AT LAST...

...the SEARCH function on this blog finally works! Apologies to anyone who has ever tried to use it in the past and gotten no results. It was useless, and would give zero results for the serach "guitar" even. (Blame Google/Blogger - it was their code).

Of course, the other way to navigate the blog is by checking the A-Z list of keywords at the foot of the page. That and the "You might also like" features beneath each post. But the now-functioning SEARCH box should make it even easier. Hurrah!

Sorry it took so long!

G L Wilson

Thanks to Micha

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Before today's main post, I want to say thanks to Micha who designed the new Guitarz header. I'd been meaning to change the old Hendrix Woodstock Strat header for ages now - it's served us well since 2007.

G L Wilson

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

Ibanez Iceman ICB08 Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Ibanez Iceman ICB08 Bass is a particularly eyecatching example of a now legendary Japanese design.

Wouldn't it be fun if the control knobs were shaped like chess pieces? No, I shouldn't say that, someone will go and do it.

One thing that this blog has been doing for a while now is looking at the weird, the wonderful and the just plain outrageous guitars and basses listed on eBay.

Recently, however, I've been finding very little to get excited over. I don't know if this is just a temporary blip or if indeed I am getting jaded after years of doing this. As ever, if you see any interesting guitars on eBay or elsewhere (if it's a Strat, Tele or Les Paul, it'll need to be pretty special!) please let us know. Bear in mind that we may have featured them before (use the keywords at the bottom of the page to search what we have already featured). Please note also I'm not too keen on taking photos from guitar forums or personal websites. eBay is, I feel, a different matter as it's in the public domain and we are helping to promote the auctions.

G L Wilson

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

Sorry guys, but we're no longer accepting "guest" comments

To prevent abuse of the system, i.e. people making snide comments under the cowardly veil of anonymity, "guest" comments will no longer be allowed in the comments.

Please do not let this discourage you from posting your thoughts about a particular blog posting. The new Echo commenting system allows several ways of logging in using login details from several different platforms, so really it couldn't be much easier.

It'd be a shame if the number of comments started dropping off. In the past they've given us some really excellent discussions which all go to contribute to a sense of community.

If anyone has any criticisms to make, then you are free to make them (and I won't as a moderator delete them unless they are downright offensive), but you will be required to put your name to them. If you have a problem with the blog - or with Bertram or me personally - then please have the courage of your convictions and put your name to it.

G L Wilson

Of reverse headstocks and string tension

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Earlier this month, the post on the Ampeg Scroll Bass legacy provoked an interesting discussion about the so-called "reverse headstock" and its influence on string tension, sound and playability. On this post, I imprudently stated - a common misconception - that the reverse headstock provides better tension to the respective gauges of the strings.

One of our readers, who goes under the moniker dre, provided precious and detailed information to reestablish the one and only truth about this essential topic, and so I've slightly edited his comments for this post.

"The effective string length (ie nut-to-bridge) determines the tension, in concert with string gauge and tuned pitch. If you have two guitars identical scale length, string gauge, and tuning, but different total string lengths, you will still have identical string tension.

Imagine one of those early Les Pauls with the combo bridge/tailpiece: minimal total string length. Then imagine a Firebird with a Bigsby. Longer headstock, more string behind the bridge, maximal total length. Both guitars have the same scale length.

If both have the same strings and are tuned to standard pitch, the strings will still be at the same tension, despite the differences in total string length, because the effective string length is the same, and those 24.75 inches of string between the nut and bridge have to be at the same tension to be at the same pitch.

The real difference created by different total lengths is in the feel of the guitar. All that extra string below the bridge and above the nut on the Firebird's low E string means that the string can be stretched more. If you reach way up and pull that E string across the fretboard (Why? I don't know, you're the one doing it!), that string will be easier to bend than the E string on the Les Paul, because there's less total string to stretch on the Les. Bending a string utilizes the entire length of the string since it can slide through the nut as it stretches. Playing an open note only utilizes the effective length, unless you really hammer it and it stretches a little.

Length, mass, tension. Those are the three determinants of pitch in a string. A guitar's nut and bridge functionally isolate the string between them from the remaining string above the nut and below the bridge, with regard to vibration. The length of string between the nut and the bridge is what vibrates to produce a pitch, and that length has to be at a particular tension in order to do so, depending on the mass of the string. The entire string must be at that same tension, every inch of it, including what's above the nut and below the bridge.

