Boutique semi-hollow guitars - you'll have to look to know more...

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For sure you won't see these guitars everyday! Only two of them were ever built, and handmade semi-hollow guitars with an experimental design are quite uncommon, because another level of skills is required than when you make up a solid body... 

And the result is - IMHO - quite stunning! The shape is brilliant, the thick contoured horns are quite a smart move (people busy with guitar design will understand what I mean) and I love the big German carve! I appreciate the fact that they look timeless and could have been made at any moment of the history of electric guitars (and they would have bizarre all along) - at least in Germany where there is a tradition of highly creative jazz guitars!

I imagine that people who will look at these strange instruments with the image of a ES-335 in the head will find hard to love them, so please forget everything and really look without any preconception - and enjoy!

Bertram

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Archtop Soprano Guitar

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Ever heard of a soprano guitar before? Neither did I until today, but it's exciting - like a tenor or a baritone! Guitars never stop surprising me! 

This one is a one-off made by a Swedish luthier, with Stradivarius F-holes, and has a scale lentgh of 400 mm... It's so rare that I might never see one in real, but I'm very curious about this instrument!

Bertram

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Bat-i-tone baritone

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You could be forgiven for thinking this was yet another axe-shaped guitar, but the body design is actually based on the bat-shaped logo of comic book superhero Batman. Take a look at the headstock, that's the dead giveaway!

This Bat-i-tone baritone guitar, has a 28 1/4" inch scale, flamed maple drop top on an alder body, maple neck and ebony fretboard with custom reconstituted rock "Kapow!" inlay (which unfortunately doesn't show up too well in the photograph).

It's a one-off quality hand-built instrument,  although we here at Guitarz think that with a $10,000 (Canadian dollars) starting price and Buy It Now price of $17,000 (Canadian), it's  is a lot to have to shell out for a novelty instrument, however nicely made it is.

Via Vince Gotera on our FaceBook page.

G L Wilson 

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Michael Spalt Totem

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Here is the Maccaferri's Hole, an unique issue of the Michael Spalt Totem series. Included in the resin top are various bit of recycled materials, including a part of a broken plastic Maccaferri toy guitar with a F-hole filled with beads and rhinestones... Spalt's website claims that the resin used for these guitars has been conceived to have the same thermal expansion and contraction quality as the wood used for the body, and that its rigidity provides sustain the way a maple top glued on mahogany does on more classic guitars...

More than the ornate bodies, I like what Spalt does with pickups, some guitars have unique combinations like a Filtertron, a P90 and a minibucker, or two P90s side by side in bridge position; and there are some cool custom pickups like the ones you can see here, with colored bone tops. This, some nice body designs and some highly experimental models make it worth visiting the Michael Spalt website if you never did (no I don't feel that this is advertisement, these handmade guitars are anyway unaffordable).

A funny thing is that these colorful tops are supposed to be arty, but I have more a constructivist idea of art, and for me the highest aesthetic emotion comes from form and ergonomics, not from ornaments, so I show you the back of the guitar, a nice piece of functional sculpture...

Bertram

 Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

AEB-2 scroll bass - Ampeg tribute by Bruce Johnson

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's an email from Jeremiah:

I finally saw something on eBay that breaks my heart not to have, and thought might be shared with the blog. eBay has a Bruce Johnston AEB-2 - new and direct from Bruce, himself. The serial is 073, and build date is this last Feb, 2011.

Johnston's scroll bass is a direct continuation of the classic Ampeg scroll bass, and was initially produced under a license. Bruce has steadily improved and modernised his builds, while remaining true to the original appeal and characteristics of the vintage Ampeg models.

Fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Res-O-Glas Nick Page Strich-2

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I regularly check what's going on at Berliner luthier Nick Page (I evoked here a couple of time his Baron model and mentioned his metal front or paisley ultra-cool telecasters), and I'm never disappointed. Today I want to show the res-o-glas body Strich-2, again a perfect combination of old school design and contemporary spirit. The shape is reminiscent of Rickenbacker Combo 600 or Gretsch Astro Jet, with its big upper horn and German carve, but more rounded, probably to increase the resonance of a bigger hollow body made of the res-o-glas you find in 60s original Airline guitars. 

This model has Filtertron pickups, but other ones are equipped with Nick Page custom ones, that is not so common amongst small luthiers. Gear and headstock are also original, and all this confirms that German guitars legacy is still alive, and that small companies keep the spirit high, where fat ones just manage to stay fat.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Ergo Instruments Custom handmade 'Cloud' guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Built by Ergo Instruments who normally specialize in electric upright basses, this custom-made 'Cloud' guitar doesn't rigourously follow the specs of those used by Prince (different scale-length, different pickups, natural burst finish instead of opaque, etc), and should be considered a tribute guitar rather than a painstakingly accurate replica. In my view it looks all the better for it. Also, for a handmade guitar, the Buy It Now price of $999 is very appealing - I've seen the scary prices attached to other 'Cloud guitars!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Ted Crocker Six Banger

guitarz.blogspot.com:

It seems ages ago that I blogged about Ted Crocker, maker of cigar box guitars, rustic guitars, Stonehenge pickups and The Honeydripper guitar from the film of the same name. Here we see the Ted Crocker Six Banger guitar, designed in conjunction with guitarist Shane Speal to be a "blues axes with late 1940s/early 1950s charm".

