Gibson BR-6

This is a really old, but really great, lap steel guitar. It has a lot of similar qualities to their electric guitar Rickenbacker counterparts. It is a US company. The controls on it include a volume knob and tone knob. This is one horseshoe magnet pickup, which is really old-school. There are 23 visible frets, but if you're good, you can go almost as high as you want with the slide (at least as far as the pickup).


UTILIZATION

This is sort of irrelevant on this guitar, as it's a lap steel, but there are 23 visible frets and it's easier to go at least 4 notes higher than that if you have great intonation and intuition. Getting a good sound out of this is great, just make sure you have amps that are sensitive to it's needs. It is great for playing a lot of different styles, I've seen blues players use these and really wail, I've seen country players get smooth, great tones out of it. I've also seen guys really rock out with some awesome solo performances.


SOUNDS

With even a light overdrive, you can get a tone pretty close to David Lindley's on Jackson Browne's album Running on Empty. If you aren't familiar, that is a pretty incredible sound. Granted, you won't sound exactly like David but you get the idea. There's a ton of great sounds to be had here, the pickup is so hot that you won't really want for much. Even clean you can bring the house down. With a lot of restraint and lowering of volume you can get great country tones, and with the right reverb Hawaiian tones are easy. I haven't found anything I don't like the sound of with this guitar.


OVERALL OPINION

I love this lap steel, probably the best one I've ever played. I think most people would agree. It's going to run you a lot for a vintage one, but there are decent newer ones that aren't too hard to find. They aren't exactly the same but they still sound great. Highly recommended.

The Gibson BR-6 is a nice little lap steel guitar that has a single pick up and a standard 1/4 inch input.  There isn't anything to fancy about the characteristics of this instrument, but it has enough going on to have a really nice tone and good action.


UTILIZATION

In terms of playability, the Gibson BR-6 is pretty great.  I usually use a Stevens bar while playing this instrument and the combination of the good action and the bar make this thing pretty easy to play.  The fret markers are pretty big and clear which is a big plus as I find that that always comes in handy while playing the lap steel just so I know where I am on the neck at all times.  The weight of the guitar is pretty light and the shape is definitely pretty cool looking.  If you like the way this sounds, getting a good sound is definitely easy as all you need to do is plug and play.

SOUNDS

I usually use the Gibson BR-6 for recording in my home studio while using a '76 Fender Twin Reverb and I find that I generally get awesome results with this configuration.  I would recommend micing the amp in a traditional way as you would for a standard electric guitar as I usually just use a Shure SM57 or something similar to it.  While there isn't too much control over your sound, lucky that the inherent tone is really good sounding.  The only problem that I get is sometimes I get a lot of noise, but this is somewhat to be expected with an older instrument like this one.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, the Gibson BR-6 is a very solid sounding lap steel guitar.  While it isn't the best one that I have heard, it has a pretty full tone and when I use it with compression it tends to sound pretty great.  These are no longer made but you can usually find a few of them up a Ebay for a reasonable price.  If you are a fan of vintage lap steel guitars like I am, the Gibson BR-6 is definitely worth looking at as it has a good sound and great look and feel.