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#1
02-25-2015, 01:43 PM
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Seeking New Weissenborn
I also posted over at the Reso Hangout, but thought I'd toss it out here.
I have recently gotten into Weissenborn lap steel playing. I see it as a good choice as my fingers head toward a likely arthritic state into my later years. If I can hold the steel and pick a little, I can play! Got a nice Lazy River spruce over walnut that I really like. It has a bright, forward tone with a good bit of volume. I'm thinking of acquiring another IF the usual annual bonus comes through. What I'd like to get would be a more rounded, perhaps darker deeper tone (all mahogany? Sapele? Other tone woods?) Not interested in the cheaper imports but also can't afford the high end custom builds (despite their incredible appearance and online recorded tone). Celtic Cross and Lazy River seem to be in my ($) range. Any other makers I should be checking out? Can any of you players shed more light on the tone that different wood combos on Weiss guits give up? It seems like Koa would make an overly bright weissenborn... but perhaps that is just my experience with Spanish style guitars made of Koa. thanks for any info!
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Pogreba Baritone Weissenheimer 'Weissenborn style" (awesome!) Lazy River mahogany weissenborn style Lazy River short scale weissenborn Mainland Tenor Uke 
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#2
02-25-2015, 03:01 PM
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IMO - the answer to your questions are a little complicated, because the design of the instrument and the craftsmanship are just as important as the kind of wood that it's made out of, maybe even more important.
All things being equal, I would expect an all Koa Weissenborn style guitar made by Rance to have a mellow, breathier quality compared to Walnut/Spruce. If you decide to have him build you another guitar I'd recommend having him help guide you through the wood selection process. I'm sure he'll be glad to steer you through the process. There's a reason why the top builders favor all Koa guitars. I think its - overall - the best choice for Weissenborn guitars. One idea for you would be to talk to different builders and get their input on different tone woods. The link below by Dana Bourgeois is one of the best discussions on tonewoods Ive ever seen. Hope this helps! http://bourgeoisguitars.net/wp-conte...uitar-1994.pdf
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#3
02-27-2015, 02:54 AM
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I can't possibly give you an objective answer. I don't yet own a Weissenborn, but two of my three acoustic lap steels, a Martin 0-15 and a Harmony H165, are unbound mahogany. They're exactly what I want to hear and what I want to see in my peripheral vision when I'm playing. So one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life was restraining myself from picking up the phone when I saw this post from Rance on the Steel Guitar Forum.
It's so difficult, feigning responsible adulthood.
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John Pictures of musical instruments are like sculptures of food.
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