From Asher website — Bill Asher originally designed this lap steel model in 1998 for Ben Harper. The collaboration created what we feel is one of the finest and most versatile lap steels ever made. With a neck through body design reinforced with graphite, strings running through the body to a wood bridge, and brass saddle you can take advantage of its ultimate sustain. The neck and body wings are cut from solid Honduras mahogany. The body is milled for 8 cylindrical tone chambers, which help give the guitar its warm acoustic character. The guitar has a koa fretboard with maple fret markers and a 3/16" koa top. It is finished with either a gloss lacquer or hand rubbed shellac. The electronics are passive with two high output custom made stacked pickups; a series split parallel switch for each pickup, a master volume, and tone. The recommended string gauges are .015 to .059, and it will sound great in all the open tuning you can dream up.

Specifications — Honduras Mahogany neck and body - Neck through construction with graphite reinforcement - Eight uniquely patterned hollow body chambers - 25-inch scale - Figured Koa top - Koa fretboard with Maple fret lines - Pearl inlayed fretboard position markers - Ivoroid binding - Master volume and three way pickup switch - Series parallel switch for rhythm pickup - Custom made, double coil, stacked, four conductor pickups - Durable satin finish.

Ben Harper — Since a long time, I had the idea to make build a guitar between a Les Paul and a Weissenborn. People said me that this luthier in Santa Monica could probably do that. We started from my idea, from sounds that I would like to obtain and I should say that the result is good. I control volume, sustain and feedback like with a solid body. I can also filter the echo of the hollow elements.
© Photo by Neil Zlozower

Manufacturing is similar for an Asher and a Weissenborn, but a little thicker. The body is Honduras Mahogany. Solid body in the middle and hollow body on the sides -there are eight honeycomb hollow chambers- capped with Koa. This is the main difference between an Asher and a Les Paul, echo is deeper.

Bill Asher had built several prototypes, with and without graphite inside. It seems that graphite allows a better vibrations transmission from the neck to the body.

It's a fretless guitar but there are maple fret lines on the neck. The important action of strings allows to obtain a better slide sound. The Asher, like the Weissenborn, has a 25 inch scale, while traditional Lap-steel have a 22,75 inch scale.

Pickups are custom single-coil. The pickup selector allows to switch between low, medium and high pickups and to make combinations.

Sound is more agressive than on a Weissenborn but stays very melodious. Bill Lawrence pickups avoid feedback. The sound crosses a vintage pedal Ibanez tube screamer. I experiment all the time. I've no definitive configuration. I experiment in studio trying to find the better sound.

Ben Harper has also custom double-coil pickups wound by Tom Anderson (andersonguitars.com). Harper's collection of Ashers includes several other pickup variations-one with two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, one with a standard Sunrise dual coil pickup, and one with a humbucker and a Fernandes Sustainer.

I still use Weissenborn guitars - on the intro of "Please bleed" I felt that the feedback of a Weissenborn was more appropriate but they began to be fragile. Few are customized, a little stronger, but they are mistreaded in tour.

JP Plunier (manager) — Before, we amplified acoustic guitars but there is a limit. We can obtain feedback on command but it's not the same impact. There, Ben started in an electric direction, I find that very well, but it doesn't mean that's eternal, that just goes with the kind of songs he plays at this time. For us too, on road, it's easier. Guitars he played before, were 70 or 100 old! A little temperature variation and the wood was in extension or in contraction, it was out of tune all the time. You always had problems because a little peace of wood were gone, or a little fret... Now, these problems are resolved.

Guitar Player, December 1999 — On the previous record, Will to Live, I think I pushed an acoustic lap guitar as loud as it could go with the crunch stuff on "Faded" and "Will to Live." Those old Weissenborns are only held together with hide glue, and I could feel them vibrating in a dangerous way..... So I went to [luthier] Billy Asher and said, "How can we translate acoustic lap guitar into something that's a cross between a Weissenborn and a Les Paul? He came up with the instrument I played on Burn to Shine. It's built of Honduras mahogany--like and old Les Paul--but it's a neck-through-body design. The wings are honeycombed with nine hollow chambers and covered with a koa top. Billy also hollows out the neck and fills it with graphite. He built several prototypes--with and without the graphite--but somehow the graphite connects the resonance to the rest of the body, so we settled on that. The Asher also has a brass saddle, which seems to enhance sustain.

I was excited when Billy built this guitar--it gets such a mad tone. Finally I could get solid body volume and sustain, control feedback, and still have some hollow resonance that filters up through the pickups instead of through the open hole. One reason the Asher sounds different is because it has a full, 25" scale length--like the Weissenborn. Typical lap steels have a 22.75" scale. All the crunch slide on Burn to Shine album is the Asher...


The Ben Harper signature was limited to approximately 60 guitars. This design will continue as the Electro Hawaiian.

