Asher Ultratone - Preowned

The Ultra-Tone body is inspired by the classic Telecaster guitars of the 1950s and is designed to embody all their classic tones, contours, and light weight feel, with a unique and balanced offset body shape.

Bill Asher is a Los Angeles based luthier that has been working in the guitar business for  nearly 30 years, and is a maker of legendary lap steel instruments, including the Ben Harper signature model. Lesser known, but just as fantastic, are his electric guitars.

Guitar makers who make first class lap steel guitars have to develop a very special understanding of tone, sustain and articulation, (think of how few elements they have to work with!) and the T-style guitar platform is perfect for a lap steel maker because the basic sonorities are not that different.

This particular instrument is an Asher Ultra Tone Deluxe model which I had made for me by Bill in 2010.

This guitar has all the the '50s T-style vibe we love, but with some modern updates that make it a more enjoyable instrument to play, First of all, the body of this guitar is slightly offset, making it more comfortable to play and better balanced than a traditional T-style guitar. Whether sitting or standing, the guitar just lays perfectly in your hands.

Second,  If you want them, the classic T tones are all there in spades, but there are a lot more possibilities thanks to the addition of the ToneStyler tone control and the Duncan pickups. The ToneStyler is an analog tone control from Stellartone, that adjusts the treble roll off, giving you 16 options of different roll off points. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Just let your ears decide what position you like best, and all 16 positions are notched so the control won't change once you get it where you want. You will hear shifts in the treble presence, and can go from a darker sound to a brighter sound.

This guitar is weighs 7.6 pounds, and is made from the wood of all woods for T-styles, a beautifully-figured swamp ash.

Bill is really a first class guitar maker and I think his guitars will become more widely known in the coming years because they are so damned good. If you like T-style guitars but are willing to try out a fantastic guitar with a slightly revisionist point of view, call me, and let's talk.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.