Smith Family 10-string Melobar in white finish built by Mosrite

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The "upside-down Strat" body shape of this bizarre looking guitar may look familiar, especially following from Bertram's recent blog posts featuring Mosrite guitars. This 10-string Melobar is indeed a Mosrite-built instrument, one of a quantity of 500 that Semie Moseley produced circa 1965 for the Smith Family, the company behind the Melobar name. Apparently 500 of this design were built: 50 finished in white, 50 in blue, 100 in black, 100 in red, and the remaining 200 in sunburst finish. We previously looked at a sunburst example here.

One very quirky feature is the out-of-place 10th machine head (see photo, right). Forgetting the fact that the Melobar pictured has been strung with 6 strings, these were originally designed as 9-string instruments, but were then quickly altered at the factory for 10 strings. So, that odd looking extra machine head is factory original, and is not a later addition by some former owner. It's not the most elegant solution, it must be said.

This intriguing instrument - I'd love to have a go on one but never really got on with slide guitar - is currently being auctioned on eBay with a starting price of $875.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1990s Melobar doubleneck with Telecaster neck and angled Melobar neck for slide playing

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at Melobar guitars here before several times. For those new to the concept they allow the steel guitar player to stand up and move around the stage by having a 45-degree angled neck mounted onto a slab body.

However, here we see a doubleneck with regular 6-string Tele-style neck at the top and a 6-string Melobar steel at the bottom. Note the way in which the necks are angled to allow the player unhindered access to the slide neck.

This particular pearloid-covered example has been listed on eBay UK (although the item for sale is actually located in The Netherlands) and has a But It Now price of £2,500.

Why do I feel that someone is about to mention Junior Brown and his Guit-Steel in the comments?

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Captain Beefheart RIP

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is sad news indeed...

Don Van Vliet, aka 'Captain Beefheart', has died aged 69 from complications from multiple sclerosis.

(I know it's not necessarily directly guitar-related, but look out for the Melobar in the above clip.)

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1980s Mel-O-Bar Explorer - 10 Strings!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I have a great fondness for the Mel-O-Bar, as regular readers may know. The listing has some great information and hints at some of the flexibility of this multi-string format. Here's what the seller has to say...

This 1980s Melobar X-10 Explorer, a true Vintage Classic. Melobar guitars were made for lap steel and Dobro players to be able to play standing up. Melobars were made by Walt Smith who collaborated with many outstanding innovators in the guitar world from the Dopyera Brothers to Ned Steinberger and Semi Mosley. The design is basically the same on all models -- the neck is tilted as to be slightly less than perpendicular to the player. It hangs from a strap. There were very few of these instruments made and a number of them are used by "A-List" players in contemporary country bands (Tim McGraw and Toby Keith), David Lindley has several, also Rusty Young of Poco and Cindy Cashdollar to name a few. You can use your favorite tuning on these. It is totally up to you. For pedal steelers the 10 string models enable you to tune the first six strings to standard "E" tuning (E,B,E,G#,B,E). The remaining four are tuned to "A" (A,E,A,C#, A) which allows for suspensions and secondary chords to be produced without pedals.

The last few lines of the ad are quite telling.

This Bad Boy is in Excellent Condition - Minor wear and tear. - Guaranteed to Shred in the Right Hands!

"Shred in the Right Hands!" Hmmmm, I would love to hear what could be done with this by a young, free thinking (that bit is very important) metallurgist, Jazzologist or shredderista. I think it needs someone like that just because of the high degree of skill and dedication required to really master it, the potential for the execution of the most esoteric and/or microtonal scales and the potential for the wildest solos combined with jaw dropping visuals. Not to mention instant and total admiration from the rest of the musical community. The Hendrix of steel guitar!

Probably the instrument's biggest drawback is its history as the backbone of country music. You barely have to look at a lap steel for it to start wailing out those whiny Nasville yeehah! tones and "Crystal Chandelier" melodies. Musicians like David Lindley have done a lot to popularise it to a non-country audience but for the world at large the association with "that sound" is so strong, it will take a complete change of way-of-thinking about it to shake off that baggage.

I bought my own Mel-O-Bar on eBay a few weeks ago (still awaiting delivery but I'm patient). I have a Peavey Powerslide and am awaiting the imminent delivery of an old (40s/50s) National New Yorker lap steel - also care of eBay. The slide guitar bug has bitten hard.

I've just invested in a pile of lap steel books and an instructional dvd from the wonderfully named Cindy Cashdollar, which I'd recommend to anyone thinking of taking up any kind of steel guitar. I'm not a country music fan (the only albums I have are Merle Haggard, The Dixie Chicks and The Indigo Girls) but one thing I found out very early on is, the lap steel requires a lot of practice and a fair bit of discipline. And, understanding a few basic techniques, exercises, tunings and scale structures makes such a difference.

