Ribbecke Halfling

MichaelHorowitz

I was recently reading about the new Ribbecke Halfling model guitar and was wondering if anyone has tried one. It's an interesting concept: the bass side of the top is flat and the treble side is arched. So it's supposed to get a snappy arch top high end but a full flatop lowend.



The Ribbecke site says thatt:

The Halfling is a unique and proprietary design of guitar or Bass that uses the concepts of advanced luthiery design to create a more versatile and efficient stringed instrument by combining the flat bass side of a “Steel string” or “Classical” guitar top with the carved or arched treble side of the soundboard, to create an instrument that is capable of large full fundamental bass response with the separation of course (ability to hear and distinguish all the notes of a complex chord when ringing together.)

http://www.ribbecke.com/halfling/halfling.htm

I wonder if it really works....the Music Emporium in Massachusetts has one, maybe some locals can report? I guess I'm curious because I've always found archtops to be a bit disappointing when played acoustic. Perhaps I'd actually like one of these!

'm

a

i really don't get the archtop thing.

it's like, they don't make archtop drum heads...

national/steel-resonator guitars are something i think could be explored in relation to "gypsy" style playing. they might sound really cool with "gypsy" strings..anyone know if there's any kind steel of selmer style guitar out there?

or what about that carbon fiber stuff? it would be cool to try a selmer style guitar made out of that stuff because it might eliminate the need for bracing, which could open up a whole new realm of possibilities...

MichaelHorowitz

a wrote:

national/steel-resonator guitars are something i think could be explored in relation to "gypsy" style playing. they might sound really cool with "gypsy" strings..anyone know if there's any kind steel of selmer style guitar out there?

Actually, I think Nationals make awesome Gypsy style instruments! We all know that Oscar Aleman played them....but it seemed to die with him. Just the other day, a friend and I had a little Gypsy jam on Nationals at a local music store. They sound great...you just have to know how to handle them. Fortunately, if you have Gypsy picking down you'll get a warm tone out of them. And with rhythm you really have to brush the strings or it gets too harsh. But if you play them right, it's like a Selmer but twice as loud.

The real problem is the construction of Reso guitars. They usually have a 25" scale, 12 fret neck, no cutaway, a beefy neck, and wider string spacing. So they feel weird if you're used to the proportions of a Gypsy guitar, and you don't have good high fret access.

Tricones seem to be the best for Gypsy jazz.....the single cones are a bit harsher. But they're not too bad either.

IMO, the two best models are:

The Style 1 Cutaway:



It has more high fret access and a longer scale length then the other models: 25.6

Baritone Style 1



The Baritone has a massive 27" scale...it joins the body at the 13th fret so you get a bit more high fret access. But the string spacing is extra wide, so that's sort of a deal breaker for me.

One of these days I'll get one! They're a lot of fun...and a great alternative to amplification for busking or noisy restaurants.

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delsbrother

Didn't Django dis' the Nationals on his US tour? I seem to remember a quote something along the lines of "Americans make their guitars out of tin cans."

There are several Nationals with cutaways now. I wonder if you could custom-order a thinner neck as well.

MichaelHorowitz

delsbrother wrote:

Didn't Django dis' the Nationals on his US tour? I seem to remember a quote something along the lines of "Americans make their guitars out of tin cans."

I'm pretty certain he never used nationals. That comment was referring to archtop guitars.

There are several Nationals with cutaways now. I wonder if you could custom-order a thinner neck as well.

I actually emailed them about this...trying to see if they'd make a 14 fret cutaway with Selmer string spacing and a thinner neck. Maybe a 26 1/4" Scale too. We'll see...


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Ken Bloom

Hi Michael,

It would be no big deal for any competent luthier to take a National and make a new neck to your specifications. They come apart fairly easily and you could have whatever width and feel you wanted. Making the string length exactly match the Selmacs is easy. You just can't move the bridge. You have to do another sort of dance to get the intonation scot on.

MichaelHorowitz

Thanks Ken...maybe I'll get someone to do that some day! A Gypsy Reso would pretty cool!

'm

a

This is great...I would love to try a steel selmer style guitar.


Or maybe some other material..anything to get a thinner top and allow for no bracing.

AJATango

national will definitely custom job a neck for you

delsbrother

Michael Horowitz wrote:

delsbrother wrote:

Didn't Django dis' the Nationals on his US tour? I seem to remember a quote something along the lines of "Americans make their guitars out of tin cans."

I'm pretty certain he never used nationals. That comment was referring to archtop guitars.

I was thinking of the cover image of this book and thinking of the Duke-Django connection:

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Era-New-York-Photographs/dp/1566394643/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198035978&sr=8-20

Don't know whose guitar that is (my guess is Sister Rosetta Tharpe), or whether the time frame is right for the Django tour, but I've always thought of Duke turning to Django and saying, "Check this out!"

AJATango

a 14 fret tricone from national is on the horizon but, in the price range there are boat loads of luthiers who make tricones.