Excuse me while I borrow from the guitar's listing on eBay:

• Solid mahogany body with absolutely gorgeous grain (see pictures of the back for stunning woodgrain).
• Hand rubbed linseed oil finish. 8 coats.
• Wraparound Les Paul Jr. type tailpiece for increased sustain.
• Underwound handmade pickup in the neck position for a more snarling slide tone. We compared outputs of Harmony Stratotone pickups when designing this. Our goal was to get a tone meaner than Hound Dog Taylor!
• Bolt-on neck that has been carefully stained and aged.
• Leather covered headstock with Ted Crocker's signature branded into the leather. The headstock cutaway matches the body cutaway.
• Handmade wood knobs.
• Medium action - perfect for fretting or slide playing.

Currently for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $650.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

What is Nokie's guitar?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Jim writes:

I was looking at listverse.com today where they have the top ten instrumental songs from the 60s. Because I am in the US, I couldn’t watch the youtube video of The Ventures playing "Walk, Don’t Run". I decided I wanted to check it out so I went to YouTube and clicked the first Ventures video clip.

There is guy wearing a cowboy hat playing lead on a very strange looking little guitar. Any ideas what that is? Kinda cool looking with a massive tremolo bar.

Grace and Peace,
Jim Hevesy

Hey Jim, thanks for writing. Of course, The Ventures have over the years been associated closely with the guitars of Fender, Mosrite, Aria, Wilson Brothers and very likely a few others. However, this guitar appears to be none of those.

The "guy wearing a cowboy hat" is Nokie Edwards, but I can't say what the guitar is. It looks a little like one of Washburn's Idol series guitars with a Tele-like, probably bolt-on, neck. I suspect it may be custom-made guitar, possibly a one-off, but do any readers have a better idea as to its identity, who made it, etc?

G L Wilson

Edit: It's a Hunt Guitar built by Tony Hunt - see the comments. Thanks guys!

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

N.I.C.E. Telecaster with P90s

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I'm a recent convert but I like more and more the good old Telecaster, not as a object of cult though, but as a the most basic guitar that calls for endless modifications, upgrades and experiments - as long as it respects its simplicity. I enjoy this version by Swiss luthier N.I.C.E. Guitars - called the Twangster - with its two chrome P90s and the middle chrome single coil - an interesting combination for the sound, on the top of its elegance. 

The shape of the pickguard is a nice variation on the original one with its curves and dynamic lines, and the art deco top of the switch adds a touch of chic that makes this guitar quite a looker. I'd be curious to hear the music its sounds might inspire!

www.niceguitars.ch

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Klein BF-96 lefty

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Steve Klein's guitar creations are almost legendary. He set the benchmark for those wishing to create the perfect ergonomic guitar. The original Klein guitar, as pictured here, has been out of production for a number of years now, and is quite a sought-after instrument. Existing examples can exchange hands for thousands of dollars. For example, this rare left-handed Klein BF-96 is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $8000. Meanwhile, other luthiers interested in ergonomics - both amateur hobbyist and professional - have taken the Klein design as a starting point for their own guitars.

Of course, the Klein isn't completely innovative. It has been pointed out that the design owes more than just a little to the Ovation Breadwinner. The other inspiration was, obviously, the headless Steinberger. Early Kleins used Steinberger necks, and all use the bridge/tuners.

In more recent years Steve Klein has turned his attentions to producing boutique acoustic guitars.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Gordon Smith electric mandolin

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another take on the electric mandolin, which couldn't be more different than the Gibson Futura mandolin prototype we looked at recently. This is a Gordon Smith electric mandolin, made in Britain, and is - I believe - a one-off build. It is an original design - unusual given Gordon Smith's usual Gibson influences, and features a very compact body (unlike the long stretched-out body of the Gibson) with a lengthy upper horn which no doubt would let it hang on a strap much more nicely than the Gibson. It also has the traditional eight strings arranged in four paired courses that we expect to see on a mandolin and so would appeal more to purists.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Marcel Dadi's Princess

guitarz.blogspot.com

After posting about the Ibanez Marcel Dadi, I figured that most people probably don't know who Marcel Dadi is - I can understand that, he was supposedly a genius picking player (the picking is a finger technic used mostly for country music and acoustic ballads) so I thought that I should propose a video of Dadi playing his Princess. I've never been interested in him or his music, but when I started guitar is the early 80s, his name was everywhere in France, he had his signature strings that were extremely popular, as were his teaching method books. Anyway, he was also associated with Chet Atkins (and several other country musicians whose name trigger nothing in me), so American readers probably know him better than people from the rest of the world...

Dadi plays here this one-off guitar made by French Luthier Franck Cheval: the Princess. I'm not a fan of heavy abalone inlays but the rolled upper horn à la Gibson Mandolin is quite impressive. Some people call it the best guitar in the world... Ah, ces Français !

