas Fir for the top...plus handmade rope binding (beech and walnut)..it has that shimmery, resonant tone for sure! A whole different animal from the cheaper one I had before...And was a LOT less money than the big names...I'm real happy with it. I tune it to open-G (DGDGBD, lo-to-hi), so it is pretty much like my dobro, but still has that great range of low notes up to high ones...
(FYI, he is Ben Bonham, bensound@gorge.net, (541) 490-5447‬)
_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
|
|
|
Orville Johnson
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 1:59 pm
|
|
| Brad Davis wrote: |
| Assuming you don't mean Kona guitars, there were also Weissenborn ukeleles and apparently a small number of conventional guitars that looked like Martin "O" bodies, possibly made in the mid-20s. I've only seen pictures of them. |
Yes, the one I saw and played resembled a single 0 style guitar. Unique sound and it recorded very nicely. |
|
|
|
Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
|
Posted 30 Mar 2018 4:40 pm Slight hijack
|
|
Roundneck Weissenborns: I've seen a bunch--two dozen or so?--relative to that tiny universe and I have three (one got away a few years back).
Here's one I found on Reverb last year:
https://reverb.com/item/5722121-27-h-weissenborn-koa-parlor-guitar
I thought I was holding out for a black-bound Style B (as W. Hawaiian styles go 1/2/3/4, Spanish models are A/B/C/D), but couldn't resist this one in white. It came from the widow of the owner of a store I used to frequent in Bakersfield. It was one of his personal favorite instruments. While I knew the store had closed, I'd never seen this guitar, I didn't know he had later passed away from lung cancer--or even that he smoked. So the guitar was a bittersweet discovery.
If you have your ca. 1993 ACOUSTIC GUITAR back issues (Paul Simon on the cover), another of mine is the Great Acoustic for that issue--Style D, rope all over.
These are more or less equivalent in size to Martin 12-fret O's (deeper, I think) and they're pretty terrific sounding--especially that B above. W. Spanish and Konas are more or less the same dimensions, apart from the body extension for the shorter neck on the Konas.
Many Weissenborn etc. stories to tell, but to get this thread back on track, I've always gone with mediums (maybe goosing the unwound strings up .001 each) for DADF#AD or DGDGBD. My take is that Weissenborns aren't Dobros, they're not built like Dobros or tricones and they shouldn't be subjected to the strain of .062-.018s and GBDGBD--and Heaven forfend, Bashful Brother Oswald's and many Hawaiian players' high-A tuning of yore. You lose the delicate sinuous silky sound--and maybe the bridge or the entire guitar top. |
|
|
|
Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
|
Posted 31 Mar 2018 4:53 am
|
|
Hi Ed, I have a couple of modern Weissenborns. A Goldtone Style 4 and a Bear Creek MK. They are both Strung with Bronze type strings - gauges .056,040,035,026,018 and 014. My main tuning is EBDGBD low to high. I have used this tuning extensively on both guitars but since I acquired the Bear Creek I leave the Goldtone tuned to DADF#AD and the Bear Creek in EBDGBD.
I have never tuned the low string all the way up to G and do not think I ever would with the .056 string. However I would with a suitable lighter string.
Although not answering your question directly I hope this answer will help. |
|
|
|
Ed Boyd
From:
Illinois, USA
|
Posted 31 Mar 2018 4:39 pm
|
|
| Rope binding on these guitars is gorgeous. |
|
|
|
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 1 Apr 2018 2:38 am
|
|
I use Asher Acoustic Hawaiians on my Bear Creek Koa and Asher Deep-Body Hawaiian: .014p .017p .028w .036w .046w .058w. With these I can easily tune with the same set to: Open D, Dmaj7, D6, D7, DADGAD, Open G, Gm, Gadd9, G/Em7.
