The Steel Guitar Forum

How's Amerloha (made by Magnatone?)
How about this oddball: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2507740784&category=2384
And then there's one named Sherwood: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2507639795&category=2384
Oh yes then there's GES (or is it G.E.S.?)

Bowman Steel Guitars made by our very own Bobby Bowman

Bethel

Hey Ian,
On your list you've got Endicote...That should be Endicott. As Herb S. said they were made in SoCal by ol' Rex....JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

I think that brand from Germany is WBS, not WBM.

There used to be a company in Livingston Scotland that made Springfield Steel Guitars.

Thought of two more:

Harmos (made by T. Sage Harmos)

We Need the Money Guitars (made by Rex Blattenberger)

All additions and corrections noted and list duly amended. Thanks to all, and please keep 'em coming. Again, my apologies for some glaring omissions - I obviously screwed up somewhere along the line in transfering my original list a year ago, in the process losing such "minor" items as Carter and Emmons, along with Blue Star and a few others. A special apology to Sage Harmos for neglecting to add the Harmos, merely one of the finest instruments I've had the pleasure to play, and one which I've praised on this site a number of times before.

One item on the list which I've certainly never heard of, and for which I'd like confirmation, is a German brand, Weisenborn. The only Weissenborns I know of are neither European nor electric!
Anyone have any info to offer here?

As for the question of why the list includes only electric steels, R.L., I certainly don't argue with your definition of resophonics (or for that matter, any type of acoustic lap guitar) as a steel, but if anyone's going to take on the compilation of a list of acoustic steel brands, I promise it won't be I. From the '20s through mid-century, an untold number of acoustic guitar makers issued what were advertised as Hawaiian or Hawaiian steel guitars, even if in many cases these were just regular Spanish guitars with an extension nut. If these are to be included on a list of steel guitar brands, the list will run to well over a thousand items, I suspect. Beyond that, where do you draw the line on defining an acoustic steel? A fixed, raised nut? Fixed, raised nut and straight saddle?
Some combination of raised nut, straight saddle, square or hollow neck, resonator or . . .? Nah, I'm not touching this one. It's all yours.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ian McLatchie on 11 February 2003 at 03:09 PM.]</p></FONT>

Unless I'm mistaken, I didn't see the GES, made by George Sell. It was pictured in the Winnie Winston book, and a fine player named Josh Dubin owned one at one time (maybe still does....?)

Tommy... total recall, my man!

I think I have total recoil!

Winnie should comment since he had a GES guitar. I think they were pull-release guitars, like the Sho-Bud permanent or the Marlen.

BTW, I saw Josh a few years ago and all he had was a Zum, and wasn't playing hardly at all. Working for a computer company and being a good husband and father. One of my favorite people of all time.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

You two boys might have total recall or recoil, or whatever, but you ought to read more carefully in the first place. See Max Laine's post above.

There was a pedal steel guitar built in the North Idaho Panhandle area up until at least the '80's (possibly in Sandpoint?), but for the life of me there's no way I can remember the name of it

Uhhh...it wasn't "Domeland", it was Domland.

Herb, Tony Zitnick was a good friend of mine when I was living in
San Diego back in the 70's and 80's. I lost track of him since I've moved to Ohio. Also another very good C6th player out there named Ray Ferguson. Super player on the C6th neck. Sure would like to know where these guys are now. Tony use to bring some of his inventions in to me to try out. I remember one that I kinda got a laugh at with him, and that was a bar with a light on the tip of it. It was a nice novelty thing. Bringing back some good memories....good friends. God Bless them all.