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Manne Soulmover bass - Glenn Hughes signature model

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at plenty of vintage Italian guitars and basses on this blog, so it's good for a change to take a look at some contemporary Italian luthiery. This is a Manne Soulmover bass built by Andrea Ballarin in Italy, and is the signature model of Glenn Hughes, sometime bassist with Deep Purple and others. This is a boutique instrument; the seller on eBay tells us that "Andrea's built-in-Italy creations start at $2000 and can easily go for $10,000 or more." This model has a list price of $3,703 but this particular model having seen action at a few trade shows is being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,699.

The body is made from Korina and has a bolt-on assymmetrical neck of maple laminates and ash sides. The fingerboard is of Manne's own 'F Resin', "giving a more even response and eliminating dead spots." Pickups are the tried and trusted pairing of P and J units, and the bass also features a Drop D de-tuner.

I particularly like the inverted teardrop fingerboard inlays which echo the shape of the red tortoiseshell pickguard. I can't say I am overly keen on the dolphin-nose shaped headstock. Somehow, I just think the head should look more Rickenbacker-y. Well, the bass does look like a Rickenbacker from the future, you cannot deny that!

Thanks to Bill for bringing this bass to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Knutsen Dyer-style harp guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here we have a very nice example of a Knutsen Dyer-style harp guitar built by Alejandro Vasquez Rubio. The design of this "one-arm harp guitar" was patented in 1897 by Chris Knutsen, who was contracted to build guitars for W.J. Dyer & Bro in 1899. However Dyer switched to the services of the Larson Brothers in 1902, allegedly because their guitars were more consistent whereas Knutsens were all one-offs and could vary considerably from one example to the next.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Michael Spalt Hybrid Matrix Bass prototype

guitarz.blogspot.com:

If you want innovative guitar and bass design, then look no further than this Michael Spalt Hybrid Matrix Bass prototype currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $4,300 (not one to be bought on a whim).

The construction is an abstract marriage of quality timbers and aluminium parts. To quote from the Spalt Instruments website:

"Hybrids employ an aluminum skeletal structure with wooden wings and wood necks. These instruments embody my sculptural approach to guitar/bass building - they are stripped-down to the essentials. The wood neck dials in the tonal color and is comfortable to play. The aluminum imparts a warm tone and clarity to the sound. All metal and wood work is done by hand."

Whilst I applaud this daring approach to luthiery, I can't honestly say that I like the appearance of this bass. Of course, appearances might be what initially attracts us to an instrument, but it's the sound and the playability that matters.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Tausch Slashdot

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Never give up hope, electric guitars are like faeries, as long as someone believe in them, they are still alive!

Some people are still busy upgrading guitar design - small luthiers, not company designers of course - and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the spirit is still there... The Slashdot model of German luthier Tausch is on the good side, with its reduced Breadwinner-like body and the carve behind the bridge to make room to the bridge tuners...

Also have a look at Tausch's website, in particular to the news, there are some interesting custom models - a strange ergonomic one with unusual curves, double neck Jazzmasters... (sorry, no direct link - check in the German section).

Bertram


Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Nino Ferrer plays a Favino violin bass in 1969

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Nino Ferrer was one of the most interesting pop musician in France in the 60s (you had then some genius in French chanson and many mediocre and very successful followers of English and American pop music). You can see and hear Nino playing his Favino violin bass - the best violin bass I've ever seen I must say, with a much better design that the classic Höfner made famous by Sir Paul (during his German exile, when UK didn't want him and his decadent crew).

Favino was a French luthier mostly making acoustic guitars from the 1940s to the 1970s, who had a few illustrious customers, a.o. Django Reinhardt and Georgers Brassens...

Bertram (from Berlin where it doesn't snow anymore, how could it, it's - 10° C!)

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Regvlvs : "It was and still is the best bass sound ever created on this planet"

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Presenting the Regvlvs contrabass solid, via Colin Griffiths of Vancouver:

Made in Brazil in the 60s by Claudio Cesar Dias Baptista (CCDB), one of the founders of Os Mutantes, a legendary psychedelic band who then went through prog rock (ie YES) which eventually defined a new genre called Tropicalia.

CCDB was a self-taught luthier and electronics whiz who built the instruments for the band. Now a writer and mystic.

Read more here.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1980 MB Himmelschlüssel

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Another of these crazy German luthiers, like Basslab, Auerswald or Teuffel, MB was a short lived 80s small guitar company about which I cannot find much information - but that MB stands for Christian Müller and Roland Bauer, and that's it!

They conceived and released a few models based on this astounding design, and the main one was the Himmelschüssel (that you can translate by 'primrose' but means exactly 'key to heaven'). This guitar is not only rare because it's the first of the only 13 ever built, but for being issued from some designer's fantasy gone wild on the drawing board, and not being ridiculous once built! How many smart ideas in experimental guitar design went wrong? This design was actually made possible by the new technology of carbon fiber that arose in the early 80s - in this case combined with mahogany. 

This model was built for a famous German blues guitarist, and I always wonder why do people want new instruments to play old music! Look at all the demos on YouTube for high tech guitars like the Teuffel, the XOX or the Backlund, the players always go for old rock blues riffs and scales! Do Franck Zappa, Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew have no legacy?

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!