New Sipsey River Steel Handcrafted Lap-Steel Guitars

Guitar Player Staff, April 14, 2010

Each Sipsey River Steel is handcrafted from cypress knees (roots) pulled from the swamps of South Alabama and Georgia. Every guitar is individually signed and numbered by Jack Dudley, the creator. There are no templates. Since each cypress knee is unique, the instruments crafted from them will be unique as well. No two are alike.

Each Sipsey River Steel’s shape, size, and ratio is determined by the cypress knee from which it is created. All have a 25" scale length.

There are three models to choose from.
•    Solid body electric, hollow body electric and acoustic models
•    The electric models come equipped with active EMG electronics for a growling overdrive, or the sweetest clean sounds around
•    Incredible sustain and playability in a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art
•    All are equipped with Gotoh locking tuners

Australian lap steel player Andrew Wintonwww.andrewwinton.com, who owns an SRS, was instrumental with help and advice during the prototype stage. He features a video on Youtube, showing some of the versatility of this unique instrument. You can watch it here.

Since each SRS is individually crafted, prices vary and generally start in the $700 range for the solid body electric model, $1200 for the hollow body electric model, and $1800 for the acoustic model. They are mostly built to order, but as time allows, Jack will build small inventory of instruments available for purchase on his website.

Inquiries and reservations can be made at www.dontfretinstruments.com.