Of these two figures, Weissenborn made the superior instruments, and Knutsen influenced his early designs. While there’s no known business association between them, some of their early instruments have significant similarities.
(not W, as stated in other accounts) Weissenborn and Chris J. It’s not absolutely certain who invented the hollow-neck steel (folk dulcimers had long employed similar construction), but the two most important names are Hermann C.
The instrument enjoyed popularity until about the late ’20s, when resonator instruments like Nationals and Dobros, with their greater volume, became an instant sensation (who was eating whom for lunch then?). In the wake of this popularity emerged the hollow-neck steel, which offered improved volume and tone thanks to a sound chamber extending from the endpin nearly to the nut. In any case, the style had been evolving for at least a generation by the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, which brought many island musicians to the mainland and helped make Hawaiian music the most popular style in America by the next year. Like most aspects of guitar history, the origin of Hawaiian steel technique has been long and vehemently debated. “Whenever you take one of these things into the studio, people always say, ‘Wow! What an amazing instrument!'” says Greg Leisz. Many session pros now routinely carry along a Weissenborn for steel or Dobro calls. They have also been added to the arsenals of Dobro and steel players like Mike Auldridge, Bob Brozman, Cindy Cashdollar, Jerry Douglas, John Ely, Greg Leisz, and Sally Van Meter. They might have languished in obscurity if not for Lindley (the king of oddball instruments and a Dobro lover–really), Ry Cooder, John Fahey, Steve Fishell, and singer-songwriter Ben Harper. These hollow-neck Hawaiians are enjoying a renaissance with players nearly 60 years after the last one was made.
The Weissenborn Hawaiian steel, a platypus among guitars to the uninitiated, is an instrument brilliantly and specifically conceived for Hawaiian playing. Such is David Lindley’s appraisal of his unconventional old Hawaiian guitars with their raised strings, flush frets, hollow necks gracefully flowing from the body, and that distinctive woody sound: astounding volume, sweet sustain, and deep, warm tone.
0 kommentar(er)
