The Steel Guitar Forum

I was looking at the list of lap steel makers on Brad Bechtel's web page today, and noticed under the Asher heading that he may be coming out with a lower-priced version of the Electro Hawaiian lap steel (the semi-hollow ones originally made for Ben Harper) called the Electro Hawaiian Jr. I was wondering, Brad, or anybody, have you seen one of these or have some idea of the specs and price range? These are very cool guitars but the original model is well out of my price range.

I bought a 7 string Gibson EH185 on ebay and arranged to pick up the instrument in person. Low and behold, the seller turned out to be Bill Asher. Very nice gentleman. His Mom was Elizabeth Montgomery the actress on Bewitched. Anyway, he gave me the opportunity to sample a couple of his high end laps. Absolutely stunning in sound and construction. An affordable Asher steel would be a very welcome item.

I spoke to Bill Asher a few weeks ago and he mentioned this. I'd suggest calling him. I believe his number is posted on his website guitartraditions.com

No, I haven't had the opportunity to test drive one of these puppies.

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

I thought some people might be interested - I got the specs on the Electro Hawaiian Jr. from Bill Asher's shop. These are solid body instruments that come standard with a single humbucker pickup with a coil tap switch. They also emailed me photos, and they look like high quality instruments at a decent price.


model: Electro Hawaiian Junior
special details: at half the price of the Electro HawaiianTM Model I, the Junior offers quality
tone woods and the same solid craftsmanship embodied in a more simple design.
color: natural oil, gloss lacquer cherry, tobacco burst, candy apple red, black, white
or lake placid blue
style: lap steel
scale length: 25 inches
neck & body: neck through solid Honduras mahogany (1 piece available, $80 up charge)
pickups: one Duncan or DiMarzio 59 model humbucker, bridge position
pickup switching: series-split-parallel mini toggle
controls: master volume and master tone
string spacing: nut: 1 7/8 inches, bridge: 2 3/8 inches
fretboard: Madagascar rosewood
bridge: Madagascar rosewood
saddle: brass
nut: ebony
finish: hand-rubbed oil finish (gloss lacquer available, $200 up charge)
case: gig bag (custom hard shell available, $225)
number of frets: 24
machine heads: Goto Waverly style
recommended strings: D'Addario custom set .014-.059
price: $900 - natural oil finish
$300 up charge for high gloss colors
$200 up charge for Junior Deluxe with double pickup configuration
price includes high quality gig bag

McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica had two the other day. One done in candy apple red with the Asher looking pickup, and a satin finished mahogany one with a standard humbucker. The looked pretty nice and I believe they were priced at $1200 and $1000 respectively, with "no discount" marked on the tag. I didn't plug in though.
DD

Forget the danged guitar!....Elizabeth Montgomery? Samantha?......"I'm in Heaven"....

Me too ... she was wonderful.

My first "crush" ...

I still have a TV Guide cover ... framed ... from when I was a kid.

Packed away somewhere ... but safe.

So this is the origin of my new Asher guitar?




Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 15 August 2004 at 04:33 AM.]</p></FONT>

Don't get me started ...



This is the TV Guide Cover....



Steinar, you said you never saw the show ...

You gotta get the DVDs (scheduled for release in 2005 in conjunction with the new movie) ... to go with your guitar

Nicole Kidman is gonna be "Sam" ... she's no Elizabeth Montgomery !!!!<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 15 August 2004 at 09:04 AM.]</p></FONT>

You've got that right, Rick! No matter how silly the show got, EM's charm and, ahem, "appeal", carried it all right along. Bill is a really nice guy who's absolutely dedicated to his craft. He's spent tons of time tweaking his Hawaiian steels for optimum performance. Greg Leisz has a few and Cindy Cashdollar is another recent proud Asher owner.

Me too (another proud owner!).

You guys are just too mean!

She's reason enough for me to order an Asher Ben Harper.

(and just to think she was paired up with that idiot Darren!)

Yeah ... both of them were Dicks

<font size=1> Dick York and Dick Sargent</font><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 15 August 2004 at 12:57 PM.]</p></FONT>

Okay, now I'm curious... I understand that I really have to catch up with this "Bewitched" thing...
(I still can't comprehend that one of those kids in the pic I posted has built my new guitar though....)


Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Well, Elizabeth Montgomery was OK, but what about that Agnes Moorehead? Now there was a woman!



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Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.

Speakin of ...





I seem to recall an episode where Arthur was playin' a Frypan at a luau ...

He was HILARIOUS ... undoubtedly the "second" star of the show ...

<font size=1> Just tryin' to keep this on topic</font>

Have any of the Asher's been made in 8 stringers? or are they all 6?

Great Cast!

BTW, was there ever an episode of Sam going over to the dark side?

<SMALL>BTW, was there ever an episode of Sam going over to the dark side?</SMALL>

Nope she was always a "Non-Peddler" ... Rickenbachers, of course

The latest word from Bill & Jessica Asher:

"The Junior model is now in production and will retail starting at $900. We have just completed 6 weissenborn style acoustic hawaiians that are awesome! One is a student teardrop model made of solid ribbon striped
mahogany priced at $1450. We've also developed lap steel strings - electric and acoustic. As you can see, we are working hard to expand the Asher line."

I'm a real novice at lap steel.... Actually, I've just been fooling around with a tone bar on a regular steel-string acoustic experimenting with various tunings. (Ever have a tone bar slip out of your hand and hit the top of an acoustic guitar?...not a pretty sight...I must buy a very sturdy lap steel

I've been watching ebay for the last month looking for a good deal on a lap steel. I traded some emails with a woman that turned out to be Bill Asher's wife. She sent me info on the new acoustic teardrop and the Electro Hawaiian Jr. I thought both were under $1000, but perhaps the teardrop was more. I have prices, specs, and photos of both, but am unable to share them with you today as my other PC is out of commission waiting for a part from Dell. I was reluctant to make an appointment to see them for fear that I wouldn't be happy unless one of the Harper models went home with me.

I've been reading posts here at the Steel Guitar Forum for the last year and know this is THE place to get some info about lap and pedal steel guitars. I'm considering purchasing a lap steel from Fouke Industrial Guitar. Has anyone here played one? Anyone have an opinion? http://www.industrialguitar.com The one I'm looking to buy seems to meet my requirements: $350-$500 range, fairly lightweight (7-8 lbs.), suitable for broad range of styles including blues and rock, can be played through an amp or unplugged.

If you think there are better lap steels that fit in my price range, I'd appreciate hearing about them. I would prefer one that could be played either through an amp or unplugged (you can stop laughing now), but the ones on ebay are primarily for playing through an amp. If I had to pick one or the other, I'd prefer an acoustic to begin with.

Thanks! (By the way, the posts about Elizabeth Montgomery were cracking me up! Wish I could wiggle my nose like that...I'd have all the guitars I want!)