Custom Ghost Saddle MIDI Lapsteel Resonator Dobro/Weissenborn Guitar

*detailed videos available upon request

For sale is a one-of-a-kind lapsteel guitar that combines a dobro and a weissenborn with MIDI capabilities using Graphtech 13 pin technology. It has a scale length of 25 inches and comes with a gig bag. This is a custom-made instrument that took months to build due to its complex design, which includes a solid body and a resonator cone. The body cavities had to be routed, and a custom bridge was designed and fabricated to house the Graphtech ghost piezo saddles. The bridge design was intricate and was made in collaboration with a luthier who specializes in dobro amplification systems.

The wiring of the Graphtech to the internal hex output board and fitting the knobs and switches was a challenging task, but it was successfully completed. As a result, the guitar has a regular neck humbucker output jack, a pure Piezo jack, and a 13 pin MIDI output jack (which sums the humbucker and the Piezo on its 13 pin output). This provides a wide range of possibilities that are unmatched by any other electric dobro/lap steel in the world, making it a unique and exceptional instrument. You might be wondering, why go through all this trouble to have Piezo saddles feeding and MIDI system, whilst you can also use a GK magnetic pickup? Well the simple answer is that going to Piezo route the instrument modeling pertains the acoustic characteristics of an acoustically plucked string; If one were to go the magnetic route it would not have an acoustic tone whatsoever, this includes when you enable the instrument modeling on a Boss or Roland floorboard model, every acoustic model will have an electric the magnetic pickup sound to it. however, when using the Piezo saddles it will retain the acoustic direct out, and instrument modeling will retain the acoustic characteristics; additionally the magnetic instrument modeling does work quite authentically when Piezo's are feeding the instrument modeling. the advantages of having Piezo saddles is that you can run the piezo crystal out directly through for instance a Fishman Jerry Douglas aura pedal, and you will have an authentic dobro acoustic sound, which you cannot achieve when sending a magnetic signal through the Fishman aura pedal.

Just in terms of possibilities you can connect this instrument to a Boss GP – 10, or a boss SY – 1000 unit and you would have infinite total possibilities with instrument modeling such as electric guitar models like a: Les Paul, Stratocaster, Rickenbacker, electric 12 strings.... you name it. Moreover, there is a plethora of acoustic guitar modeling available in these floor units like acoustic guitar modeling with additional exotic and Eastern instruments like a sitar, dobro and fretless instruments. Moreover, this unit also boasts synth patches for synthesizer sounds, and all of this can be utilized with three instrument models at the same time. Do you want instrument 1 to be a sitar, instrument 2 to be a dobro, instrument three to be a fretless Les Paul playing all at the same time, while each individual string (which makes this 18 strings in total) is panned across the frequency spectrum? Why would you? Why not!? If you are of the daring kind, then this is your instrument.

I'm reluctantly letting this go, as I'm sure this is the most advanced, in terms of sheer tonal capability, electro –acoustic lapsteel dobro that's out there, and may be bested only by the moog lapsteel (unobtanium). Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about this unique instrument.