Lark in the Morning Weissenborn?

[Ali Lexa]

My friend bought one of these "Superior" brand Weissenborn's from Berkeley music over a year ago. I don't know if this is the same brand that LArk is selling. But these are made in Mexico, and really quite a good deal. I believe he paid around $900. It does sound great. I've had a chance to play it and it blows away most near that price range. I will probably get one myself when I need another.
Here's the link if you're interested:
http://www.berkeleymusic.com/Hawaiian.htm


I have tried the "Gold Tones" and think they sound rather weak.


Also - Lark appears to have one available for $600 on their website: http://larkinthemorning.com/product.asp ... Guitar+_E_

[Mark Mansueto]

I wonder if that "shop worn" weiss for $600 is the one seen hanging on the wall in the pic's from Alan's link on page 1 of this thread? Haaa!

Probably not but I was surprised to see only one in the photo's. My guess is that when the one weiss they have hanging there starts getting tattered they replace it with a fresh one and oft it. I wonder what condition it's actually in? If LITM would reply to requests I might be able to find out.

[Alan Brookes]

My friend bought one of these "Superior" brand Weissenborn's from Berkeley music over a year ago. ...http://www.berkeleymusic.com/Hawaiian.htm

Yes, anyone coming to San Francisco should also check out the Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange. They're within a hundred yards of the Ashby St. BART station (that's Bay Area Rapid Transit), so you can get there from downtown San Francisco very easily. The store is owned by a Greek/Mexican fellow called George Kachakls. He drives down to Mexico about once a year and brings back some amazing instruments. He always has about a dozen Weissenborn-style guitars hanging up. Over the years I've bought many instruments from him, from resonator guitars to trichordias. He also used to repair my daughters' flutes and clarinets.

[Alan Brookes]

Alan,
So how did your weiss turn out? Was it worth the effort? I'm pretty handy but I think building a guitar from scratch would be more than I could handle.

It turned out well. It has a good tone. I would post an audio clip but I haven't yet figured out how to.

In retrospect, I should have built it as an 8-string. Maybe in the summer when I've finished some of my current projects I'll build another one. I've often wondered how a double-coursed Weissenborn would sound.

By the way, did I ever show you the lap steel I designed and built as an experiment ? I built as big a body as I could find the wood for, moved the bridge close to the end, which moved the fingerboard further into the guitar....





Notice how I designed the peghead so that the strings go straight from machine tuner to bridge without bending. The bridge has rollers.

With that enormous body it has a very echo-ey sound.

[Mark Mansueto]

Alan,
your handmade acoustic lap guitars look fantastic. The weissenborn is beautiful and where in the world did you come up with the idea for that large body design? Very impressive.

So BMIE generally have a dozen or so weissenborn's in stock? I wonder what the chances are that I'd like one out of a batch that size? Surely there is build variation. Too bad that I'm not scheduled to come out to SF until fall, I don't know if I can keep playing this converted acoustic that long!

[Alan Brookes]

Mark. I've been building hummels for decades, and over the years I've made all sorts of different shapes and sizes. The zing that the hummel/mountain dulcimer is known for is created by the bridge being at the end of the instrument, and the entire instrument being a sound chamber. In a way, the Weissenborn design owes more to the hummel than the guitar. One of the theories as to the origin of the acoustic Hawaiian guitar is that it developed from the hummel. Both instruments are played from above, and the hummel can be fingered, bowed, or played with a steel....

[Mark Mansueto]

You are very talented, Alan.

Hey, I've got a good idea, why don't you build that 8 string and oft that boring old 6 string weiss?

I'm sure it's tough to give up your hand made treasures but you could go into buiseness.

[Alan Brookes]

...I'm sure it's tough to give up your hand made treasures but you could go into business.

I had been working as an Accountant in Local Government for 15 years when I moved from Birmingham, England, to San Francisco. At that time I decided I had had enough of accounting, and I thought of going full-time as a luthier. Unfortunately reality set in. I rented an apartment on Russian Hill and had to pay the rent.

To start as a luthier you need to rent a workshop, stock up on wood, buy tools and machines, make jigs, then build for next-to-nothing for several years until you've built up a reputation. There are luthiers out there who sell guitars for $30,000, but they probably only build 6 to 8 instruments a year, and they have to buy all the best materials and fixtures. Anyone paying that sort of an amount is going to want only the best. The only way anyone ever became rich as a luthier is to set up a factory like Leo Fender did, and build in bulk.

When I looked around, the only credibility I had was as an accountant, so 27 years later I'm still working as an accountant. In the meantime I've managed to put two daughters through college.

Maybe if I ever figure out a way to retire I could build instruments and sell them for pocket money. Over the years I've accumulated a large number of instruments that I've built or restored, and I've custom built instruments for friends. But I end up giving them away. I'm not much of a merchant !

[Chris Drew]

Alan, that Behemoth acoustic is great! Does it have a name?

I like the look of those Hummels, Alan...
I did a quick google for Hummel-stuff but couldn't find out very much at all.
Do those have sympathetic strings?
I've heard of but never knowingly heard a Hummel before...

Just out of interest, what's the scale-length, tuning & string-gauges of that small one in the middle?

Oh, & Happy New Year to All!
Chris.