From Asher website — The Asher Electro-Hawaiian is a master built lap steel guitar crafted from exotic tone woods with vintage and modern details. Originally designed by Bill Asher and Ben Harper in 1998 and inspired by Herman Weissenborns' Hawaiian acoustic lap steels made from 1920 to 1933. Ben Harper created his style and sound playing the Weissenborn but needed an instrument that had more sustain, versatility in tone, and pickup options like modern electric guitars. Asher designed this guitar using a neck through construction and body of solid Honduras Mahogany. The guitar is cut for eight uniquely patterned hollow chambers then laminated with a 3/16" figured koa, maple or spruce top. The chamber design gives a wonderful blend between the tones of an acoustic and electric guitar. The Neck is capped with a fretless board with maple fret lines and pearl position markers. For extra sustain, the neck is inlaid with a 1/4" x 3/8" graphite rod and the strings run up through the body to a curly maple or rosewood bridge with a brass saddle. The wood is coated with old style shellac to bring out its natural beauty and color while allowing it to breathe like old vintage guitars. The guitar is wired with two custom wound stacked single coil pickups for a full low end and smooth top end response covering wide dynamic range of tones. A master volume, three way pickup selector, and series parallel switch for the rhythm pickup, giving a total of five pickup settings.

From Asher website — "Built for superior tone and vintage style, the Series II is bound to be a collectors item!" — The first Asher Limited Edition Ben Harper Model lap steel, which debuted in 1998, has since been coveted and sought after by musicians and collectors alike. Its increase in value over the years has proven its merit as a musically dynamic, innovative, and masterfully crafted instrument - the new 2005 Ben Harper Signature model is expected to draw the same accolades, only with a new spin on sound, style and tone.
Asher and Harper have teamed up once again to create an amazing modern-day lap steel drawing on inspiration from the classic '59 Gibson Les Paul. The Harper Series II Limited Edition will feature a flame maple top with cherry sunburst finish in nitro cellulose lacquer, a pair of Seymour Duncan Custom Shop '59-Style Humbuckers, T.O.M. bridge and tail-piece by Tone Pros.
Production will be limited to only 100 instruments, each bearing signature logos of both Ben Harper and Bill Asher. The model will also come with a special signed limited edition certificate of authenticity.
This special Limited Edition will be available exclusively through Asher Guitars, and the Folk Music Center (www.folkmusiccenter.com). Deposits are now being accepted for the first run of #001 through #0024, which are expected to be ready for shipment in late July-August 2005.
This instrument is currently being recorded and toured with by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals...

specifications — style: lap steel - scale length: 25 inches - neck & body: neck through solid Honduras mahogany with cylindrical tone chambers - top: flamed maple - pickups: 2 Seymour Duncan Custom Shop '59-Style Humbuckers - pickup switching: three-way toggle - controls: master volume and master tone for each pickup - knobs: gold top hat - fret board: koa - bridge: T.O.M. by Tone Pros - tailpiece: Featherweight by Tone Pro - machine heads: Kluson Deluxe with keystone buttons - nut: bone - string spacing: nut: 1 3/4 inches, bridge: 2 1/8 inches - color: cherry burst - finish: nitro-cellulose lacquer - number of frets: 22 - strings: Asher Electro Hawaiian Lap Steel strings - case: custom hard shell case by Cedar Creek - price: $2800 US dollars (plus shipping); deposit required: $1400 US Dollars

From Asher website — "The Asher Acoustic Hawaiian Teardrop lap steel guitar pays tribute to the rare pear-shaped Herman Weissenborn lap steels from the late 1920's. In honor of these fine instruments, I have made the most accurate reproduction possible with the same unique acoustic qualities and distinctive woody tones. From hand-picked exotic tone woods and a vintage teardrop design, the Asher equivalent boasts the same master craftsmanship and sound that will not only perform beyond expectations, but last a lifetime."

specifications — style: acoustic lap steel - scale length: 25 inches - top: african mahogany - back & sides: african mahogany - bracing: spruce - wood options: flamed figured koa with rope binding (up charge) - fret board: rosewood - bridge: rosewood - saddle: aluminum - nut: ebony - finish: satin; (gloss lacquer available with up charge) - string spacing: nut: 1 7/8 inches, bridge: 2 3/8 inches - case: custom hard shell - number of frets: 21 - machine heads: Goto - Waverly style - strings: Asher Acoustic Hawaiian Lap Steel Strings - price in US dollars: $1700 - Style I - $3500 - Style IV

Bill Asher — "This is a prototype lap steel we did for Ben Harper which he used on his last tour of Japan! It is a semi hollow guitar made of very light swamp ash with a figuered redwood top. It has two pickups, one is an Asher which is in the regular Ben Harper model. The other pickup is an old Rickenbacker horseshoe. It also has a piezo pickup in the bridge with 2 seperate outputs for that acoustic sound. We are in the process of going into production on this model. But this one is the actual prototype played by Ben. It has an increadably fat warm tone. Incorporating the highly coveted "Horseshoe" pickup for that big fat tone, and the asher pickup for that sweet focused sound, and the piezo for the acoustic thing. This is the most versatile Lap in the world!" — source : E-bay - Auction ended on July 07, 2001 - $2,500