Not much of a fan of the rope binding. My Bear Creek was the first one Bill made with rosewood binding back in 1997. Here's the Asher.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Last edited by Andy Volk on 12 Aug 2018 6:30 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
|
Posted 1 Aug 2018 5:43 am
|
|
| I’m just starting to dip my toe into these waters. Found a solid mahogany top Luna for a few benjamins, and now experimenting with string gauges and tunings. My Basil bar sounds glorious on the acoustic |
|
|
|
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 1 Aug 2018 10:29 am
|
|
Welcome to the world of Weiss, Miles! They're fabulous instruments.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
|
|
|
Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
|
Posted 1 Aug 2018 10:39 am
|
|
I picked up a deep bodied Imperial Weissenborn a while back:
 |
|
|
|
Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
|
Posted 1 Aug 2018 1:53 pm
|
|
| Andy Volk wrote: |
| Welcome to the world of Weiss, Miles! They're fabulous instruments. |
Yeah, there's another tuning I gotta learn! |
|
|
|
Jim Mathis
From:
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
|
Posted 7 Aug 2018 2:16 pm
|
|
Erv, how do you like that Imperial? They look pretty reasonable.
_________________
Jim@MathisPhoto.net |
|
|
|
Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
|
Posted 7 Aug 2018 7:51 pm
|
|
With modern instruments I've found it's important to pay attention to 1) the manufacturer's recommendations regarding maximum string tension and 2) the precise tension of the strings you use based on gage, tuning and scale length. I've done way too many repairs on instruments damaged by owners just throwing on a set of resonator strings and tuning up to GBDGBD.
I don't use that tuning on any of my hollow neck guitars (A Weissenborn Style 2, Hilo 625 and a couple unique Schiresons). The Weissenborn and Hilo stay in open D with Newtone strings - the Schiresons are a bit more fragile and are tuned down another half-step.
As Andy said string type is critical. Not all Bronze-and-plain sets...even if the same gage...have the same tension. The diameter and shape of the core winding along with the alloy is a huge factor.
Last note - keep a humidifier in the case, or if the instrument(s) is/are left out keep the rooms humidified. Dry instruments, especially lightly built ones, can blow apart, warp, crack....
The real thing - My 1920's Weissenborn Style 2:
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
|
|
|
John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
|
Posted 7 Aug 2018 8:19 pm
|
|
Too much eye candy, I can't stand it!! 
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
|
|
|
Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
|
Posted 8 Aug 2018 7:37 am
|
|
Jim,
The Imperial suits my fancy just fine and serves the purpose.
I also have a Superior Weissenborn from Berkeley Music and I like that one also.
Erv |
|
|
|
Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
|
Posted 14 Aug 2018 9:56 am
|
|
| I installed a Baggs M1 passive pickup, and I am getting ready to gig with the"Lunaweiss" for the first time on Friday. Will I chicken out and bring the Stringmaster D8 as well? Maybe.... |
|
|
|
Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
|
Posted 14 Aug 2018 11:22 am
|
|
Miles- Check the output from the Baggs...it is made for a round neck low string action...I played it on my Weissenborn into a DI with an input level gauge (Baggs Venue DI), and needed to shim the pickup and crank the screws (except the two plain strings) out to get a good level...you don't need ever to pin the meter (in fact, on the Venue, Baggs told me that keeping the level below that is much better), but it should at least register...
You also can use the input level gauge to level the output from the various strings, which were highly uneven.
My Weissenborn has slightly higher-than-normal strings (see above pictures of it), so you may not need much of a shim, but leveling the outputs is still worth it...
Getting a good level will help your signal-to-noise ratio and get you a cleaner signal. But, you don't need - or want - the pickup to be too close to the strings, because you want the signal from the lower, mechanically-sensitive part of the pickup to compete well with the upper pure magnetic pickup, to get a more acoustic-sounding tone. It is a balancing act...
The Venue DI is relatively expensive compared to a standard Baggs DI, but I really like having the tuner, input level gauge, and more flexible EQ on one unit. Plus, when playing the Weissenborn, I use the Boost function for solos, because I don't want to just play harder to get louder - I think the Weissie likes more relaxed playing, compared to my tricone, which I just dig into for solos...
_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
|
|
|
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
|
Posted 14 Aug 2018 11:55 am
|
|
Be cautious buying cheap Chinese Weissenborns. Inspect carefully, many are built from original plans and the bracing was, and is inadequate. Under normal tension, the lower bout will bulge around the bridge.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
|
|
|
