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Author
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Topic: European steel guitar brands
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Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 22 October 2002 05:50 AM
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While at Steeldays this past week, I had the opportunity to test-drive a few European brands of steel guitars and found them to be excellent. Jagiella and WBS, both from Germany, are superbly made, mechanically very smooth, and both sound wonderful. The builders, Andreas Jagiella and Wolfgang Bednarz, are both great guys who really know their stuff. I didn't have an opportunity to play the DeVis guitar built by Jan Visser, but it sure sounded great from the stage on both his set and Harry Broekelman's set. I did play Lionel Wendling's Wiesner guitar, made in Switzerland "with the precision of a swiss watch" and it too is a fine instrument. Alas, Mr. Wiesner recently passed away and there is no one to continue production. Bottom line: in addition to producing outstanding steel guitar players, Europe is producing some of the finest instruments you'd care to see or hear. |
Richard Plummer
Member From: nashville tennessee
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posted 22 October 2002 06:11 AM
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Is the price in Europe basically equivalent to the prices for a steel guitar here in the states? |
Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 22 October 2002 06:15 AM
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I think so, but I didn't inquire, as I was not currently in the market. Perhaps someone else can enlighten us on that issue? |
CrowBear Schmitt
Member From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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posted 22 October 2002 10:20 AM
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glad to read your comments on the European Steels Jim.
it's a shame Wiesner's are'nt made anymore cause they are tops.
i think European steels are in the same price range as the US models
DeVis: http://www.promotamusic.com
BTW: did Lionel bring the Honky Kats at Steeldays or did he play w: someone else ?
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Steel what?
[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 22 October 2002 at 10:23 AM.]
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Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 22 October 2002 11:12 AM
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Lionel played with the house band (COD) and did a great job. I really enjoyed hanging out with him too. |
Marco Schouten
Member From: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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posted 22 October 2002 04:36 PM
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However Joe Wright did bring a friend....------------------
Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud Pro III Custom; Sho-Bud LLG |
Hans Holzherr
Member From: Ostermundigen, Switzerland
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posted 24 January 2004 04:02 AM
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This is an older thread, but but for those interested I will enlighten you a bit on the Swiss Wiesner guitar mentioned above. The Wiesner steels are practically 1:1 copies of another Swiss-made guitar named Schild. Wiesner was the owner of a steel gitar shop in Switzerland, and Schild made steels for him to sell. At some point they had continuing arguments about some aspects of the guitar design they couldn't settle, which resulted in the termination of their business relations. Subsequently, and together with a friend, Wiesner took a Schild apart, making notes of the dimensions of every single part, and started to build copies of the Schild to sell them under his own name. Unfortunately, at that time, Schild was not knowledgable in legal matters. He didn't know that a design could be protected for little money. And so he couldn't do anything but watch Wiesner sell more instruments than himself, because Wiesner obviously was in the better position with his shop. After building about 10 guitars on order, Schild discontinued production, turning to high-end race bicycle design. After Wiesner's death, his blueprints and parts came into the possession of French steelers Lionel Wendling and Jean-Yves Lozac'h. The latter assembled one last Wiesner from the parts. But production of the Wiesner was never taken up again.
Recently, Schild has found time to design an improved model of his guitar, incorporating new ideas, drawing from his vast knowledge as a mechanical designer. He is looking to build a prototype as soon as time and money allows.
Schild steels have been my main guitars for about 12 years. Due to the aluminum frame construction the front apron looks a bit different from the average guitar, but they play like a dream.Hans [This message was edited by Hans Holzherr on 24 January 2004 at 04:03 AM.] |
CrowBear Schmitt
Member From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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posted 24 January 2004 06:13 AM
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Viel danke Hans 4 the update
have a Feldschlossen on me  |
Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 24 January 2004 07:04 AM
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Hans, thank you for sharing that interesting information. Do you have some photos of your guitar you could post for us all to see? |
Walter Stettner
Member From: Vienna, Austria
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posted 24 January 2004 12:10 PM
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Jim,I had the pleasure to have both Lionel Wendling and Jan Visser here in Vienna playing a couple of years ago, Lionel is a great innovative player and a very nice guy. Jan has been building his DEVIS Guitar for a couple of years, it is a great instrument, plays smoothly and sounds fantastic. Jan himself plays a single neck with an extended E-9th tuning that allows him to play country as well as Jazz stuff. I remember his version of "Girl From Ipanema" was a real treat! Regards, Walter
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf ------------------
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HowardR
Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y.
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posted 24 January 2004 12:46 PM
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quote:
have a Feldschlossen on me
I had one on me once, it took 3 frauleins, 2 babuskas, and a dwarf with a cattle prod to get it off....  That's what I get for traveling outside of the tour group! Sometimes it just don't pay to go to Europe![This message was edited by HowardR on 25 January 2004 at 08:37 AM.] |
David L. Donald
Member From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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posted 25 January 2004 01:26 AM
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Yep Lionel is a great player and can do most anything he wants on steel.
And he is a nice cat too.Both his and Jean-Yves steels sound great!
Great sound and solid construction. Howard a mixture of ammonia and saltpeter will cure your problem. [This message was edited by David L. Donald on 25 January 2004 at 01:28 AM.] |
CrowBear Schmitt
Member From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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posted 25 January 2004 02:27 AM
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hey Weisenheimmer, who was your tour guide at the time ?
these thangs would'nt have happened to you Howard if you was hangin'round w: DD and me
Feldschlossen is mild compared to what we'll offer ya'
we got "Mort Subite"
and don't ferget to bring your D8 EH150
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Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 25 January 2004 07:28 AM
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Mort Subite! Absolutely my favorite Belgian brew! I've even hung out at the club in Brussels. |
David L. Donald
Member From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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posted 25 January 2004 09:10 AM
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Yep Morte Subite hits the spot... and so do you after 4 botels!