If (I'm estimating here) the .052 low E string on your Les Paul needs 23 pounds of tension to be tuned correctly, then your Firebird's .052 low E string needs 23 pounds to be tuned correctly. You may have more string at 23 pounds of tension, but that 24.75 inch piece of string between the nut and bridge has to be at 23 pounds, and therefore the entire string must be at 23 pounds.

Extra strings at either end of a guitar can be attractive and even musically useful (I am a certified Sonic Youth fan), but it does not change the string tension required to tune to pitch.

Here's a thought experiment that helps visualize the irrelevance of the nut-to-tuner (or saddle-to-anchor) length of string in terms of string tension at pitch. I have forgotten who came up with the basic premise of this visualization, and it was found on some bass forum, so please don't credit it to me.

Okay: Imagine you've got Adrian Vandenberg's secret pearlescent black prototype Peavey 24.5" scale guitar from 1987. It was made with a three-foot-long reversed headstock, which makes the total length of the E string (from tuner to Floyd Rose) 61", assuming half an inch of string from the saddle to the anchor on the Floyd. Don't ask why. Vandenberg was crazy. The custom-made superlong strings cost $500 a set.

You block the Floyd Rose to immobilize it (just to take it out of the equation), loosen the locking nut, and tune up to E. Now you have 61" total string length at a tension at which the 24.5" of speaking length between the saddle and nut play an E. The whole 61" of string is at the same tension from anchor to tuner, yes?

Okay. Now, crank down that locking nut. We don't want to get out of tune while playing the chorus riff from "In the Heat of the Night". When the nut is locked, the entire string is still at the same tension, right? All we did was fix one point on the string so that it can't move. Check to make sure you still have that string tuned to E. What happens when you take your string snips and cut out the string between the nut and the tuner? The speaking string between the saddle and the nut is still 24.5", still tuned to E, and still at the exact same tension.

At the same time, you've removed three feet of string. Now the total length, including the bit between the anchor and the saddle, is 25", less than half what it was, but the tension is still the same. If the tension was lowered when the string was shortened, the string would no longer be tuned to an E. This is fundamental physics. If string of the same speaking length with the same mass is tuned to the same fundamental frequency (and it is the same in every possible parameter in this example, because it is in fact the very same string), it absolutely must be at the same tension. Whether it was 61" or 25" total length, the string had to be at the same tension when tuned to E. When using string mass, length, and tension to determine fundamental frequency, only the vibrating length is relevant.

Please note that I am referring to actual tension, the pulling force of the string. I am not talking about "perceived tension" or "feel" or "slinkiness" or "springiness" or "bendability", all of which seemed to surface in my interweb research, all of which being mistaken for tension. Since every element of a guitar affects feel and sound, surely extra string length beyond the speaking portion somehow subtly affects the feel and sound of a guitar. I'll wager it's a barely perceptible change."

So thank you dre for this extensive contribution (the picture of Adje Vanderberg's signature Peavey guitar is supposed somehow to make all this even more convincing).

Bertram

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

Apologies...

guitarz.blogspot.com:

...for the sparsity of recent updates. I've been having some major computer problems over the last couple of weeks but hopefully will at last be getting my laptop sorted out this weekend. The problem after that will be to get the wireless router to function properly - that's also been a major headache.

On top of all this I've been looking for work. Note to any publishers or magazine editors out there: Yes, I am available for any writing commissions. I have recently completed work on a book about guitars which will be published in December and am available to do further work like this, be it books, magazine articles, or whatever.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

Look at this... The thieving b*st*rds!

Dear Electric Guitar Shack

Please can you explain what you are doing by stealing content and bandwidth from my blog at http://guitarz.blogspot.com/?

I recently had to upgrade my Photobucket account to a Pro account because apparently the bandwidth on the photographs was being exceeded. I couldn't account for this because the blog was not getting more hits than was usual.

But look at this - another blog using MY content, MY pictures and MY BANDWIDTH!

YOU OWE ME MONEY!!! I had to pay to upgrade my Photobucket account because of your activities. Having lost my job earlier this year, that $39.95 was money I could ill afford to pay.

YOU CAN PAY ME BACK VIA PAYPAL. Please pay $39.95 using my email address gl.wilson@ntlworld.com

Yours, very annoyed,

G L Wilson

P.S. More thieving b*st*rds at: http://gadgetmagazines.blogspot.com/search/label/guitar (although I have been screwing them up by renaming and switching photos).

