Gold Tone Weissenborn SM

Solid mahogany body, solid spruce top, hollow neck, nice custom case.

Get yourself a pickup and a good tone bar and slide !

SS MODEL REVIEWS (Spruce top instead of mahogany top)

I play blues and folk with it. The sound is rich, with a nice bass and a very fast response.

To find a better Weissenborn copy you'll have to have it made by a luthier and to double the price. You might hear the subtle difference using a microphone, but probably not if you use a magnetic pickup.

As any lap slide guitar, the action is high !

This instrument is well made. I am unsure about the sunburst finish. I prefer a plain natural finish.

Well made and durable, considering Weissenborn are fragile guitars.

Very helpful company, fast email reply.

I have been playing for 13 years. I was into lap slide but i dislike resonators. That lead me towards weissenborns. I would by another anytime. This guitar is way more confortable to play lap style than any modified standard guitar.

To get better, you have to pay way more, and the difference might be very subtle. Considering I play lap style on only a few songs, and that I spend most of my time playing my beloved Taylor 414, this Goldtone is the way to go !

This is a relatively new instrument acquired on Ebay. I don't know where they are built, but the quality of the work is pretty unbelievable. It is a solid mahogany instrument and I got it with a Fishman Rare Earth pickup installed, which is active. It has black celluloid binding front and back, and rope or "clown" binding on the front and around the soundhole. It has a satin finish but the mild figuring in the wood is beautifully brought out. It has Kluson vintage style knockoff tuners, they are OK but I will likely get Waverly's for it. It came with the pickup and a case for $700. Not too frickin' bad.

I play blues and rock, with a passing interest in bluegrass and americana style music like David Lindley and Buddy Miller. I am not in that league as a player, just what I am striving for. This guitar is being used with no outboard effects, a little reverb on the Gibson GA 30 RVT is all it needs. Maybe a little tremolo sometimes. It is dead quiet when I am not playing, no signal hum and the pickup install was very professional- no clanking or knocking. The tone acoustically is very mellow and sweet, but the basses are a little hard to get- I might go with heavier strings. I am currently using the string set recommended by Brozman. It is a very lively tone and is fun to play, but I bought it for the amplified useage and that is where this monkey shines- extremely responsive, full sound that is even and very appealing. I have seen Lindley a few times live playing his "real" Weissenborns and though I'll never get that tone I feel like if his stuff were missing he would be happy to borrow this one in a pinch. I was surprised to find that some of the little tonal tricks I use with my Rickenbacker bakelite steel work with this too, when amplified. It is a very useable guitar. Rates an 8 purely due to the acoustic loss of low end- amplified it is an easy 10.

I got this from a different guy so factory setup is a mystery, but it came to me perfect- though aggressive playing tends to cause the strings to bottom out. The top has a weird line in the figure on one side and not the other so not very well matched, but still quite attractive. So far the bracing and all the finish details are pretty good- a couple of rough spots in the finish but reasonably great.

This is an excellent live instrument. I do have a fear of damage, as it is totally unmarked but that will pass. The tuners are a little cheap so I will replace those, but the case should keep it protected well. The finish is as I would expect on a good one of these; thin enough to eventually sink into the grain a bit, allowing the nature of the wood to improve with age. Can't wait! I will likely get another in the near future so I can use other tunings, and I would prefer to have a backup. Acoustic instruments do damage easily.

No dealings with Gold Tone, but other players give them high marks.

I have been playing guitar for 26 years, and lap steel for about 1 year. I have a Rickenbacker Bakelite lap steel, a Rickenbacker metal bodied Electro lap steel, a MIM RI Telecaster Custom, a Phantom BJ RI, an SD Curlee I use for bottleneck, a Fender Blues Deluxe modded to sound pretty great, and a handmade wooden banjo. If it were stolen, I would be in a pickle and so would the thief. I would get another one asap! I love the personality of it, and as stated the amplified tone is awesome. I chose this initially for the price; the real ones are astronomically expensive thanks to Uncle Dave, and I like to have a lot of instruments. Anything I wish it had... OK, a twin.