review reviewANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4

84 ACOUSTIC SPRING 2016 85 SPRING 2016 ACOUSTIC

ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4

What You Need To Know

What’s a Weissenborn?The name comes from Hermann Christof Weissenborn: a German immigrant to the US who began making Hawaiian steel guitars in Los Angeles in 1923. By 1930, demand for steel guitars had declined and likewise Weissenborn’s output. He died in 1937, apparently heavily in debt.

Doesn’t sound very successful. Why the interest today?Weissenborn’s acoustic lap-steel guitars found favour with, notably, David Lindley back in the 70s. Numerous other slide players sought them out – Bob Brozman, Cindy Cashdollar, Jerry Douglas to name a few – then Ben Harper brought the instrument to a mainstream audience.

So this Anderwood is a copy, right?Yes, and a slavish one at that. Hand-made in the UK, it’s available in the original’s four style levels and there’s a custom build service too. If that’s above your price, Anderwood also offers much cheaper non-UK made models from £179.

1

2

3

– and feels almost as skeletal and light weight as the real thing. Made entirely from beautifully figured koa save for the holly and rosewood marquetry binding around the body and fingerboard it’s remarkably simple although inside there’s little surprise to find what appears to be pretty conventional spruce bracing – the top is X-braced, front and back are quite noticeably domed and, in depth, the entire structure goes from around 75mm at the base to around 30mm before the solid koa headstock tops the instrument.

The original guitars were arranged into four styles, replicated by Anderwood: the lower the number the plainer the guitar. So, while Style 1 is unbound, Style 2 has black phenolic binding with a holly/rosewood rope inlay surrounding the circular soundhole, which is used to bind the edges of the Style 3 and the Style 4 we have here. Back in the day, of course, the price difference between the Style 1 and Style 4 was around 21 dollars: today it’s a little more…

But the slavish attention to the detail of the originals is quite something although Weissenborn’s were relatively crudely made. But by closely examining original instruments – inside and out – Anderwood replicates virtually every facet from using hide glue throughout the construction, the specific ‘Christmas Tree’ bridge plate as

C reated in the early 20th century in response to the growing popularity of Hawaiian-style

music, the Weissenborn, and its history is a little sketchy. The majority of instruments were made during the 1920s before the invention and popularity of the resonator guitar left it in the doldrums for many years, until some decades later numerous players re-discovered its charms. Like many a ‘niche’ instrument today, there are numerous makers and players keeping the Weissenborn alive, even though original examples are pretty hard to find. Here in the UK, in Dorset, Anderwood not only offers offshore-made examples for the student or beginner but also has its UK-made Authentic series which replicate, from carefully studied originals, the four styles that Weissenborn originally made.

In simple terms a ‘Weissy’ is a thin-depth acoustic guitar but instead of having a solid neck attached to a hollow body, the neck itself is hollow into which is joined the solid, three-a-side headstock. The fingerboard is conventional enough but, of course, there are no raised frets – just fret position makers. The bridge is a fairly conventional pin affair and the raised nut gives a string height of approximately 6mm at both the nut and 12th fret position.

Our Anderwood is a very close cousin to Weissenborn’s original style – see p88

Original Weissenborn ‘Hawaiian Steel’ guitars are hard to fi nd, but thankfully Anderwood make some fi ne replicas here in the UK. We fi nd out more…

ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4 £2,250

Words Dave Burrluck Photography Adam Gasson

review

86 ACOUSTIC SPRING 2016

ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4

the tension and the heavier the string gauge you’ll need. Equally personal is what sort of metal or plastic finger- and thumb picks or finger nails, not to mention the type of slide you use. But whatever you choose with the Style 4 on your lap, you have the perfect listening position – unlike a conventional acoustic – as the soundhole is throwing the sound upwards, not outwards. And it really does feel quite alive with a long sustain that almost seems looped after the initial attack, noticeably different, more complex, compared to a solid lap-steel or pedal-steel, for example. And this, of course, is a new instrument, and while many would say, in

conventional steel string designs, koa takes a while to ‘open’ we’d love to hear it after some months or years of playing. Extraordinary.