Eureka!

Comments are back again.

Thank you for your patience.

Normal service will be resumed...

...as soon as possible.

One of the problems with this blog being The World's Longest Running Guitar Blog (oh yes!) is that its template was seriously out of date, seeing as our host, Blogger, has evolved so much since this blog was set up.

So, I'm having a bit of a a fiddle, updating the template, and re-entering titles to each post so that the blog is more RSS friendly. Titles weren't showing up in RSS readers, which is something that has been bugging me for ages. Unfortunately upgrading the template is an enormous job, because lots of the older posts aren't going to display properly until tweaked, and there are quite a few years worth of archives to work through.

Comments have been temporarily suspended. I had previously been using HaloScan comments and would dearly love to switch over to Blogger comments but fear all the old HaloScan comments will be lost. Does anyone know if there's a way of importing all the old comments into Blogger? Email me at gl.wilson@ntlworld.com

Seen A Better Price?

Blimey! Look how much Andertons Music Co. are asking for this little Yamaha practice amp! It's especially curious when the description on their website states that "Yamaha's GA15 amp is a superb sounding amplifier when you consider it's frankly ridiculous price!" (sic).

Ridiculous is the word!

(Thanks to Gary).

1993 Rolf Spuler Paradis serial no.2

Before discussing the guitar pictured here, let me first apologise for the extended hiatus of this blog over the holiday period. I didn't feel I could ask a guest blogger to stand in for me whilst I was away considering the season and that other people might want to celebrate the holidays too.

I didn't actually intend to leave the blog for quite so long. I wanted to post something a few days ago, but after searching for the weird and wonderful on eBay all I could find was the same old stuff that people have been trying to flog for ages. Perhaps it's just a bad time of year for guitars on eBay?

Anyway, now I'm back and hopefully normal service is resumed and I'll try not to let my new non-guitar blog stop me from posting here as frequently as you're used to.

So... The rather beautiful guitar we see pictured here is a Rolf Spuler Paradis nylon-strung "acoustic" electric guitar dating from 1993. These guitars are pretty rare beasties and this particular one is actually serial No.2 which might account for the high asking price of $26,000.00. I noticed this guitar for sale on eBay before I went away for the holidays and I see it's still unsold and has been re-listed; it's a beautiful guitar but it's hardly surprising no-one is buying right now given the price, be it fair or not.

Note that the guitar is headless but has an low E-string extension allowing you to drop it to a low D whilst keeping all the fretting across the neck the same. This was a trick that Kubicki Factor basses also employed. The recessed machineheads in the rear of the guitar offers a simple but elegant tuning solution on a headless guitar.

If you want to hear what a guitar like this sounds like, then once again I'd point you in the direction of the "Nine Lives" album by Steve Winwood which features Jose Pires De Almeida Neto playing one of these very guitars.

Joe Satriani sues Coldplay

The BBC News reports that "Grammy nominees Coldplay have been sued by rock guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims the band's song Viva La Vida uses one of his riffs."

Apparently the song uses substantial original portions of Satriani's 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly".

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of Satriani's music, I can only applaud his decision to take the arrogant Chris Martin and Co down a peg or two.

It's not the first time Coldplay have plundered someone else's songs and presented them as their own. As a big Kraftwerk fan I still shudder everytime Coldplay's "Talk" comes on the radio, which uses the entire melody line and main riff from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love". At least in that instance Chris Martin asked persmission and having heard a thing or two about Kraftwerk's Ralf Hutter, you can bet they get royalties. (It still irritates me though.)

It makes me wonder why Coldplay's Chris Martin asked permission from one artist but not from another. Did he think the Satriani piece was so obscure that no one would recognise it? And can't Chris Martin write his own music at all?

Some eBay sellers SERIOUSLY need to do a little homework!

The seller of this guitar describes it as having a "Very unique shape".

I doubt very much that it is "custom made" either.

Oh, also it supposedly has a "Floyd Ross" bridge too.

Just stepped out for a few moments... Back soon!

OK guys, I'm taking a short break - and it is guitar-related so I'll tell you all about it when I get back on Monday.

Outrage as Stratoblogster is Censored!

Since when did Blogger/Google start censoring our blog posts?

