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Post by bryanbradfield on Feb 11, 2014 22:24:02 GMT
Bottleneck John: Brasher was the king of "out-of-place" design. There is a hole in the centre of the cover plate strap, when no screw exists beneath the hole. The neck stick is glued to the guitar back, and is not intended to be used as a neck angle adjuster. The typical Brasher cone was concave/convex (W-shaped) in the Dobro spider-web tradition, but with a flat area in the centre for a biscuit as per National. Anything else?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2014 2:05:09 GMT
Hi -
Just joined this forum to add to the common knowledge on Brasher. I found a Brasher instrument at an antique market here in Guelph today. It's not like others I've encountered in that it's a wood-body, with a very non-Hensel looking neck with a solid peghead and "Einor" in fairly home-made looking script on the headstock, and it has a metal-body style coverplate. The palm rest says "South Sea College" in typical Brasher engraving (similar to the Silvatone, Maui, and Aloha models), with the same style 6-segmented cut-outs that we see in the metal-body Brashers. Guitar's body is black with white single-layer binding, the neck is black, and it has a rosewood fingerboard with small pearl rectangle inlays at frets 5,7,9,12,15. The fingerboard is glued on. The guitar is completely original, including finish.
I've not yet removed the coverplate to look inside, but the cone looks like the typical stamped Brasher design, with one of those funny metal biscuits.
I will compare it with the Hensel-built Reliance resonator I have at the shop sometime this week and report back.
Interesting stuff!
Best, Mark Stutman Folkway Music
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Post by amccj7 on Feb 6, 2015 15:38:52 GMT
Great to see!
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Post by bryanbradfield on May 16, 2015 20:31:52 GMT
Here is a video for a guitar for sale in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The link is in the following message.
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Post by bryanbradfield on May 16, 2015 20:50:45 GMT
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edzen
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Post by edzen on May 3, 2017 0:30:45 GMT
Hi Folks I have what I think may be a Charles Brasher. Bought this at an auction sale for about $20 thirty years ago. Always meant to restore it, but only found out its possible source today after reading this forum. And the wonderful article in Canadian Musician written by you, Bryan Bradfield. (If you have a better - colour? - copy, I'd love to get one. Its marked up and the back is loosened a bit, one brace needs regluing, neck needs to be straightened. One machine head has been replaced, but it otherwise looks to be original. The cone is brass. But I can't for the life of me find a patent number anywhere on it as described in Bryan's article. But it looks exactly like the one pictured in the article. Is this a Brasher? Attachments:
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edzen
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Post by edzen on May 3, 2017 0:51:40 GMT
More photos of guitar and parts. The resonator needs a bit of cleanup. Not sure if the bridge and biscuit are original. Looks like it was screwed with woodscrews from underneath and the screw tips filed off - a little bit crude. And the nut looks like it's made of wood.
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Post by snakehips on May 3, 2017 8:10:07 GMT
Hi there !
Wow ! That cone is strangely beautiful ! At the same time though, you can tell that is never gonna transfer string vibration into sound as good as a vintage National cone will.
Nice find !
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edzen
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Post by edzen on May 3, 2017 13:31:35 GMT
Hi snakehips. You're right - it certainly isn't a national. But if I can find the right person to fix, restore and clean up I'll put a new set of strings on and try it out. It does have a unique sound, not very much sustain, but worth fixing, I think.
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Post by bryanbradfield on May 3, 2017 14:54:51 GMT
Edzen - That reso is identical to mine. It has no logo on the headstock. The cone is original, although I don't recall the 4 screws in the bridge biscuit. In addition, as I recall, my bridge saddle was made from sheet metal. I moved my cone to another collector several years ago after I retrofitted a dobro cone into mine. Yes, the sound of the original left something to be desired, but was still "resophonic-sounding". I don't recall what my original nut was made from.
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edzen
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Post by edzen on Dec 18, 2017 0:15:12 GMT
Does anyone know of a reputable vintage guitar restoration/repair person in Toronto, or between TO and Windsor ON? I want to restore my Brasher guitar. Neck needs straightening among other things. There are other repair people in my area and I don't know if it takes a vintage expert or not.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Dec 18, 2017 1:13:22 GMT
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edzen
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Post by edzen on Dec 18, 2017 18:01:14 GMT
Thanks again, Bryan! I've contacted Folkways Music . - Ed
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