I'm sure some of you will be interested to know that Duesenberg is finally shipping their new lap steel with multibender equipped bridge and built-in capo. I had a chance to try out one of the first ones and would like to give you all some of my impressions. First, this is a very sharp looking little sled. I prefer a more full body over a slab style lap steel, but this thing is sexy nonetheless. I'm sure many of you have seen the photos of the Pomona on the internet and it definitely holds up in real life. That being said, there is a slight cosmetic difference from the published photos. The fingerboard is no longer made out of metal (aluminum?) but out of a black acrylic material. I actually think this is a better choice because it eliminates the possibility for stage glare which irritated more than a few owners of the new Fender model.
The string spacing seemed a little on the wide side for my taste, that in combination with the full 25.5" scale made certain slants a real challenge. I could get used to it though.
Although I am personally trying to wean myself from using a capo too much, the integrated capo is still pretty cool. It sits on a block beneath the strings and in the normal position acts as a zero fret. Once the threaded wheel is released the capo is loosened and can then be guided down the neck to the desired fret position and retightened via the wheel. The entire construction is held laterally in place by a runner beneath the capo which sits in a channel that runs the length of the fretboard. A clever construction indeed. I was a little disappointed because I expected the operation of the capo to be a little easier, maybe even possible with one hand. Not the case. For me it was still a two handed operation and not really any quicker than the capo that I'm currently using (Beard). In defense of the Duesenberg I will say that I didn't notice any ill tonal effects when using the capo. One major disadvantage with most capos is the drastic change of tone after they're attached. This seems to have been eliminated with the Duesenberg. Not to mention that it's impossible to misplace the capo because it is permanently attached to the guitar.
Many of you are already familiar with the multibender, and there is a copious amount of info here on this forum and elsewhere on the net so I won't get into much detail here. I'll just say that the machine works great and might be the main reason for getting this lap steel. The pedal action is smooth and a piece of cake to set up. It really expands the vocabulary of the lap steel without seeming gimmicky (at least to me). The basic model comes with two levers but can easily be upgraded to taste with other levers.
The electronics are simple but very cool. The Pomona has two Duesenberg designed humbucking pickups that are strongly reminiscent of Gretsch Filtertrons. A three-way pickup selector switch, a master volume and a 70 degree "speed pot" for the tone control (all done in a very cool chromed art-deco styling) round out the control panel. The speed knob is great for the "boowah" effect, (I spent some time annoying a friend at the store with that one
) One strange thing that I noticed was the three way switch seemed to be wired in a strange way. What I mean is, the bridge setting sounded like a bridge setting but the neck and middle position settings seemed to be reversed. Strange. Could be that the neck position was wired parallel or something. Dunno. Anyway the axe sounds great and after about an hour of playing it, I realized I had caught myself a mean case of G.A.S. Demand seems to be pretty high already for this little puppy and I can see why.Martin Huch, the co-designer of the Pomona 6 is a forumite so maybe he'll jump in and give us some background info on this exciting new offering from Duesenberg.
Hope this little review helps any potential buyers.
FB
