June 10, 2011
Butch Walker is a multi-talented artist, producer, song-writer – and now he’s playing an Asher Guitar.
He recently picked up an Asher T-Deluxe with nitro Blonde “road worn” finish work.
It has a one-piece select weight swamp ash body, 2 piece quarter-sawn figured maple neck, custom black guard and face dots, ebony pedhead face with pearl logo, Asher electronics and Glendale hardware. This thing is “sweeeet”!
June 4, 2011
Bill got a chance to get out on the road for this project – he ditched his workshop apron for his all black guitar tech ensemble for the Gavin Rossdale gig at the Palazzo Resort in Las Vegas.
The event was a celebrity-studded fashion show fundraiser with Rossdale and guitarist Chris Traynor as the musical guests. The set list of 6 songs included a Pink Floyd cover, and Bush favorites such as Glycerine and Come Down.
The duo performed on a stage overlooking the Azure Luxury Pool. Traynor played two Asher guitars that night: his Electro Sonic and Gavin’s new Asher S-Custom that was used for most of the electric guitar rhythm tracks on the upcoming Bush album. “The clarity and tone of this guitar worked really well in the studio,” Gavin told Bill when they met to rehearse for the gig.
You can check this website for upcoming Bush tours:
Labels: Stage over the Azure Pool at the Plazzo Resort in Las Vegas
May 17, 2011
We’re a little bit of country, and a little bit of rock and roll. We are happy to announce that all-American country group the Zac Brown Band are now proud players of Asher Guitars. This band has taken the country music world by storm, producing 6 number one singles on the Billboard Country Charts in the last 5 years and winning a Grammy in 2010 for Best New Artist.
Two Asher electric guitar models have joined the Zac Brown tour and are making regular appearances at their recent live shows. Frontman Zac Brown purchased a beautiful tobacco burst S-Custom guitar loaded with Jason Lollar pickups.
The Band’s guitarist, Clay Cook, purchased a Tobacco burst T-Deluxe model, that he had Bill relic for that ‘road worn” look.
Even the guitar tech, Eric Pretto, is in on the Asher action. He purchased a Marc Ford model for himself and now even his Asher is being played on stage with the band (see the photo of Clay Cook with Pretto’s Asher Marc Ford model.)
If you want to catch them live, check out their link: http://www.zacbrownband.com/shows.html
BILL ASHER
A local luthier is considered a master by legendary musicians.
By Margot Dougherty, photographed by James Acomb
In a sound-proof room off his home workshop, Bill Asher demonstrates the round, rosy sounds of a commemorative acoustic Hawaiian lap steel. It’s a gorgeous, zaftig instrument that’s one of the 100 or so guitars Asher and his small team, which includes his brothers Robert and Bo, make each year. The size of the outfit may be modest, but the client list is not: Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Lindsey Buckingham, Peter Frampton, The Black Crowes, and Rickie Lee Jones are just a handful of superstar Asher partons.
After building a replica of his Stratocaster in a shop class at University High School in West LA, Asher approached a local guitar store about a job. “I don’t need any money,” he told then, “I’d be happy to just put tools away and sweep the floors.” Thus began a four-year apprenticeship. Thanks to financial help from mom, Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery, and dad, producer-director William Asher, he took over the store’s lease at age 24.
By 2001, Asher wanted to concentrate on designing and building his own instruments. He set up shop in the basement of the Culver City home he shares with his wife, Jessica, and their two young girls. Asher Guitars now offers nine models, electric and acoustic, ranging from $2400 to $10,000. Whether it’s the Ben Harper Signature Model, the Ultra Tone T-Deluxe that Steve Miller bought, the Hawaiian lap steel acoustic or its electric counterpart, you don’t have to know a single chord to want one.
For more on Bill and Asher Guitars, call 310-821-2888 or visit asherguitars.com
The Electro Hawaiian Junior lap steel gets a new look - in addition to the tobacco and cherry burst, we now have the colors black and white. But if you are into something a little more decorative, check out the pin striped Jr.s by artist Pacman, of Line and Letter Co. He takes his mad fine art skills to work on hotrods, bikes and now guitars! This one is going to the Fender Museum charity auction for Steve Miller's Rids Rock Live.
