Aye W01 Weissenborn

The guitars built by Hermann C. Weissenborn in the 1920's-1930's are legendary among Hawaiian guitar players. Their distinctive hollow neck design produce a woody sound with astounding volume, tone, and sustain.

The Aye W01 Weissenborn brings quality craftmanship and affordabilty together to deliver an amazing guitar that will simply astound you.

Specifications:
String Scale 24-7/8"
Quality Solid Mahogany Soundboard
Laminated Mahogany Back and Sides
Rosewood fingerboard with maple "fret" inlays
Maple Binding
Quality Tuning Machines
Rosewood Bridge with Bone Saddle
Bone Nut

Wiessenborn Guitars

The forefather of the National, Dobro® and pedal steel guitars was conceived and built by Hermann Weissenborn in the early 1920's.

Hermann C. Weissenborn, a German piano and violin maker, emigrated to New York around 1902. In 1910 he moved to Los Angeles where he mainly did repair work on instruments until the end of the decade. With the Hawaiian music boom of the early 20's, Weissenborn started making ukeleles, flat-tops and eventually Hawaiian steel guitars. Chris J. Knutsen made similar guitars in the Seattle area at the same time. Both makers' guitars are sought after and imitated by contemporary builders, although they are usually referred to generically as Weissenborn guitars.

With their raised string action, frets flush with the fingerboard, square hollow necks and featherweight koa wood construction, the Weissenborns offered both greater volume and sustain than conventional Spanish neck guitars for Hawaiian lap steel playing. Due to their sweet timbre, expressive tone and eye catching design these guitars were an instant hit and stayed in demand until the advent of resonator guitars.

These guitars have experienced a revival due to their use by such artists as David Lindley and Ben Harper among others.