Asher Universal Lap Steel Stand question

[Robert Gardner]

I have an Asher universal lap steel stand, and I wonder if anybody can give me some operating advice. I use it with a 50’s Rickenbacker Panda, a 1930 National square neck tricone and a Weissenborn. I have a couple of issues. It works best with the flat-bottomed Panda, but both the tricone and the Weissenborn have slightly arched backs, so I have been putting foam blocks under the supporting arms to try to accommodate that, but this is hardly ideal. I wonder if anybody else has experience with this and how best to address it. The videos and manual are pretty limited.

The second issue, is that the main support bar, into which the legs are threaded, has holes at several different points, and supporting arms of different sizes fitting into these holes to accommodate different guitar sizes and shapes (as is demonstrated in their videos). But it becomes something of a Chinese puzzle to figure out which hole is best with which arm for which guitar. With a lot of trial and error I don’t seem to find the ideal combination, though I am able to make it work. Some holes are threaded to fit the bolts on the arm, some are a different size so the bolt is loose. My sense is that somebody figured this whole thing out and that there is logic and meaning to it, but they forgot to write it down.

This might not make any sense to anybody that doesn’t have one of these, but any help at all would be appreciated. I think its a great product, I just think I have not figured it out.

[Frank James Pracher]

I have a couple of the original Deluxe 34 Universal stands that the Asher is based on... I only use them with my lap steels, but I can see where it would be less than ideal with a rounded back instrument.
The different size threaded holes is a bit of mystery... other than the leg holes I think the brackets all use the same thread, and everything fits snug... perhaps Bill Asher made some changes and there's different hardware on these new ones.
I'm posting a picture I found that shows the stand. This is how I lay the brackets out on just about everything... depending on shape of the steel I'll move things a little, but the basic arrangement is pretty much always the same.
(stand is in the bottom right)

[Jon Light (deceased)]

I seem to recall that the original Deluxe 34 did offer (or custom-create?) bent brackets that supported a guitar at the edges and allowed for a carved body.

Unfortunately I see nothing like this on the Asher site.
https://www.asherguitars.com/collection ... teel-stand

[Jack Hanson]

I seem to recall that the original Deluxe 34 did offer (or custom-create?) bent brackets that supported a guitar at the edges and allowed for a carved body.

Unfortunately I see nothing like this on the Asher site.
https://www.asherguitars.com/collection ... teel-stand

When Mr. Roeder owned company, he made customized body brackets that were arched with a slight radius to fit the back of my tricone, and also a slightly arched bracket for my Bakelite. The brackets only contacted the back of the instruments at the edge of their rims. Perhaps the Asher operation could be persuaded to do likewise.

[Frank James Pracher]

Mark was fantastic to work with. His workmanship and communication were always first rate.

[Mark Eaton]

Robert Gardner I have one of the early units from when Bill first took over the product from Mark Roeder. In fact the one I have was shipped to me from Mark in the Midwest, rather than from Bill’s place in Los Angeles. I only use it for lap steels so I can’t speak to the issues you are having.

You didn’t mention if you have seen this - last summer Bill had a video made regarding assembly and features of the stand. It is on both the Asher website and YouTube, and it might be of help. Here is a link:

https://youtu.be/rImedTQLL9c?feature=shared

[Tom Wolverton]

I love my Deluxe 34 stand. But I have one complaint. The main body is aluminum and has tapped female threaded holes for the legs to screw into. I wish the builder (Asher?) would put steel inserts in for the female threads. I gig a lot with my stand and those female, alu threads are getting pretty chewed up.

[Robert Gardner]

Thanks for the replies. It comes with a total of four brackets, one slotted to adjust and then one much larger than the others for bigger bodies. It works great with a lap steel but I think I am just going to have to adapt it to work with these larger guitars. The basic design is quite good, stable and strong and dismantles into a fairly small package. But all these holes make me think I am missing some secret knowledge the designer had. Thanks again for the advice.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

I'm remembering now that I had Mark make me a bracket for my Ric panda. I'd need to set up stuff that I'm not going to do right now to confirm things but I'll wager that this is that.

[Jack Hanson]

I'm remembering now that I had Mark make me a bracket for my Ric panda. I'd need to set up stuff that I'm not going to do right now to confirm things but I'll wager that this is that.

You'd likely win that wager, since -- aside from those band-aids on the ends -- it's a doppelganger for the one Mark Roeder made for my B6.

In the days before he came out with the "Universal," Mark offered several different widths of both neck and body brackets to fit instruments of various dimensions. The original Deluxe34s had two closed-ended brackets. You had your choice of several available sizes for both neck and body brackets. He would make custom brackets on request.

The Universal has three open brackets, which can be adjusted to fit multiple instruments, as shown in the video posted by Mark Eaton.

I have two set up at home with Mark's custom double-brackets. Like this one:

[Jon Light (deceased)]

-- aside from those band-aids on the ends --

I was alternating between the Ric and a larger body steel (at home, not on a risky bandstand) and I used some non-slip, non-marring material so I could lay the guitar on top and not have to change brackets back & forth.


-- edited to enable smiley

[Robert Gardner]

Boy this is all very useful. I especially like the setup for two guitars. Thanks again for the input.

[Joseph Lazo]

I love my Deluxe 34 stand. But I have one complaint. The main body is aluminum and has tapped female threaded holes for the legs to screw into. I wish the builder (Asher?) would put steel inserts in for the female threads. I gig a lot with my stand and those female, alu threads are getting pretty chewed up.

I don't take mine apart much, but I've wondered if putting a small dab of lithium grease on the threads would help. Mating steel to aluminum is generally a not so good idea.