Q: Whatās your biggest gear regret? Why?
Photo by Mitch Conrad
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Guest Picker
A: My biggest gear regret would have to be a 1967 Gibson B-45 12-string that was stolen from me at SXSW in 2012. It was the first fancy guitar I could ever afford, and by āafford,ā I actually mean, āspend every last cent I had on it,ā hahaha! There is a silver lining to this story though. When I returned home to NYC a few days later (I lived there from 2005-2014), my old friend Ken Rockwood (of Rockwood Music Hall fame) had heard about my guitar being stolen and insisted he give me his 1968 ES-335. Obviously, itās not an acoustic 12-string, but it is an equally incredible guitar to the one that was taken and having a friend in your life who treats you the way Ken Rockwood treats people is a gift I wouldnāt trade for anything.
Photo by Mitch Conrad
Current obsession: An artist named Erica Blinn. Iāve been a fan for years, but recently she shared three new songs from her forthcoming album with me and itās all I can listen to. Her new music puts me in mind of Detroit rock ānā roll like MC5 or the Stooges, but if those bands were fronted by a songwriter with amazing pop sensibilities like Chrissie Hynde. Erica has always impressed me, whether she was singing with J. Geils Band harmonica legend Magic Dick or rebuilding a motorcycle engine ... she even told me that she once dug a grave for the city of Dublin, Ohio! Her new songs are going to absolutely blow people away!
Chris Rea
Reader of the Month
A: My first guitar was a Squier Bullet that I always regretted buying because it was a cheap piece of junk. It was so hard to keep in tune. I eventually pawned it for next to nothing and now regret selling it more than anything.
Current obsession: Learning and practicing as much as I can during the pandemic. It is time well spent. Iām also really into sludge metal right now.
John Bohlinger
Nashville Correspondent
A: As a kid, my G.I. Joes didnāt sit on a shelf in unopened boxes. I launched them from rooftops, lit firecrackers in their Kung Fu grip, and jumped my bike over their mangled corpses. Now I hack wood out of my guitars for B-benders or ergonomic belly cuts. I sand necks, mod, and route pickup cavities. I donāt regret loving my toys to death, I regret the ones I sold: Casualties include a 1961 Les Paul (SG), a 1959 Les Paul Special in TV white, and a 1962 surf-green Jazzmaster.
Current obsession: Playing fast guitar songs slowly. For example, SRVās āScuttle Buttināā at 100 bpm swings.
Charles Saufley
Gear Editor
A: Iām not sure you can regret losing what you never had. But my brother-in-lawās brother had an immaculate early-ā60s Jazzmaster. I was obsessed with it, so I would bug him occasionally: āHey if you ever want to sell that thingā¦ā I guess he never took me seriously, because when I finally saved up some lawn-mowing money and had the nerve to really ask, he told me, āI sold it for 275 bucks and a tire.ā
Current Obsession: Exploring the Neil Young Archives onlineāa revelatory and addictive dive into the process and art of a master.
Cort Essence Series ES-GA4 Grand Auditorium Cutaway Acoustic Electric Guitar, Natural Semi Gloss (GA4NSG)
Epiphone Slash J-45 Acoustic Guitar - November Burst
The classic J-45 has been the choice of legendary musicians ever since it was first introduced in 1942. Known as The Workhorse, it is Gibson's most famous and most popular acoustic guitar model. Now Epiphone has released a new Inspired by Gibson"' J-45"' with all of the features players want, including all solid wood construction, a comfortable rounded C neck profile, 20 medium jumbo frets, the 60s style Kalamazoo headstock shape and a gorgeous Aged Vintage Sunburst finish. The FishmanĀ® Sonicore under-saddle pickup and Sonitone preamp make this Workhorse stage-ready too. Optional hardshell or Epilite"' case available separately. A battery is not included. To power your pickup, you will need a 9-volt battery.
Gold Tone The Bell Acoustic-electric Guitar - Natural
Gold Toneās Festival Series: The Bell stands out by blending classic craftsmanship with stage-ready versatility. Its all-solid wood constructionāfeaturing a Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sidesāproduces a rich, balanced tone that shines in any setting. The slope-shoulder design offers both comfort and clarity, perfect for fingerstyle or strumming. With a slim "D" neck, Fishman electronics, Grover tuners, and DāAddario strings, The Bell is crafted for players who demand tone, playability, and reliable performanceāon stage or in the studio.
