Bend, Ore. — Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments has announced the addition of two new models for the year, both of which will be on display at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif. this week, at which time retail pricing will be made available to the public.
With the Pronghorn, a two-point body shape returns to the Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments fold, joined by the deeper body Red Rocks, which echoes, in an F style format, the full, rich sound of the brand's legendary larger-chambered Bighorn.
Weber plans a number of new models in the coming year, and the elegant Pronghorn leads the way, with a natural nitrocellulose finish 3A Sitka spruce top adding power and definition to its elegant, easy-fretting two-point shape. The Pronghorn's refined voice, supported by highly flamed maple back and sides, can fit any style, and its singular visual beauty is accented by dark walnut binding throughout the instrument, which features a script The Weber logo on its bound symmetrical headstock.
The Red Rocks brings a deeper body to the traditional F style frame, offering a richness of tone previously found only on select models by boutique builders. Also boasting a Sitka spruce/flame maple combination, this model, defined by the trademark Weber swallowtail and a scooped fret extension, features tortoise top binding and a simplified flowerpot inlay. The bold Red Rocks is lightly finished in Sunset Burst semi-gloss shellac for durability and supreme transparent sound quality.
"We wanted to try something different with these new instruments," says Weber luthier Ryan Fish. "The Pronghorn has a focused, clear timbre, and the walnut binding is something very special. We're working on a pair of deeper bodied F styles, and the Red Rocks is a wonder — loud, open and sweet, with a blossom of overtones from the X-bracing."
The instruments, handmade to order in Bend, share a number of classic Weber appointments, including f-holes, dovetail neck joints, ebony fingerboards and gold frets, and come shipped in custom hard-shell Ameritage cases.
All Weber mandolins feature Sound Optimization, with each element carved to individual thinness, weight and frequency to produce the most responsive instruments available anywhere. And no clear-cut wood is used in any Weber mandolin.
The Red Rocks LTD Mandolin
All the power and projection you want from a traditional F style mandolin, but with another layer of rich, sonorous tone. The X-braced Weber Red Rocks features a deeper body, and with it a deeper sound, similar to boutique models costing many times the price. A 2A Sitka spruce top, hand-carved to exacting Sound Optimization specifications, provides the bark, while flame maple back and sides offer sweetness, bright trebles and a hint of modern sustain. The deeper body profile, with a mahogany headblock, creates a warmer bass, blending a versatile bit of oval hole timbre in with the f-hole's classic chop.
The Red Rocks, new for 2020, features a dovetail joint, simplified Weber flowerpot headstock inlay and scooped ebony tortoise-bound fretboard with bud markers and 21 gold frets.
The instrument, defined by the trademark Weber swallowtail and decorated with tortoise top binding, is lightly finished in Sunset Burst semi-gloss shellac for durability and supreme transparent sound quality.
The Pronghorn LTD Mandolin
The Pronghorn LTD has an Old World elegance and a modern flair at the same time. Often employed by jazz players, but equally comfortable in other genres, easy fretting two-pointers are balanced in sound and look that separates them from plainer A style instruments and more ornate F models.
A shimmering 3A Sitka spruce top is given a natural nitrocellulose finish to let its simple beauty shine, offset with dark walnut binding and ivoroid purfling throughout the top, back, fretboard and symmetrical The Weber-emblazoned headstock.
Highly flamed maple girds the Sitka on back, sides and slim neck, the latter joined with a traditional dovetail and capped with a 24-fret ebony fingerboard as fast as, well, a Pronghorn.
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