The Steel Guitar Forum

At one point Ben Harper played a custom version of something like this made by Maton. Guess they never went into production, so it's cool that Asher's putting these out. The design seems like it'd provide a versatile blend of acoustic and/or electric sounds.

http://www.swer.net/english.guitars.maton.html

Vince

Um, if it has two pickups......why do I only see one?

James Mayer wrote:Um, if it has two pickups......why do I only see one?

Some Asher lap steels have an additional undersaddle pickup, and by the looks of the acoustic guitar-style bridge, this is probably the case here.

Fred

HowardR wrote:Soundclips are not necessarily accurate......

Yeah, that's right, the only thing that's 100% sure about them is that they'll show how the instrument can sound, not necessarily how it will sound in your own living room.. So it shows the potential and at best the general character of the sound, that's all.

On the demos I have recorded for Lap King, Asher and Lazy River I've tried to present everything as 'flat' as possible, not doing any EQing in the mix. But still there's several factors at play, like amp setting (or POD in my case), mic placement and type of mic used.
On overdriven cuts it's even more impossible to give a good general presentation,- it will only show how it sounded when I recorded the guitar on my specific equipment.

Steinar

Bill Leff wrote:I find the idea of equating the value of the guitar with the number of strings a bit silly....

Yes, so do I. The reason I said it was a shame it wasn't 8 string is because I find I need 8 strings with C6 tuning.

Basil - Brozman, Gerhardt and Lang plays acoustic excluively, it doesn't get much cleaner than that. And in Brozman's case, he's definitely into the traditional Hawaiian style and plays lots of harmonized lines involving some pretty tricky slants, not just "blues/slide oriented" (which I'm fully aware can be said about my playing, I'm not offended if anybody says so, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.. )

When I’ve nothing better to do I browse around the forum, on this occasion I came across this thread, everything was O.K., everyone having their usual say, until I got to the quote above.
I will admit I do not know of Gerhardt or Lang, but how anyone can say it doesn’t get much cleaner than Brozman, and that he plays traditional Hawaiian style, must have some kind of hearing problem.
I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I’ve never heard any Hawaiian or Hawaiian guitar player sound like that and certainly would not wish to. If that was what Hawaiian music had sounded like, I would never have bothered to listen to or play Hawaiian music and I’m sure neither would my father, or Basil and many other players I know of.

Uh....... Thanks for your concern regarding my hearing. It's fairly okay after 36 years of playing, thank you.
Brozman plays many styles, and I don't know what context you have heard him in, but here's his bio in regard to Hawaiian music:

"Bob Brozman in Hawaii

Bob Brozman's interest in Hawaiian music started way back in 1974, when he started finding 1920s Hawaiian 78rpm recordings and realizing that this music carries the same emotional depth and range and old blues music. Though a guitarist since 1960, Bob took up lap-style steel playing in 1974, immersing himself in the vintage sounds of artists like Sol Hoopii, Benny Nawahi, etc. At that time, the acoustic steel guitar was extinct, with nobody left playing it, since the electric steel replaced it in the late 1930s. Bob determined to create a revival of this instrument, is now considered internationally to be the best living acoustic steel player, and has been gratified to see that numerous musicians have since started playing steel.

In 1976, Bob stumbled upon the only known 78rpm records from 1929 of Tau Moe, a musician who left Hawaii on tour in 1928 and who, with his family, continued to tour continuously worldwide for the next 57 years! The original records were credited to the manager "Mme. Riviere," so the musicians names on these records was unknown - until one day in 1986, when Bob received a letter from Tau Moe, looking for some of Bob's music. An ensuing conversation revealed, amazingly, that Tau was the steel player on those records, and his wife Rose was the singer. Her voice over the phone had not changed at all! In fact, Tau's musical memory was totally intact at age 80, and Bob was thus inspired to recreate the original 1929 recording sessions to preserve this pure ethnic music. So it was agreed that Bob and Tau's family should record HO'OMANA'O I NA MELE O KA WA U'I (REMEMBERING THE SONGS OF OUR YOUTH), in a small wooden house in Hawaii in 1988. The record was released on Rounder to great acclaim as a classic. This was Bob's first collaborative project, leading to the type of projects he is involved with since.

On that visit to Hawaii, Bob had a chance to jam with Ledward Kaapana, perhaps the greatest living slack-key guitarist in the world. This took place in a little "Hawaiians only" nightclub. Led was surprised to see a mainlander playing in such an old authentic style, and the jam went for an hour, with the two musicians egging each other on to greater heights. Years later, in 1996, Dancing Cat Records invited Bob to join Led in the studio, for one of the first ever slack key/steel guitar duets. Slack key and steel guitar, as musical traditions in Hawaii, shared the same repertoire from 1880 to 1960, yet stayed separate because steel guitar became a worldwide performance phenomenon during that period, while slack key "stayed home on the farm." As local Hawaiians in the 1970s became disenchanted with steel when it became too commercial, they developed an interest in reviving slack key as a legitimate world guitar music. Dancing Cat Records has done a lot to legitimize and promote this music, with their many fine releases. The first duet recordings with Bob and Led, done without any rehearsal - just mutual respect and attention - were released in 1996 as KIKA KILA MEETS KI HO'ALU, climbing to #11 on Billboard's World Music charts. Bob and Led have toured together extensively since then, and recently released IN THE SADDLE, which is a very different sounding record reflecting the nearly telepathic musical communication developed from all the shows. Bob's own slack key playing was also first recorded on this project.