This is not a dig at country music, by the way, before all you rednecks start giving me grief, y'all. Just out loud thinking that maybe there is a another tonal voice to be heard from these instruments. Gavin pointed me in the direction of Captain Beefheart circa "Ice cream for crow" (one of my favourite Beefheart tracks) and although the (Mel-O-Bar) has a prominent contribution, it doesn't sound like a regular steel guitar.

Anyone know of players in other genres doing innovative stuff, metal, jazz?

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

OMG! Another Mel-O-Bar. But what a Mel-O-Bar!!!! Naugahyde!!!!

guitarz.blogspot.com

We've had a few vintage Mel-O-Bars recently but this one is 1980s, unused with just a couple of small scratches on the neck and a liberal coating of shop dust. That's like fairy dust but more expensive. The sellers say it's been on display in their shop since the 1980s. The body is foam padded "for comfort" and, it's covered in Naugahyde!!!!!!! Sorry, more exclamation marks and bold type, I just can't help it.

It was Tom Waits who introduced me to the subtle, sticky and seductive texture, the clammy and clinging faux leatherette-ishness and the sweet, heady vinylious aroma of Naugahyde and I've been a sucker for it ever since.

I checked out Naugahyde on Google and they are still in business! www.naugahyde.com 

"There is only one Naugahyde and it's proudly made in the USA." Well, for that I'm glad! They do have a somewhat skewed take on eco friendly though, which is kind of fuzzed over with their story that Naugahyde comes from the sloughed skin of naugas - "No naugas were harmed in the production of this material". But as Naugahyde is actually made of PVC, the welfare of cute little fictional critters is the least of our worries. Slight digression... Guitar making is, in the mainstream at least, an industrial process and, even apart from the timbers that are used to build guitars, there are glues, paints, varnishes, plastics and heavy metals (yeah! I'm talking to you Ozzy) used in their manufacture so... Where art thou, eco-guitar?

It also has another interesting though somehow less, well, tactile feature (if you get my drift) which I've never seen before. Along the edge of the neck is a guide bar to help position the slide. I guess you would feel the notches with your finger tips as you play. I tried searching for more info on this but with no luck so far. It may well be an innovation unique to Melobars.

I'm pleased to say, that as it's clearly not everyones cup of tea, I had little opposition in the usual bidding frenzy over there at eBay Towers and it will be winging its way to sunny Barcelona (into the loving arms of the Spanish customs department so they can determine how much to fleece me for this time) very shortly. I stayed up till 4.30 in the morning to bid for this, by the way.

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

10-string electric-acoustic Melobar slide guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another Melobar - or at least a Melobar-styled guitar with an angled playing surface so as to facilitate slide playing whilst wearing the guitar on a strap. I don't know for sure if this is an actual Melobar-branded instrument. I have only been aware of solid-bodied Melobars previously.

If anyone can read the Japanese of the auction listing, or can tell me any more, please get in touch!

Thanks to Ken Shima for bringing this unusual guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

John Paul Jones's Manson Custom Bass Lapsteel

guitarz.blogspot.com

Addendum to my previous Melobar post:

the first time I noticed a Melobar style lapsteel guitar was in a video of Them Crooked Vultures showing John Paul Jones playing a custom made (by Manson, hence the trademark embedded Kaoss pad) strap-on bass lapsteel (photo) - I actually wrote a post about them, but at the time I was more interested in Homme's Maton guitar and Jones's Manson bass mandolin!

I'm not a fan of Them Crooked Vultures' music but I must admit that they have a very good taste in instruments. Besides Jones's Manson lapsteel, we can see in this video Homme playing his MotorAve BelAir and Johannes who took over bass duty with a violin bass that looks like an original Höfner (couldn't see the brand but the headstock shape fits)(can't tell about Grohl's drums, this is out of my domain!).

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1965 Mosrite Melobar

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Mosrite Melobar is one of the most exciting instrument I've posted here.

I was aware that something such existed but (thanks one more time to David B. who regularly send us his Internet finds) I've made some research lately about it and I discovered a cool hybrid guitar, allowing a musician to play lap steel style while standing / moving / dancing - that makes it a great instrument for the kind garage blues I particularly like lately (that's also the kind of instrument that was played in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band).

The instrument was conceived by Melobar in the 60s and built by different brands - this one by Mosrite with its classic design that fits particularly well (there is also a Flying V version with accurate ergonomics but ill-looking in my humble opinion). It has a neck with 70° angle to the body, that is then almost horizontal when the body hangs from the strap in a standard guitar position (the strap is connected to the headstock to allow uncompensated pressure on the neck). You play it like a regular lapsteel, though probably with more energy!

This is the 9-string version of the Melobar - they existed also in 6 and up to 10. For some obscure and un-understandable reasons, the Melobar was short-lived and never reissued (I have a doubt though, there's been a Melobar.com website that is now closed, so I can't tell if it was a vintage fan site or a new company one - like Jolana...). So who will resuscitate this little marvel?

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!