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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Ben Harper's guitars!

11/19/1999 7:21 AM
Steve A.	Ben Harper's guitars! With Ben Harper on the cover of the December GP, I think it would be fun to build a copy of his Weissenborn or custom Asher lap guitars. I guess the Weissenborn has a hollow neck, while the Asher's is filled with graphite. (Would that be powdered graphite or something solid?) Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions on this project? --Thanks! Steve Ahola P.S. The guitar on "Burn to Shine" sure sounds great!

11/19/1999 7:21 AM

Steve A.

Ben Harper's guitars!

With Ben Harper on the cover of the December GP, I think it would be fun to build a copy of his Weissenborn or custom Asher lap guitars. I guess the Weissenborn has a hollow neck, while the Asher's is filled with graphite. (Would that be powdered graphite or something solid?)

Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions on this project?

--Thanks!

Steve Ahola

P.S. The guitar on "Burn to Shine" sure sounds great!

11/20/1999 1:57 PM
Farrow	Steve, from what I gathered regarding the purpose of the new Asher (less feedback at high volumes and more rugged construction) I would guess that the neck has graphite rods in it. Powdered graphite is an interesting idea, but since I would want my lap steel to ring out, I would stay away from any intentional deadening. Also, I'd like to find out how those Tom Anderson pickups (they look an awful lot like the Sunrise p/u on the Weissenborn) measure up. You're right, though - the guitar on BTS is pretty badass. Do a web search for "Brad's Page Of Steel" for more lap steel info. Sorry I don't have the URL handy... Farrow http://surf.to/pharaohamps http://www.skybolt6.com

11/20/1999 1:57 PM

Farrow

Steve, from what I gathered regarding the purpose of the new Asher (less feedback at high volumes and more rugged construction) I would guess that the neck has graphite rods in it. Powdered graphite is an interesting idea, but since I would want my lap steel to ring out, I would stay away from any intentional deadening.

Also, I'd like to find out how those Tom Anderson pickups (they look an awful lot like the Sunrise p/u on the Weissenborn) measure up. You're right, though - the guitar on BTS is pretty badass. Do a web search for "Brad's Page Of Steel" for more lap steel info. Sorry I don't have the URL handy...

Farrow
http://surf.to/pharaohamps
http://www.skybolt6.com

11/22/1999 6:19 PM
Mark Hammer	Ben did that song on a little live thing on MuchMusic (Canada's MTV) recently. He used a double neck SG and the tone was identical to the album cut. I suspect the brunt of the tone is in the slide and overdrive. Didn't see the amp. The GP article indicates that one of his tone mentors is David Lindley (the high priest of the order of the snake), and that particular tune leads to few other conclusions. Nail Dave's tone and you've nailed Ben's.

11/22/1999 6:19 PM

Mark Hammer

Ben did that song on a little live thing on MuchMusic (Canada's MTV) recently. He used a double neck SG and the tone was identical to the album cut. I suspect the brunt of the tone is in the slide and overdrive. Didn't see the amp. The GP article indicates that one of his tone mentors is David Lindley (the high priest of the order of the snake), and that particular tune leads to few other conclusions. Nail Dave's tone and you've nailed Ben's.

11/22/1999 9:26 PM
steve m.	Mark, David Lindley is one of my all-time favorites, bar none. I remember reading an old interview where he stated that he used a Tweed Deluxe for some of the awesome slide tones he got. IIRC, he also said he used a Dumble-modified Bassman head to get some of the tones. I just saw him in concert about two months ago at Red Rocks in Colorado, and he had a Bassman head in his rig. The tone was way to distorted to be a stock bassman head, so I'm thinking it was one that Dumble modified. Steve

11/22/1999 9:26 PM

steve m.

Mark,

David Lindley is one of my all-time favorites, bar none. I remember reading an old interview where he stated that he used a Tweed Deluxe for some of the awesome slide tones he got. IIRC, he also said he used a Dumble-modified Bassman head to get some of the tones. I just saw him in concert about two months ago at Red Rocks in Colorado, and he had a Bassman head in his rig. The tone was way to distorted to be a stock bassman head, so I'm thinking it was one that Dumble modified.

