Weissenborn

This article is about a brand of guitar. For the German communities, see Weißenborn (disambiguation). For the musician, see Julius Weissenborn.

For the village in Gemeinde Gleichen, Germany, see Weißenborn, Lower Saxony.

Ben Harper playing a Weissenborn in Toronto, Ontario

Weissenborn or H. Weissenborn is a brand of lap slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s.

These instruments are now highly sought after, and form the base for most non-resonator acoustic lap steel guitars currently produced. It is estimated that fewer than 5,000 original instruments were produced, and unknown how many now survive. The signature feature of Weissenborn guitars is the hollow neck, effectively a highly adapted body chamber that runs the entire length of the body, making conventional playing completely impossible.

The name Weissenborn is now commonly used to describe this style of instrument in general, with H. Weissenborn and modern factory or luthier reproductions being referred to as Weissenborn or Weissenborn-style guitars.

Players

Mason Rack playing a replica Weissenborn in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec

• Jerry Douglas from Alison Krauss & Union Station
• Jeff Lang
• Bob Brozman
• David Lindley
• Gurf Morlix
• Ben Harper
• Kaki King
• Xavier Rudd
• David Gilmour from Pink Floyd
• Ron Wood
• Pura Fé
• John Butler
• Jay Driscoll
• Bo Ramsey
• Martin Harley
• Andy Bole
• Roberto Diana
• John Fahey
• Jack Rose
• Jerry Hionis
• Ed Gerhard
• Sam Simon
• Daniel Brauchli
• Jim Brobeck
• Jon Carin from Pink Floyd
• Dan Schwartz
• Jason Burnstick
• Mason Rack
• Ashley Raines
• Andrew Morris (singer-songwriter)
• The Dave Roberts Effect
• Joe Bethancourt