Tim kill has built an acoustic lap steel for Mick Hart | photo : Mick Hart at La Pomme d'Eve, Paris, France - May 2nd 2006 © Emmanuel Rivet / mickhart.com.au

Tim kill : "This model here is an all Tasmanian Blackwood model with indian ebony fingerboard and bridge also features rosewood bindings and Queensland Walnut inlay work."

This is an acoustic lap steel guitar combining the acoustics of Weissenborn and resonator guitars with carbon fiber braces. Top: fiddleback Blackwood - Body: Blackwood - Fingerboard: Eucalypt with Blackwood and Rosewood inlay.

The floating bridge instrument is loud and warm. It has an excellent tone and volume balance right across it's range. This makes it ideal for studio or amplification. It has a round attack like a resonator guitar, but doesn't have the frequency balance problems associated with resonators. Another advantage over resonators is that it can be fitted with any undersaddle pickup and a good range of magnetic pickups.
The fixed bridge version is more like the original Weissenborn sound (A clean Hawaiian sound with a strong bass) but with extra volume and clarity from the carbon braces.
The head design positions the tuners so that they can be reached easily during playing. (good for people who use different tunings).
The neck inlays are highly visible for peripheral vision. This is very important during a performance.
The flamed blackwood soundboard combined with carbon braces is as loud as a good resonator guitar but has a more balanced tone. Blackwood is a close relative of the Koawood that was used in Hawaiian instruments and Weissenborn guitars.