Steve

11/23/1999 2:57 AM
Mark Hammer	One of my faves too. I've been digging him since the first album he put out with Kaleidescope over 30 years ago. In some ways he's kind of a chameleon. He can play rinky-dink sounds one minute, then turn around and get a full head-on splat-tone that Neil Young would drool over (maybe that's the Tweed Deluxe talking). The thing I respect about him is that he doesn't treat any given tone as a second class citizen. Every single one counts, from bouzouki to slobbering laptop.

11/23/1999 2:57 AM

Mark Hammer

One of my faves too. I've been digging him since the first album he put out with Kaleidescope over 30 years ago. In some ways he's kind of a chameleon. He can play rinky-dink sounds one minute, then turn around and get a full head-on splat-tone that Neil Young would drool over (maybe that's the Tweed Deluxe talking). The thing I respect about him is that he doesn't treat any given tone as a second class citizen. Every single one counts, from bouzouki to slobbering laptop.

11/26/1999 9:54 PM
steve m.	Mark, I would have to agree. One thing that impresses me is that everything Lindley plays sounds excellent. He doesn't seem to be limited by his instruments, no matter how bad the the tone is, nor how bad someone else would sound playing them. He comes through Colorado about once a year, and my wife and I have seen him about five times now. The most recent time was the first time we've seen him play electric instruments. Up to that point he was playing all acoustic instruments through an Ashley preamp into a Roland JC-120. He has alway sounded absolutely awesome. He is one case of an artist transcending the tone of his equipment. If fact, I'd probably listen to his music if he played a cigar box with a rubber band as a string BTW, if you get a chance, check out his three live albums: "Live in Tokyo", "Playing Even Better", and "Twango Bango Deluxe", all available from his website: http://www.davidlindley.com Steve

11/26/1999 9:54 PM

steve m.

Mark,

I would have to agree. One thing that impresses me is that everything Lindley plays sounds *excellent*. He doesn't seem to be limited by his instruments, no matter how bad the the tone is, nor how bad someone else would sound playing them. He comes through Colorado about once a year, and my wife and I have seen him about five times now. The most recent time was the first time we've seen him play electric instruments. Up to that point he was playing all acoustic instruments through an Ashley preamp into a Roland JC-120. He has alway sounded absolutely awesome. He is one case of an artist transcending the tone of his equipment. If fact, I'd probably listen to his music if he played a cigar box with a rubber band as a string

BTW, if you get a chance, check out his three live albums:

"Live in Tokyo", "Playing Even Better", and "Twango Bango Deluxe", all available from his website:

http://www.davidlindley.com

Steve

12/7/1999 8:43 PM
Wyatt	Saw Ben in D.C. a month or so ago. I was slightly disappointed with how little lap playing he did (maybe 30% of the show). The Weissonbourns and Ashers were used, along with some other older lap steels (wasn't close enough to spot a model, but it had the "guitar" shape to it that a Gibson BR-9 or Oahu has) almost all were heavily distorted ("Faded," "Please Bleed," "Less," etc.). Acoustic guitar made up 1/2 the show (this allowed him to play whatever he wanted wduring solo moments). The rest was the double neck SG used for "Burn to Shine" (6-string neck was regular, 12-string neck was strung for 6-string slide). The rest of the electric playing was with an single-PU LP Junior. Main amp was a Dememter head, set right next to him so he could tweak from his seat, and Marshall cabs. -Y.

12/7/1999 8:43 PM

Wyatt

Saw Ben in D.C. a month or so ago. I was slightly disappointed with how little lap playing he did (maybe 30% of the show). The Weissonbourns and Ashers were used, along with some other older lap steels (wasn't close enough to spot a model, but it had the "guitar" shape to it that a Gibson BR-9 or Oahu has) almost all were heavily distorted ("Faded," "Please Bleed," "Less," etc.). Acoustic guitar made up 1/2 the show (this allowed him to play whatever he wanted wduring solo moments). The rest was the double neck SG used for "Burn to Shine" (6-string neck was regular, 12-string neck was strung for 6-string slide). The rest of the electric playing was with an single-PU LP Junior.

Main amp was a Dememter head, set right next to him so he could tweak from his seat, and Marshall cabs.

-Y.

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