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BTJ: Over the years, I’ve played a few different Weissenborns. My first high-end one

was British-made and ordered online. It’s very close to the original style. I still have
it, and most of my slide recordings were done on that guitar. It’s definitely pretty
beaten up by now.

Since the end of last year, I’ve been playing a Weissenborn made by Italian luthier
Ermanno Pasqualato. His guitars combine the original vibe with modern
craftsmanship. I’ve always admired his work, so I reached out to see if he could build
one for me, and he did.

BiTS: What special about that particular type of guitar? Are techniques of playing it
different from playing standard slide?

BTJ: It is an all-hollow guitar, from the bottom all the way up to the headstock. That

gives it a unique sound you
can’t get from a resonator or
a regular guitar. When it
comes to technique, a

Weissenborn is somewhat
limited because you’re
working only with a tone bar
and the tuning you choose.
Creating different chords can

be challenging.
An Iseman Weissenborn, showing the acoustic depth
With bottleneck slide, you can
fret behind the slide

depending on which finger you use, so you can combine fretted notes with sliding
notes. For me, the two approaches are completely different. Some things work better
on a lap-style guitar, and others are better suited to bottleneck style. At least, that’s
how I experience it.

BiTS: Please will you tell me something about the albums that you have made.
Including the latest one. Any more coming up?

BTJ: Over the years, I’ve released a number of albums, but the ones I’m most proud

of these days are “One Can Wreck It All”, “Glitter & Blues”, and my latest, “The Acoustic
Blues Guitar Revue”. To me, each of them is completely different. The obvious
difference is that the first two feature only original songs, while the last re-imagines
classic blues songs. But they also differ in sound and production.

I started out recording solo albums, just me and a guitar. Then I began releasing
recordings with my band, like “The Maddest of Them All”. On “One Can Wreck It All”
and “Glitter & Blues”, I combined both approaches, but each album still has its own

identity. To me, “Glitter & Blues” is very polished, while “One Can Wreck It All” is
grittier and dirtier.