BILL ASHER IS BEST KNOWN AS THE MAN WHO
makes slide guitars for Ben Harper—instruments
based on Weissenborn lap steels from
the late ’20s. Less recognized is his line of standard
electric guitars, which includes the Ultra
Tone series T Deluxe on review here. The
styling of the T Deluxe is reminiscent of Leo
Fender’s prototype Telecaster—the one with
the three-on-a-side headstock configuration.
Historic coolness notwithstanding, I found the
Asher’s thinner headstock balanced better with
the body lines than the paddle-like clumsiness
of Fender’s primal Tele. Small, open-backed
Waverly-style tuners add an extra vintage touch,
at the same time matching the headstock for
delicacy. Despite their diminutive size, the
tuners felt solid and worked smoothly.
The Ultra Tone’s satin-finished maple neck
and its maple-capped fretboard evidenced only
slight flame and birdseye. Minimal finish and
figuring on an instrument topping three grand
may seem odd to some, but they represent a
commitment to sound and stability rather than
flash and filigree. The neck and body are sealed
with nitrocellulose lacquer—an expensive
process that lets the wood breathe for improved
resonance. As to stability, many heavily figured
necks tend to warp at the slightest temperature
change. Should you request extra flame,
the Asher neck’s two-piece quartersawn construction
will help mitigate any drift.
Bill Asher maintains that the one-piece
swamp ash body was hand selected for its light
weight. And though not feather-light, the test
instrument definitely fits in the lean-and-mean
weight class. With its truncated pickguard, and
rear-routed controls, the Ultra Tone definitely
has a look of its own. But the most striking
items on this guitar are the two pickups and
the pointer-style (a.k.a. “chicken head”) rotary
knob that joins the traditional, metal-domed
Tone and Volume controls.
Pete Biltoft of Vintage Vibe pickups helped
Bill Asher with the design of the pickups. Sporting
blades instead of individual polepieces and
black tops with white binding, they recall the
classy styling of the old “Charlie Christian” pickups
on the Gibson ES-150. “I was looking for a
traditional Tele bridge tone with just a bit more
lows and midrange, while maintaining that great
twang,” says Asher. “I wanted a neck pickup
that offered dynamics, with a clear punchy bass
response. Quite a few of my clients coveted the
Teisco Del Ray pickups from the ’60s—like the
one in Ry Cooder’s Coodercaster. These have
the clear bass response I was looking for.”
The pointer knob controls a ToneStyler
switch made by Stellartone. This passive 16-
contour tone selector shifts the pickup’s resonant
frequency and adjusts the treble roll-off
point in 1/3-octave steps. Before plugging in
the T Deluxe, I marveled at how the excellent
fret work and setup made a chunky neck comfortable
for a player with average-sized hands,
such as myself. To determine the success level
of Asher’s quest for tone, I ran the instrument
into an Orange Tiny Terror and a Reverend
Hellhound.
I had experimented with the ToneStyler in
the past, and plugging in the Asher made me
remember how much I liked it. With 16 increments,
you must listen closely to hear the difference
among adjacent settings, but they do
exist, and every notch is sweet and musical.
The first setting bypassed the control, while
the following clockwise settings offered slight
modifications of the high end. Counter-clockwise
positions yielded variations on darker,
lo-fi tones, perfect for old blues, or adding character
to more modern tunes. The lack of any
labeling around the knob, however, made it
difficult to quickly recall favored settings.
The neck pickup’s warm, balanced sound,
made me understand why Cooder loves the
Teisco model on which it was based. The bridge
pickup had its advertised enhanced lows and
midrange, but these EQ bumps worked better
for me as the amp moved into distortion than
in clean settings. Rockers will dig the sound,
while players seeking ice-pick country tone
might want to request the Seymour Duncan
Antiquity option for the bridge position. Somehow,
when combined with the neck pickup,
the extra mids and lows were mitigated, making
for a clean chime, great for funk or jangle.
The Asher Ultra Tone T Deluxe combines
vintage vibe, come-hither playability, and terrific
tone. If roots music—jazz, blues, country,
classic rock, etc.—is your playground, and your
wallet can handle the tariff, the T Deluxe should
top your list of axes to audition.