The Steel Guitar Forum

I am evaluating one of these (select spruce top)and a couple of things concern me.

First of all is the string spacing. I've read the other emails here about that so I suppose it can be fixed, but I've got to wonder why build it like that in the first place?

The second concern is about the string height which I consider to be too low. I haven't measured it yet but it is lower than my Beard reso, Rick bakelite, and Oahu acoustic. I keep bumping the fretboard with the steel.

If I try to change the string height I assume I'd have to install a new nut (by the way is the existing nut plastic)and a new saddle. Am I missing anything? A new bridge wouldn't be required, would it? If I make these changes will this change the string tension in any way, so that I have to tune lower?

One more thing; the tone didn't blow me away at first but it's starting to grow on me. Do you other Superior owners find that they open up and sound better over time?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

I own a Superior Weissenborn guitar. I had the bridge replaced and also the nut to get the string spacing tighter. I'm like you, I can't understand why they don't make them with tighter string spacing right from the get go. The nut isn't plastic. I thought it was but the luthier said it was polished bone. I really like the guitar after the alterations. I found a local luthier and he did an exception job for $140.00. After I got it home, I installed a Sunrise magnetic pickup and an under the bridge, Baggs pickup on it. I drilled out the bung and put in a stereo jack plug. I haven't done a lot with it since then but there's a long Winter coming up so there's still hope!
Erv
Erv

I've owned two Superiors -- one with a spruce top, the other cedar. I initally thought that the nuts were plastic, but close examination showed that they were both highly-polished bone. I recall some people saying they have replaced plastic nuts, so they may not always have been that way ... or they tossed out some nice bone. I found those sharp points on the nuts to be a problem, though:I "stabbed" myself a couple of times!

I'm surprised that string height is a problem; both of my Superiors had ample clearance. And as for the string spacing, I supect the reason they keep making them that wide is that more of us haven't told George that he should go narrower! I tried an extra-long SP1 bar for a while when I had my first Superior, but eventually went back to something more appropriate for a six-string.

I too had issues with the string spacing and height of the Superior. The spacing I got used to because if you narrow it, you run into problems with strings 1 & 6 being too far from the fretboard edge and resulting in barring issues. I ran into that anyway because of string height, I kept hitting the freatboard when barring the 1st string up around the 13th fret and higher.

Be careful though about raising the saddle height, mine was raised by a luthier and in about 6 months it resulted in the bridge cracking! It put way too much stress on the front of the bridge. I suggest you just get used to it the way it is...hey, you are in good company, David Lindley plays them as sold.

I liked the sound of them though. Mine was a Cedar top, which I prefer over the Spruce. To me Cedar has smoking, kinda mysterious overtones and generally warmer than Spruce. But I sold mine to help finance a baritone Weiss from Lazy River Guitars. It's just about finished...

Good luck with yours, I think you'll like it. Hey, be sure to get some Newtone Aloha strings for it though, they'll really bring out that melodic harp like sound that Weiss's are famous for.

And yes, like any guitar they open up and sound way better over time...the more you play it, the faster that happens. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ron Bednar on 03 September 2004 at 02:46 PM.]</p></FONT>

The one I had was too low at the bridge, it even had unadequate downpressure and buzzed a bit if you played really hard. Dont bust your bridge, but do raise the bone (maybe with an under-bridge pickup or get a slightly higher bone). The tone will improve.

The nut needs the points ground off and grooved level WITH YOUR STRING GUAGES. The wide spacing makes for easier slants IMO.

Mine sounded amazing in D. I sold it to help finance my Benoit reso .

I think the string height is too low on most guitars. Some dobro manufacturers put the strings really high, but just about every Weiss copy (and original Weissenborn) I've seen has a string height issue (same with bakelite Ricks, for that matter). I guess it has to do with the strings' angle over the saddle or something... You can stick heavier guage strings on, and that will help a bit, but I agree--it's a pain.

If your pickup will work with it, I'd say just get used to the spacing. One advantage of the strings being that far apart is that it's a lot easier to play rolls or double hits on a single inside string. It also makes some slants easier. Once you've overcome the weirdness, you might like it. At least give it a try for a while.

-Travis

Oh yeah, and FWIW, I liked the regular spruce model. The select I found a bit cold, the cedar a bit muddy, and the regular spruce was a decent compromise. But then I imagine they're all different...

-Travis