VerdictIf you’re serious about slide then the Weissenborn is a key design with a light, almost fragile-feeling build that is in stark contrast to its voluminous and hugely evocative sound. Historically there’s a large stylistic repertoire to draw from, but its distinct, haunting character easily fits a modern player in virtually any ‘roots’ style – Western or Eastern! This Anderwood recreation is absolutely gorgeous and hugely aspirational. Either way, whether it’s a cheaper option or this top-line model, it’s a slide player’s must-have.

ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4PRICE: £2,250 (inc case)ORIGIN: UKTYPE: Acoustic lap-steel guitar TOP/BACK/SIDES/NECK: Solid figured koa with holly and rosewood marquetry binding and soundhole decorationMAX RIM DEPTH: 75mmMAX BODY WIDTH: 391mmSCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)TUNERS: Recreation of 1920s Waverly 3-on-plate open-geared with grained ivoroid buttonsNUT/WIDTH: Ox bone/52.65mm (40mm string spacing)FINGERBOARD: Holly and rosewood bound koa with inlaid holly position lines, ‘extra fancy’ abalone inlaysBRIDGE/SPACING: Ebonised maple pin bridge with rolled aluminum saddle/57mmWEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.39/3.06OPTIONS: Pickup and electrics (£POA)RANGE OPTIONS: Also in the Custom Authentic series is the Style 1 (£1,650), the Style 2 (£1,850) and the Style 3 (£2,050). For info on its Chinese-made models, see Rivals and the Anderwood websiteLEFT-HANDERS: YesFINISH: Natural gloss nitrocellulose (as reviewed)Anderwood Guitars01425 276805originalweissenborn.com

PROS Superbly built replica with hugely evocative sound

CONS Hard to fault; not for everyone but a ‘lap-steel’ for life… and beyond!

9

The Rivals

Anderwood’s own range of more affordable Chinese-made Weissenborns is one of the best places to start if you’re interested in the genre but can’t stretch to a custom-made model; numerous styles with electro options are available with solid top/laminate sides or all solid from £179 up to just under a grand. Another good resource for acoustic lap-steels is Bediaz Music (bediaz-music.de). Quite a few other makers around the world produce Weissenborn clones like Bill Asher (www.asherguitars.com) in California, Michael Gotz (mg-guitars.de) in Germany and even Daniel Brauchil in Tasmania (www.danielbrauchli.com).

1

2

used from 1927 and after, even the specific size of the saw cuts in the kerfed linings. The specific shape of the ebonised maple bridge is cloned, so to its rolled aluminum saddle and ivoroid bridge pins (which along with the end pin and tuners are the only parts not made in the UK by Anderwood). The original Weissenborns are known for their quality finish – quite an achievement back in the day. With its specific – and highly alluring – smell, the modern Anderwood is really beautifully finished in natural nitro. If you love excellent guitar craft; you’ll really appreciate this.

Feel & SoundsAnderwood sent out our Style 4 with string gauges suitable for open D (D’Addario Phosphor bronze EJ17 0.013 to 0.056) although numerous tunings were, and are, used. As ever, the lower the tuning the lower

1. The Anderwood is a faithful replica of an original, right down to the bridge shape and the rolled aluminium saddle

2. As with an original Weissenborn, the fi t and fi nish on show here is exceptional – it even smells fantastic!

review reviewANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4 ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4

88 ACOUSTIC SPRING 2016 89 SPRING 2016 ACOUSTIC

Anderwood makes its Weissenborns the traditional way – we visited the UK workshop to fi nd out what it entails…Photography John WIlde

12

8

10

7, No pre-shaped bracings here – the complex shape of the Weissenborn comes from a shaped dish that the top is forced into using sticks or ‘go-bars’. The hide glue then puts the subtle curves into the fi nished instrument

8, Hand-shaping with the plane lets the luthier perfect the fi nished shape and profi le of an instrument. This is always completed by eye and feel

9, Cutting the grooves in the koa top for the rosette, in this case three fi ne rings of beautifully white holly