In between those projects, Bob had the opportunity to meet and jam with Cyril Pahinui who with Led, represents the two leading families of slack key style. Cyril's unique Latin-influenced rhythmic style brought out new sounds and rhythms in Bob's steel work, and their duet project FOUR HANDS SWEET AND HOT, was released in 1999 on Dancing Cat, and also reached a similar position on the charts. Some of the new instruments developed by Bob were employed on this record for the first time, a short-scale high tuned Bear Creek Kona Hawaiian guitar, and the Santa Cruz Guitar Company Brozman Baritone guitar. These instruments extended the lower and higher ranges of musical pitch, yielding a more orchestral sound range.

Recently, Bob has also been touring and recording with George Kahumoku, the third man in the reigning trinity of slack key artists. George's relaxed style, rippling 12-string guitar, and powerful sense of aloha permeates the music, and plans for release are moving forward. In June 2004, Bob taught at George Kahumoku’s Slack Key Workshop, a week long-residence on Maui, with ALL the great slack key players and teachers in attendance. It was great to see all the young people who are carrying the uke and slack key guitar forward. Bob will be back teaching at George Kahumoku's Hawaiian Slack Key and Steel Guitar workshop on Maui in June 2006."

Copied from Brozman's website

Whether you like his somewhat intense and 'up front' playing style is another matter, not everybody does, but I think it's fair to say that his work with Hawaiian music and musicians is based on mutual respect.

Steinar
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Steinar: Your English is so fluent. Over the years I've corresponded with so many people from so many places in so many languages, but I've never before come across someone whose birth language is not English, who speaks English as fluently as you do. From your written English I cannot tell that your birth language is not English.
Amazing.

Alan Brookes wrote:From your written English I cannot tell that your birth language is not English.
Amazing.

Thanks Alan! I guess it's fairly okay considering I haven't gone to school since I was 15..
I learned from reading New Musical Express and other British music magazines, listening a lot to radio stations like Radio Lux, Radio Caroline, etc, plus music and TV of course..


Steinar

In my newbie humble opinion, I think Steinar covers a lot of bases with his quote: Play to express,not to impress. That one quote made a huge impact on my vision of learning to play 6-string lap steel!!!!!!!!!

This is what I want to know: how good is the Electro Hawaiian Junior--the only Asher steel I'm ever going to afford? Does it sound as good as the more expensive, and much more beautiful models?

I would not be here if it wasn't for Bob Brozman's Hawaiian music. I was introduced in 1982.

The Asher is a pretty guitar. I respect it for its apparent build quality; though I've never played one. Looks like somebody put some work into it, invested in higher quality materials, and was not afraid to be a a bit stylistic. Somebody's going to be happy with their new instrument and that's good enough for me.

Pat,

Next time you have "nothing better to do", check out Bob Brozman's Hawaiian Steel Guitar instruction DVD. He may not play in slick, laid back electric Hawaiian style but he certainly can play the "hot" acoustic styles of Sol Ho'opi'i, King Benny Nawahi, etc. These players were Hawaiian. And if you're talking about tradition, the electric guitar was introduced in the early 1930s, whereas the above mentioned players started releasing records played on acoustic instruments in the mid 1920s.

And why be insulting towards others?

Fred

Stay on topic, please. If you want to start a new topic, please do so.

Regarding the Asher Electro Hawaiian Junior - I played one for a while at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, and I thought very seriously about buying one myself. I may still do so.

They are very well made, and the two pickups give a wide range of tones. I liked it better than the Asher Electro Hawaiian they also had in the store. That may be due to that specific guitar more than the entire line.

David Simenson wrote:This is what I want to know: how good is the Electro Hawaiian Junior

I'm very happy with mine, it's well made, finish is good, tuners are stable and pickups are good - to sum it up; I would never have guessed it's an import. The sound is more focused and 'solid' than the more expensive EHs, no big surprise there since it's a solid chunk of mahogany.

Two things - I recommend replacing the pots and cap, I replaced mine with an upgrade kit and it gave the guitar more presence, 'opening up' the sound. I've done this to all my electric instruments, and the effect goes from "wow!" to "hmmm, yeah, that's nice"..
The other thing is that the bridge is a stop tailpiece so it has a slight curve. Doesn't bother me at all, but some may find it to be a problem.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with one, it's a pretty safe buy.

Steinar

Can you demo these at Bill's place?