The Steel Guitar Forum

I have one of those Tupperware guitars

And Mike....what a fantastic, beautiful "Tupperware" steel guitar you have my friend. Both in apperance, and sound.

You see that awful black sawdust.....

...that's what you get when you saw ebony. It gets in everywhere, and if you're not careful you breath it in.
But this is just a small cut of fingerboard material. Imagine making an entire instrument from it. You have to wear a mask and continually vacuum. The wood is so brittle that in order to avoid shattering it you have to cover it in masking tape (as in the photo) and clamp it to a piece of softer wood (as in the photo).

Awful stuff to work with!

MSA did make a steel out of steel at one time. It was a trainer model with 3 and 1. The volume pot was mounted in the body of the guitar and there was a volume pedal and rod that you connected to it. I played one at a music store in Roselle IL in 1978 and the tone quality of the guitar was akin to an empty 1-gallon can with strings. . .it was horrible. The body looked like an upside-down bread pan covered with black vinyl. No matter how you changed amp settings, it still sounded like a tin can.
PRR

Re: ebony for a steel, for all its inherent density and linear strength, it is extremely brittle and prone to splitting around screw holes, etc. Rock hard maple (notice I didn't say birdseye) is still the best material for a wood-bodied steel IMO.
PRR

Paul Redmond wrote:Rock hard maple (notice I didn't say birdseye) is still the best material for a wood-bodied steel IMO.
PRR

I agree. It's also the best material for hammer dulcimer and harp tuning areas. It grips tuning pins well and you can drill holes close together without it splitting.
With hand tools it takes a lot of effort to saw, drill and file.

This guitar was built by a man from Oklahoma whose last name was Rose. It was probably built in the 1970's, It is quality construction, all ebony bodied, is heavy, and has really good tone. it was a real feat to build something of this precision. Mr Rose is a real craftsman.

To repeat my earlier question, what about Rosewood or Mahogany?

The best sounding (IMO) 6 string guitar in my collection is this Japanese LP copy that is carved from a single piece of mahogany.