The Steel Guitar Forum

There's plenty of cool looking lap steel guitars around, but this may take the cake as the prettiest one I've seen:

Link to Asher lap steel on eBay.

What a beauty!

Hi Bill,

And a pretty price too!

Seriously, it is a beautiful guitar.

Is it overpriced?

Aloha,
Don

Don Kona Woods wrote:Hi Bill,

Is it overpriced?

Aloha,
Don

I'd sure have to hear it first to determine....

Don Kona Woods wrote:Hi Bill,

And a pretty price too!

Seriously, it is a beautiful guitar.

Is it overpriced?

Aloha,
Don

Or put another way, is it 24 times better sounding than a Rondo?

A player here in Norway has its twin, at first I thought it was his that was up for sale. Truly beautiful..

Steinar

Hmmm ... my Longfellows

edit

That is a beauty

Obviously an irrelevant comment by me so withdrawn and left to the 'Pros' to discuss.

Let me guess... All kinds?

No need to feel like you're missing out. Give Bill a call, send him some dough, and you can have one with however many strings you desire.

basilh wrote:

So it's for what kind of music ?

The kind of music the owner wants to play?

Steinar

I would have thought that with a pick-up by Rick Aiello that it would be primarily for Hawaiian Style, especially given the type of pick-up, but then again a piezo mixed with the 'regular' pick-up would be more suited another genre' I think.

To be specific ...

I just made those magnets ... Jason Lollar made the bobbin and marketed them ... to Bill Asher.

Prior to any "Federal Tradmark" accrued by RIC ... .. I might add

But these ... were my "Longfellows" ... which were made to accommodate an 8 string ... ala:

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/004050.html

Cool to see how they were used though ... once I sent them to Jason ... I really didn't know where they went ...

Unless he told me about it ...

Beautiful instrument. Like Basil, I think it would have been nice with more strings.

basilh wrote:Such a pity that it's 6 string.
...

That was my reaction. I wouldn't pay that price for a 6-string lap steel, no matter who had built it.

If you want one like that I could build you one for half the price !

...on the other hand I don't have time to take on any more projects for a while.

I find the idea of equating the value of the guitar with the number of strings a bit silly. Sure, *you* might want more strings, but not everyone does. And top-quality instruments, regardless of the number of strings, command higher prices, for all the usual reasons.

National tricones are 6 stringers and new ones cost around the same price as the Asher. A top quality 6 string reso is easily in the same price range, as are many Weissenborn-style instruments (also 6-stringers).

Number of strings is really a matter of taste and style of music. The original steel guitar was played on 6 string instruments, and today, many, if not most, of the contemporary players who aren't playing the repetoire of yesteryear are playing 6-string instruments.

A few examples of contemporary 6 string players would include David Lindley, Ben Harper, Don Rooke, Ed Gerhardt, Bob Brozman, Jeff Lang, and Steinar Gregertsen.

They could certainly choose to play instruments with more strings, but they don't.

Bill Leff reflects...

Or put another way, is it 24 times better sounding than a Rondo?

If Bill's mathematics (24x's better) are correct and price is related to the quality of sound that would put the price of the Asher at $2640.

The Asher has sold for $2800.

Aloha,
Don

Obviously another irrelevant comment by me.

Sorry guys, there's something here I don't understand; What is actually being discussed?

I have owned three 8-string GeorgeBoards steels, and they were all truly beautiful instruments, but I've always gone back to 6-string - not because I'm too dumb to get my head around 8-string tunings (well, at least that's what I tell myself.. ) but because I feel the 6-string brings out the best in me.

I don't need the ability to play big fat chords on lap steel, if I want that I play them on my guitar. What attracted me to the steel was the singing voice. I also play a lot along the neck as opposed to across it, both on steel and guitar, because that often brings out a more melodic style with less clichés (especially on guitar), and that's something I started doing long before I got into lap steel.
So I just don't feel I need 8 strings, I can do what I want to do on 6 strings.

So then we're back to the matter of style, and that's where I don't understand - or, hopefully, misunderstand - what's being said in this thread. Is one style more "worthy" than another? Do you have to play 8-strings to be a "proper" lap steel player?
I've always claimed that the lap steel is a musical instrument and not a musical style - and to me, the Asher on eBay is one of the most beautiful lap steels I've seen, and from personal experience I know they're of an incredible quality, so saying it's not worth the price because it is a 6-string is something I simply can't understand.

Hopefully I've misunderstood something, or maybe I just need more coffee, but I smell a sort of snobbish elitism here, like the old and outdated "Macs are for pros and PCs are for amateurs" thing..

Steinar

basilh wrote:I also noticed that the ones bill mentioned were not so much in the "Clean Sound Camp".

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.. )

Steinnar

I would still like to hear, or at least hear about how it sounds......how can a determination of value be formed without that?

What good is selection of wood (not you Don), pickups, appointments, name, or anything else...if it falls short on sound?......

Asher Guitars video demo (requires Quicktime).

The Asher demo (the Ben Harper model) is also on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_hnGLR-jY

I think the sound recording on this demo is quite poorly recorded though - sounds like a "line out" recording rather than a fat amp sound. Steinar's music (and indeed "official" demos of the Asher Junior lap steel) displays a much better tone (but it is of course also Steinar playing ).

I'm sure these are great guitars, and the wood etc. look great, but I must say that I don't like the "Weissenborn gone electric" design of the Asher lap steels.

By the way - Steinar has my vote to become a permanent member of the Lap Steel Common Sense Council based on his posts above. Why should there be a rule for what steel is suitable for what music? It's all up to the player and what he/she wants to play. And, "one man's 6-string is another man's 8-string".

Fred

Every Asher I've ever heard sounds incredible, it's the price tag that holds me back. There are lots of good vintage guitars that have a great tone too, I could get a couple of great vintage guitars for the price of one of these. They sure are cool, though!

Soundclips are not necessarily accurate......

I've gone through this experience......I have a guitar that if it sounded the way it was supposed to, it would be worth the price paid......and it is a beautiful guitar meticulasly made.....

When it comes to very high prices, the proof must be in your lap......