Goldtone Weissenborn and other lap slides

[crocau]

Hi guys,
I have been playing my Big Baby Taylor lap style with a nut raiser all winter long. I did a nice job. I like lap slide guitars, but i dislike the metallic sound of dobros, maybe I listen too much to Harry Manx's CD !

Anyway, does anybody have experiences with the new Goldtone Weissenborn, they look nice. Is there other alternatives for a nice WOODY lap slide ?

Thanks

[mtmikey]

Originally Posted by crocau

Hi guys,
I have been playing my Big Baby Taylor lap style with a nut raiser all winter long. I did a nice job. I like lap slide guitars, but i dislike the metallic sound of dobros, maybe I listen too much to Harry Manx's CD !

Anyway, does anybody have experiences with the new Goldtone Weissenborn, they look nice. Is there other alternatives for a nice WOODY lap slide ?

Thanks

i play a goldtone solid mahogany weissenborn style 3 copy. for the money, it's a fine instrument. i recorded with it on my new record, and you can hear a clip of "between the rains," a tune i did for a friend, by clicking that link right back there. i recently used it mic'd on a tv show appearance, and i was surprised by how nice it sounded, without additional amplification, in a fairly big room. when i use it live i run through a fishman rare earth magnetic pickup to a baggs padi. the only thing i'll likely do at some point is install a new bone nut/saddle. for now it's fine. i use a d'addario flattop eft16 reso set on it, and play mostly in open C (CGCEGC).

in the price range, the only other weissenborn copy that i know of that competes is the k&s/superior brand. the great guitarist ed gerhard, a noted weissenborn player and enthusiast, uses these on the road.

there are other makers, but you're getting into handbuilt territory and the price jumps significantly. bear creek is a well known builder.

i also play a modified (cone upgrade, etc.) regal squareneck dobro. you can hear that on "jerry said" from my first record. i do confess that i wanted a more woody sound, like you, and that's what led me to the weissenborn. at any rate, i just play with flesh and nail, and i think the tone is a little rounder as a result.

hope this helps.

[crocau]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply and for the sound clips, it sounds really good ! I understand the weissenborn isn't very popular in these days (since you were the only one to answer).

I wonder if I could have a good slide guitar by having a luthier raise both the nut and the bridge on a dreadnought. For the same price of the Goldtone, I could have a Taylor 110 with a slide setup. But is this worth it ??

[pshanson]

My understanding he leans towards jumbo Gibson's set up for slide (as mentioned above), although I've also heard he's been using a Martin HD-28 more recently. The point is that you can get pretty good sound (and you might like it!) on a non-specialized (i.e., weissenborn-type) acoustic. It's easy and cheap to set up an acoustic with a nut extender and still be able to go back to conventional (spanish) later. I don't know that the luthier setup makes THAT much difference for starting - sort of like the difference that different saddle material makes on a conventional guitar - different (and probably better), yes, but the overall experience & sound is probably what it seems like you're after at this point. With the nut extender setup, play away and learn what you like and where you would like to go before jumping in and trying to tame the GAS beast. Weissenborns have a voice (+/-) that may not be what you seek - although I like my Bear Creek!
psh

[crocau]

Originally Posted by pshanson

With the nut extender setup, play away and learn what you like and where you would like to go before jumping in and trying to tame the GAS beast. Weissenborns have a voice (+/-) that may not be what you seek - although I like my Bear Creek!
psh

Thanks for the advise, it is probably the best i've received so far. The thing is :
1-I love to play lap slide
2-My Taylor Big Baby isn't appropriate
3-I dislike the metallic sound of dobros, so a weissenborn seemed a solution
4-Weiss are expensive and unversatile and hard to sell if i change my mind

Maybe another Dread with medium strings and lap setup might be the solution... A Taylor 110 maybe ? An affordable and "versatile" solution.

I didn't know Kelly Joe Phelps, this is exactly the style of lap I dig. I bought his dvd on eBay.