I love the Belgian rasberry (framboise) labics too.
A truely unique taste and you can steel steel afterwards! < topical reference<And Yes Crowbear was my tourguide when I met Jean-Yves.
But I met Crowbear and then from him the forum through Lionel. |
Ken Byng
Member From: Southampton, England
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posted 25 January 2004 12:46 PM
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I have to Echo Hans Holzherr's comments about the Schild guitar. I saw an early prototype over 20 years ago and it was a piece of quality engineering. The best guitar in my opinion that I have seen come out of Europe is the Sheffield pedal steel from the UK. The attention to detail is superb and the sustain is phenominal. I have seen and played most of the major manufacturer's guitars from the States in my 38 years of playing steel. I own and cherish 2 Sho-Buds. The Sheffield beats anything I have seen for inherent sustain - it's awesome. I think it may have something to do with the changer block that its maker (Dave Wheelhouse) uses.KB  [This message was edited by Ken Byng on 25 January 2004 at 12:48 PM.] |
Hans Holzherr
Member From: Ostermundigen, Switzerland
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posted 26 January 2004 05:06 AM
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Here are some pictures of my Schild.
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Joe Henry
Member From: Ebersberg, Germany
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posted 26 January 2004 10:46 AM
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From England comes the Bennett. I briefly played one that belongs to a friend of mine - think ShoBud SuperPro with improved mechanics.
About the German brands - I´ve never played a WBS or Jagiella but heard good things about them. Then there´s another three-letter brand from over here that I wouldn´t recommend to anyone...Regards, Joe H. |
Matt Hutchinson
Member From: London, UK
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posted 28 January 2004 02:06 AM
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I play a Bennett S-10 and it's a great guitar for the money. At the time I started there was no Carter Starter and my choice of affordable guitars to start learning on was limited to some fairly ropey 3&1 S-10s in second-hand stores (the UK isn't great for steel shopping). I contacted Ron Bennett and he built me an E9 3&4 for less than the price of anything else I could find. It's not a top-end instrument but it's great for the money and I haven't outgrown it yet. |
Mike Perlowin
Member From: Los Angeles CA
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posted 28 January 2004 01:09 PM
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quote:
Then there´s another three-letter brand from over here that I wouldn´t recommend to anyone...
I think I know which one you are referring to. Is the first letter "A?" I saw one of these at NAMM a few years ago. It had 1 knee lever, a single raise and lower changer, and a $2.000 plus price tag. I tried to talk to somebody at the company about the need for more knee levers and a more sophisticated changer, and the guy more or less dismissed me as an idiot who didn't know what I was talking about. |
Jim Cohen
Member From: Philadelphia, PA
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posted 28 January 2004 03:24 PM
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So? What's your point?  |
Matt Dawson
Member From: Luxembourg, Europe
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posted 29 January 2004 02:44 AM
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I had a D-10 made by these guys(ABN or something similiar).
It had a very sophisticated changer mechanism using Random Microtonal Access Technology.
I.e. you never knew quite what note you would get if you pressed a pedal. It was a pile of vole-pooh and I would not recomend this brand to anyone.
Matt |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 29 January 2004 03:53 AM
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Here are some pictures of one of my my Bennetts.
Ron makes fine guitars.Baz
www.waikiki-islanders.com ------------------
quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
http://www.waikiki-islanders.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
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Joe Henry
Member From: Ebersberg, Germany
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posted 29 January 2004 08:43 AM
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That sounds just like them, Mike (yes, the first letter is A)Joe H. |
CrowBear Schmitt
Member From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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posted 29 January 2004 03:38 PM
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Joe and Matt, i've gotta go along w: ya's
last summer a fellow from Toulouse contacted me to help him w: his steel. it was one of "those". He brought it over and i spent most of the afternoon tryin'to get it to work properly and in tune.
well it did'nt happen.
just imagine how that fellow and me felt 
i will not include this brand among the fine steels mentioned on this here thread.[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 29 January 2004 at 03:39 PM.]
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Joe Henry
Member From: Ebersberg, Germany
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posted 01 February 2004 12:27 PM
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Basil, that Bennett looks just too nice. The finish is extraordinary. And it´s even got wooden necks and those long end plates remind a bit of ShoBud. How would you describe the sound?Regards, Joe H. |
basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 01 February 2004 04:47 PM
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This particular Bennett Has twin coils pickups that Ron made for me. One coil at 6.5Kohm and the other at 18.5Kohm.
Using 18.5 K, the guitar sounds a lot like one of my 1970 push-pulls(quite "Testicular") but a little less responsive in the Dolly Parton region -("Top End") especially soft when using palm harmonics. In the 6.5K position, VERY similar to my Fender1000.
I use it as a "Compromise Guitar sometimes when playing live, when space doesn't permit me to set up two or three steels.
At a lot of the Country Festivals over here, the stage seems to be unduly cluttered up with the "One Man Band" equipment leaving very little room for "real" men !!
Baz
www.waikiki-islanders.com
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quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
http://www.waikiki-islanders.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
[This message was edited by basilh on 01 February 2004 at 04:54 PM.]
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