The Gibson EH-185, introduced in 1939, was one of the companyās first electric guitars.
Itās hard to overstate the importance of electric guitar in shaping American popular music over the last half-century. Its introduction was a revolution, changing the course of modern musical styles. Today, when we think of the guitars that started the revolution, we think of the Stratocaster and the Les Paul, guitars held against the body and fretted with the fingertips. But the real spark of this musical mutiny was the lap-steel guitar.
In the early 20th century, guitar music was moving out of the parlors of homes and into public spaces where folks could gather together and dance. Guitarists needed to project their sound far beyond where their wimpy little acoustic instruments could reach. Instrument manufacturers began experimenting with larger body sizes, metal construction, and resonators to increase volume.
Around this time, George Beauchamp began experimenting with electric guitar amplification. He settled on a design using two U-shaped magnets and a single coil of wire. Beauchamp was in business with Adolph Rickenbacker, and they decided to stick this new invention into a lap steel.
If we put on our 1930s glasses, this decision makes perfect sense. The most popular music at the time was a blend of Hawaiian and jazz styles made famous by virtuosos like Solomon āSolā HoŹ»opiŹ»i. Photos of HoŹ»opiŹ»i with a metal-body resonator aboundāone can imagine his relief at being handed an instrument that projected sound toward the audience via an amplifier, rather than back at his own head via resonator cones. Beauchamp and Rickenbacker were simply following the market.
As it turned out, the popularity of Hawaiian music gave way to swing, and electric lap steels didnāt exactly take the world by storm. But Beauchamp and Rickenbacker had proven the viability of this new technology, and other manufacturers followed suit. In 1937, Gibson created a pickup with magnets under the strings, rather than above like Beauchampās.
āWhen I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christianās smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatierācloser to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y.ā
The first page of Gibsonās āElectrical Instrumentsā section in the 1939 catalog features a glowing, full-page write-up of their top-of-the-line lap steel: the EH-185. āEverything about this new electric Hawaiian Guitar smacks of good showmanship,ā effuses the copy. āIt has smoothness, great sustaining power, and an easy flow of tone that builds up strongly and does not die out.ā
Picking up the 1940 EH-185 at Fannyās House of Music is about as close as one can get to traveling back in time to try a new one. It is just so clean, with barely any dings or even finish checking. Overall, this is a 9/10 piece, and itās a joy to behold. Speaking of picking it up, the first thing you notice when you lift the EH-185 out of the case is its weight. This is a much heavier instrument than other similar-sized lap steels, owing to a length of thick metal between the body and the fretboard. The catalog calls it āHyblum metal,ā which may be a flowery trade name for an early aluminum alloy.
This 1940 EH-185 is heavier than other lap steels in its class, thanks to a length of metal between its fretboard and body.
Photo by Madison Thorn
There are numerous other fancy appointments on the EH-185 that Gibson didnāt offer on their lesser models. Itās made of highly figured maple, with diamond-shaped decorations on the back of the body and neck. The double binding is nearly a centimeter thick and gives the instrument a luxurious, expensive look.
Behind all these high-end attributes is a great-sounding guitar, thanks to that old pickup. Itās got three blades protruding through the bobbin for the unwound strings and one longer blade for the wound strings. When I plugged in the EH-185 I expected to hear something reminiscent of Charlie Christianās smooth, clean tone. But what I got was meatierācloser to what I associate with P-90s: warm and midrange-y. It was just crying out for a little crunch and a bluesy touch. Itās kind of cool how such a pristine, high-end vintage instrument can be so well-suited for a sound thatās rough around the edges.
As far as electric guitars go, it doesnāt get much more vintage than this 1940 Gibson EH-185 Lap Steel. It reminds us of where the story of the electric guitar truly began. This EH-185 isnāt just a relicāitās a testament to when the future of music was unfolding in real time. Plug it in, and you become part of the revolution.
Sources: Smithsonian, Vintage Guitar, Mozart Project, Gibson Pre-War, WIRED, Steel Guitar Forum, Vintaxe
