The Steel Guitar Forum

Whats the story on Melobar. Are they back in business?

Roger

Not that I'm aware of. I emailed Ted a few months ago, and he told me he was planning to sell off the remaining molds and equipment he had remaining. Too bad, as he made some really nice guitars. I have a Rattler and was very lucky to get one of his last Ray Bays. Maybe things have changed. Have you heard something? I believe he was looking to sell the biz at one time after he closed up. I think the fire was the straw that broke the camel's back, along with other family-related issues.

There was a post a while ago announcing plans to resume limited production. I don't believe it was Ted. Don't recall who was doing it. It has been some time now and I'd also be interested in an update.

Here's a link to the Melobar website where you can read what they're doing: http://www.melobar.com/home.htm

They are being sold exclusively by Black Canyon Guitar in Boise, Idaho. http://www.blackcanyonguitar.com/gmelo.html

You can occasionally find a Rattler listed by Black Canyon Guitars on ebay for less than the price listed on their website. And why would I know...I purchased one on ebay a couple of months ago.

That is good news...I think...I hope. I hope Ted is doing well. Would be nice to hear from him. I'm not familiar with Mr. Frost.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Geoff Brown on 26 October 2004 at 11:00 PM.]</p></FONT>

Here's an update on Melobar.

I took over as President late last spring, and I've been struggling to get all of our products back into production. In June, Mildred Smith, wife of the late Melobar founder Walt and mother of Ted, died from a long battle with cancer. Mildred was a true matriarch for not only the Smith family, but also Melobar. We will miss her.

So far the return to production has been an uphill battle, primarily because Ted Smith has been too busy with his landscaping business to train any of us on how to build these things. Ted promised me that on December 1st he will be free to get back in the shop on a near fulltime basis. Hopefully we can then have a new crew trained to build the full line of Melobar products. He will also be moving from one house to another at that time, so I'm sure it will be January before we can really get cranking. Right now we are doing some renovation on the 100 year old barn that makes up the Melobar shop.

Thanks to everyone for their patience. I really thought we would be rockin and rollin by the end of the summer, but without Ted, we are limited (these instruments are far more complicated than one would think--all those patents actually mean something). Keep an eye on the Melobar website for updates.

We are also looking for investors. If anyone is interested in being a part of the Melobar company, send me a message.