The British Steelies Society

I bought an Anderwood Big Island Edition Weissenborn Edition for my Xmas and I'm very happy with it for the price.

http://www.anderwoodguitars.com/products_Big_Island_weissenborn.php

However I was a little disappointed to learn recently that these guitars are actually made in China by aiersi and badged by Anderwood. As I said I'm happy with the instrument for the price and as someone else said on another forum, I still like my Ipad & Iphone.

http://www.aiersiguitar.com/Products/Hawaiian_Guitar/2012/0303/676.html

I just felt that I was slightly misled by the way these guitars are presented on the Anderwood web site, the impression given is that these are made in the UK by an independent luthier, which was one of the factors in my decision to buy from Anderwood, over Chinese imports

I'm still glad I bought it, I think it's a well built instrument and sounds good for the price paid but if there's horsemeat in my burger it should say so on the packet (as I'm a vegetarian, I really need to know that )

Just so others are aware of this, if you're thinking about getting one. Incidentally the service from Anderwood was first class and the £50 case is VG Quality and I don't think you can buy the guitars any cheaper elsewhere that I've discovered. So I think it's a good deal for a decent instrument, just prefer to know what I'm buying.

You can see my adventures with it so far on these Youtube vids.

This is a version of Ed Gerhards interpretation of Rye Whisky, been playing it for about 4 weeks when I did this, so go easy



This is a tune I wrote on the Weissenborn and added drums, bass & electric guitar, which turned out totally different to what I was originally intending

I have a small studio in my house, just having some fun with music & hats

Hello there, yeah i have seen the adds for these instruments and whilst quite clearly they are nice sounding guitars and i'm sure are worth the money, the impression is, hand crafted in the UK. But i guess the price gives it away really. Like i say as for the sound, yours certainly sounds good, holy shit, that second video is awesome, the video itself is good and the music is great, i loved it. I liked what you said about it was not how you intended it to be.....I do a bit of home recording myself, guitars, bass and keyboard (nowhere near your level of expertise) but it's fun, and interesting how tunes can gather momentum and almost take on a path of there own, i'm just discovering that and it's something which makes recording so creative and inspiring. Thankyou. ps: do you have any more.........Borat

Thanks very much guys, it was a lot of fun to do

I used a Sony HDR-SR11E for Rye Whisky and the main shots in Floored, and my sons SD quality Sony for the close up shots. The SR11E is full 1920x1080 HD gets a great picture quality.

I recorded the audio for each part seperately into Cubase whilst filming, (both cameras recording at the same time, different angles), then mixed the final audio mix and used that in the video. The hardest part was synchronising the video takes with the final audio track. I have done a bit of video editing over the years and sometimes do a bit of camera work for my friend who does it professionally, so I get a lot of tips from him.

Yes, there will be more, not sure when, it's a fair bit of work. My youngest son is a bit of a songwriter, we've been working on some of his stuff, him on acoustic and vocals, I'm playing the Weisenborn and adding in a bit of upright bass. I have an Palatino electric upright bass which sounds pretty close to an acoustic upright. So hoping to vid these at some point.

At the moment I'm working on Ed Gerhards Homage, I bought the tab for this and I'm finding it a big challenge. When you listen to the quality of sound he gets it is hard to emulate and I don't think it's just the guitar quality. I'm giving myself a year to get it half decent

Oh and more hats of course

Hey all,

I just wanted to take the time to post on this thread as I had been looking for a Weissenborn for a while and have been doing loads of online research in to the different brands out there. Anyway after spending some time on Anderwoods website I made contact with them and made an appointment to go and see them at their Dorset workshop. Well, what a great little place, so many different beautiful guitars to look at and play, it was really amazing to get the chance to try so many and to talk with someone who really knew their stuff. I ended up going for one of their Style 1 replicas in Mahogany, after looking through and playing a number of the same models they had in stock, I choose my favourite one and then stood back whilst they raised the action slightly for me by making and fitting a new nut, oiled the fretboard and bridge to help keep it at it's best and then restrung it with a brand new set of strings, all at no extra charge. I've been playing the guitar non stop since I got it home and I couldn't be happier with the instrument and blown away by the service. So glad I made the effort to drive all the way down to see for myself

Great Job Keep it up.

Excellent stuff - shows a wide range of capabilities for your guitar and liked the second tune very much!

Re the guitar, have you been back in touch with the supplier to let them know your thoughts? (Although, when something is too good to be true - it is!)
I see they have guitars going up to £800ish and as low as £200ish - I guess you get what you pay for - but your guitar sounds great, and I've bookmarked the link to the company so I know where I'm going if the funds permit!!

Keep us entertained - love the videos.

Oh thanks Nick

As I said at the time I actually like the guitar and it is well made. I'm sure the guys at Anderwood are very helpful etc and I couldn't fault their service, I just didn't like the fact that there was no mention of these actually being Chinese made. I haven't contacted the company, I don't really see the point, I'm sure they know what they are doing.

I'm currently building an 8 string lap come table steel. Been planning it for about 2 years now and it's finally coming together. Trouble is, I'm spending all my time building and no time playing! I wanted to build an instrument that as far as possible I made every part on, so with the exception of the machine heads and control knobs, this is my intention, inc. the pickups. As I am learning all this from scratch, it is taking a bit of time, next one will be quicker though.

Great Idea of learning to do it yourself. Maybe I need to to.

There is nothing wrong with Cheap Chinese replicas.

HOWEVER marketing it as crafted in the UK is dishonest and I'd rather not give my money to dishonest people.

Also Chinese manufactured products vary so much based on quality. There seems to be no quality control standard. i.e.. Problems tend to surface over time that shouldn't be an issue so early in the instrument's life and regular use. Good luck with it anyway.

Hi Sabatica,

You must be psychic, just a few days ago I noticed that the join in the top of the guitar had split below the bridge. I have emailed Anderwood about this and I am awaiting a reply. I reckon I can do some sort of fix on this myself if necessary, but I'll wait and see how Anderwood responds. I have had the guitar tuned either to C or B, I believe Anderwood recommend up to D, so it's not like it's been subjected to over tension.

I would have thought it should last longer than the 2 years I've had it

I'll update when I get a reply from Anderwood.

Here's a few pictures of the split,

Sorry to see the split. It unfortunately seems like it wasn't designed or tested for string tension issues that can arise.
Quality control in China is a mess unless you have someone who knows the good manufacturers vs the bad. been there done that and been burned.

Sadly the main issue is that once again luthiers who have not the foggiest idea of the needs of Lap Steel players wouldn't know that. Its frustrating and it has to change. I don't care what brand it is unless an actual technical lap steel player uses it, not blues style Ben Harper etc don't waste my time. Its like asking Kurt Cobain about intonation or best guitar setup. I am a fan of both musicians but not for their musical ability or technical proficiency but moreso songwriting.

So once again...if this helps any potential future players. DO NOT BUY A LAPSTEEL from a company that either has no experience, has no sponsored "technically diverse" player UNLESS you know exactly what you are looking for and test it out yourself.

I wish you all the best with your Anderwood. Maybe if they read this they might help you a bit or at least it will make others aware.


Hmmm... Maybe we should do a BAD lap Steel company lists Beware until they get their act together.

The revolution starts with US.