The Steel Guitar Forum

Wow! The aluminum precursor to the Gibson EH-150 wooden steels.

http://www.retrofret.com/products.asp?P ... 94&CartID=

PS sorry for the amount of Andy Volk forum saturation this week. I'll shut up now.

Those aluminum Gibsons are pretty cool and a neat piece of history.

Can't speak for anyone else Andy, but I say the more the better. It's the readers choice if they want to skip some posts.

So funny to see this post. I was actually there today and played that steel! Not much point saying it sounded amazing as it really, really did! Not sure I'd say $9000+ amazing, but i guess everything's relative.

As posted previously, Ross Coole in Western Australia went to the trouble of making a replica. I dare say he might do another one if someone would part with $9000.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahGn82nFjvU

My guess is that Gibson, being an established wooden instrument maker, discontinued the aluminium guitars when they saw what they were getting into. The matter of atmospheric temperature was most probably secondary. Rickenbacher was already a metal working business when they began work on the pickup and guitar design.

Well, I hope Retro Fret never finds a buyer. Seeing as that steel is so rare, once it's in private hands shmoes like me will never get a chance to play on one again!

Thanks for posting, Andy. I will post a song tonight played on my 1935 Gibson EHG so the great tone can be heard.

C. E.

My personal opinion ( and no offense ) is that people are really nuts on prices sometimes.....it's still a guitar !

Hi, I'm new around here but just wanted to add a few comments and correct a few things re the Ross Coole aluminium guits. Postings from David Matzenik and Myk Freedman mention the price of $9,000 for one of Ross's guitars. I'm not sure where that figure came from but it's not correct. I'm a steel player (regular guit too!) and friend of Ross, and the approx price of the pan in question is in fact $2,900. Lucky Oceans mentioned this figure in one of his postings here: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ight=coole So when you consider the labour involved and the hand-wound horse-shoe pick up, (not to mention the hand made moulded fibreglass roadcase!) it's incredibly good value! This pan by the way is still in the US, so anyone can reply to Lucky's posting if they wish. Ross sells his EH-150 style guits for approx $2,500 which again is good value considering the work involved inc. hand-wound Charlie Christian style pup. I'll load some pics of one of his finished EH-150 guits. All the best, Dave.

Correction to my previous post. Myk Freedman perhaps mentioned 9K in regards to a vintage guit, so my comment only relates to the posting from David Matzenik re Ross Coole 9K pricing.

Hi David. I didn't say that was Ross's actual price. I was making a sarcastic sideways jibe at RetroFret's price of 9k.

It is interesting that these guitars had a tone control in 1935 but Rickenbacher did not.

Hi David, re-reading your post I can see what you mean. Was a bit confusing at first look linking the 9k price tag with the Ross Coole guits, as he definitely makes these for love not money! I'll post some new, better quality pics of the pans and EH-150's soon. All the best, Dave.

David - I've seen the SGF threads about Ross's frypans. Are you aware of any sound clips of his EH-150? I'd love to hear what that guitar sounds like.

Hi Ralph, I was talking to Ross about this very thing! Some time in the new year I'll go over to Lucky Oceans house (just near me in Fremantle) and I'll record some sound files and some video of him playing one of Ross's EH-150 style guits. There's footage of Lucky playing one of the pans made by Ross, but I'll see if I can hook up a good quality mic next time! I'll upload some better quality still pics soon. Best regards, Dave.

I realize this thread is nearly ten years old but this guitar is still listed. It has new price and has been reduced from 9k to 6k.

https://www.retrofret.com/product.asp?P ... uitar-1935

It's not the same steel. The one in the original post has a rosewood board, this one has ebony.

The serial number was hard to see. Thanks for that. Too good to be true, I guess.