JP Stratoblogster posted a very interesting rant recently which questioned Premier Guitar's apparent habit of giving rave reviews to their advertisers' own products. A review of one guitar in particular, the Etavonni GT-1 - a very expensive and supposedly innovative instrument, made JP think that something very fishy was going on and so he wrote this article (now re-posted).

Then the article was pulled!

Someone didn't like it! Premier Guitar? Etavonni? I don't know, but it seems that JP's comments clearly hit a nerve. Too close to the truth, perhaps? Almsot certainly, I'd say.

Why not respond with their side of the story? Why not enter into the debate in a reasonable, sensible way? Or even admit "Yes, we screwed up..."

Getting the article censored by Google/Blogger is just playing dirty tricks.

UPDATE: Kudos to Premier Guitar for getting involved in this discussion and responding to some of the issues that JP raised. (See the comments both here and on Stratoblogster).

Sorry, but what's it got to do with Tony Zemaitis?

Now, don't get me wrong, I think this aluminium-bodied Tokai 'Zemaitis" Talbo is a really tasty looking guitar, but why tag on the totally spurious Zemaitis connection?

The late Tony Zemaitis created some amazing high quality "boutique" guitars, and was quite an innovator with distinctive designs such as his engraved metal fronts and pearl mozaic tops. (See the Official Zemaitis Guitar Owners Club website).

I was alarmed a couple of years ago when the Japanese appropriated his name and began making faithful replicas (see www.zemaitis.net). They are high-quality replicas, but personally I find the idea of putting them out under the "Zemaitis" banner a little bit tasteless.

Now this Tokai Talbo is one step further away again. It's a Tokai Talbo (which always was a metal-bodied guitar) but with a Zemaitis-shaped headstock. As far as I am aware there is no genuine Tokai/Zemaitis connection so, again, this seems improper.

A fine guitar, but why cash in unnecessarily on the late Tony Zemaitis' name?

Guitarz Blog - Bringing you Weird and Wonderful Guitars since 2002!

Yes! It's Happy Birthday to this blog, which is six years old today! I reckon that means it's OK to blow our own trumpet. There are hundreds of guitar blogs on the internet today, but this was the very first in the English language and it is also the longest running guitar blog ever! (And we STILL get missed off the lists of who's who in guitar blogging. We're obviously not in the right clique.) We might not be as deep or intellectual as some guitar blogs, but if you want a regular dose of weird and wonderful guitars, then look no further. Thanks for reading.

Butchered Fender Mustang

I sincerely hope that the buyer of this sorry-looking and carelessly butchered Fender Mustang intends to restore it to its former glory. I mean, just what is the meaning of that badly executed cut-out at the rear of the body? Please tell me that this is going to be patched up and repaired.

Why oh why do people resort to such butchery on something like this which is, after all, a vintage guitar? Such cackhanded DIY efforts should be reserved for the el cheapo guitars coming out of China these days. Having said that, of course, I don't know how long ago that poor Mustang was vandalised. The sticker is for David Bowie's "Tonight" album which was released back in 1984, so this axe abuse could date as far back as then. The Fender Mustang would still have been a desirable guitar, even then, so I really don't understand what was going through the mind of the perpetrator.

I love to hear from the buyer about his plans for this guitar.

Super Rare Univox Solid Body 12-String Guitar

Yes, I'm back and what a rotten two weeks of the year to take off as holiday. The weather was appalling. Anyway, before I forget, I'd like to say a big thank you to Gary for doing such a great job of keeping the blog alive and interesting whilst I was away. He likes his metal-bodied guitars, doesn't he?

Back to the main reason you all come here, that is, to look at weird and wonderful guitars, today I've got a cheesy but strangely appealing looking 12-string electric for you. It is apparently a very rare example of a Stratocaster XII instead.

Caretaker here

Hi folks, our beloved Blogmeister (GL, as we know him) will be away for a couple of weeks and has allowed me to take on some caretaking duties while he is away.
I'm Gary, and I have my own place on the web over at Thumbrella where I too talk about guitars, gigs I've played (I'm in 2 bands and do solo gigs too) and whatever else takes my interest. I've been coming to this great place for a while now, and GL and I have quite a few things in common - the main one, of course, being guitars. So for the next couple of weeks I'll be popping in and out, feeding the fish, watering the plants, turning the lights on and off, and rummaging through GL's private stash of Guitar Pr0n while he's away!
I'll try not to break anything, even if I throw a wild party the night before you're due back, GL!