10, Bending the sides the old fashioned way, with a fl ame-heated bar. Koa is notoriously diffi cult to shape due to the complex fi guring and fl aming

11, Book-matching tops and backs can take real patience to get a seamless joint. Careful hand-plaining is the answer on this hard and grainy tonewood

12, The headstocks are cut and shaped from a large chunk of koa. The steep break angle combined with the fact that nearly two inches at the base of the headstock resides inside the hollow neck doesn’t make for a very effi cient use of this expensive wood, which is why on some 1920s models you fi nd that mahogany was favoured instead

1, The mould, taken from an Original 1920s Weissenborn, is used to hold the sides in shape after bending. It stays this way until the top goes on

2, The rosewood and holly marqueterie is made up of many small segments which are pre-fi xed to a maple purfl ing. It’s applied one tiny bit at a time

3, Hot hide glue is key to the tone, and was used for the original instruments as it is on Anderwood’s Authentic recreations

4, The ‘feather light’ feel is due to thicknessing the top, back and sides down to original specifi cations combined with delicate bracings and beautifully light, air dried Koa

5, The large Maple bridge plate was Weissenborn’s genius solution to incorporating a fl at bridge on to a curved body

6, The wood sets are cut from large billets, with the top, back and sides coming from the same stick to match. They are then graded to determine which style guitar their fi guring is best suited for

Lap Of The Gods

1

2

3

4

6

5

11

9

7

12

90 ACOUSTIC SPRING 2016

ANDERWOOD AUTHENTIC SERIES c1927 STYLE 4 feature

N ot too many makers would send one of their own instruments and a 90-year-old example to compare

it to, but that’s exactly what Anderwood has done in supplying us with a similar period original Style 1 for comparison – how’s that for confidence? For its age it’s in terrific condition even though, as Anderwood’s founder, Ed Greenfield, points out that “the original grain filler used on the koa has taken on a dark greenish tinge over time.” True to the start-up Style 1, there’s no embellishments, or binding, and the soundhole has three simple concentric inlayed rings around the soundhole through which you can see Weissenborn’s name stamped onto a central holly back strip. The square bracing is a little rough and you can clearly see tooling marks on the inside face of the back. It’s very slightly thinner in depth at the base than our contemporary example, the bridge a dark brown not black in colour and its edges are noticeably worn. The koa fingerboard has a light tan colour and is less ‘green’ than the body and there’s

less contrast with the dirty-looking holly fret markers

The bridge has slightly pulled up – little surprise for an instrument of this age – and the strings sit closer to the fingerboard than our Anderwood: approximately on the treble side at both nut and 12th fret position; 3.5mm on the bass-side at the nut and 6mm at the 12th.

Sound-wise they are remarkably similar yet the more you play them the more subtle differences you hear. The contemporary Anderwood has a little more strength and ‘push’ to the sound while the Weissenborn has a little more depth but it’s less forceful. The Anderwood almost shouts a little; the older instrument doesn’t have to raise its voice. But as with anything old, some things work, ahem, less efficiently: such as the tuners. No such problem with the modern guitar, and the airy string height in lower positions certainly aids cleaner bar bounces or behind the bar bends. Both examples record superbly with the sort of dynamic range a seasoned musician will love.

Weissenborn vs AnderwoodWe compare an original Style 1 Weissenborn with our contemporary Anderwood. Chalk and cheese?

WEISSENBORN STYLE 1 c1927

ESTIMATED VALUE: c£2,500ORIGIN: USATYPE: Acoustic lap-steel guitar TOP: Solid koaBACK/SIDES/NECK: Solid koaMAX RIM DEPTH: 73mmMAX BODY WIDTH: 385mmSCALE LENGTH: 631mm (24.84”)TUNERS: Waverly three-on-plate open geared with grained ivoroid buttonsNUT/WIDTH: Bone/51.34mm (40mm string spacing)FINGERBOARD: Koa with inlaid holly position lines, abalone dot inlaysBRIDGE/SPACING: Ebonised maple pin bridge with rolled aluminium saddle/59.5mmWEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.34/2.95FINISH: Natural nitrocellulose