A Guitar for drummers?

I've come across a lot of weird and wonderfull guitars in my time. Some have a specific purpose, some are just barking mad.

Then there's the Jasperbridge Percussion Guitar.

Mad as a box of frogs. The strings are on the front, and the back.

At first glance it looks like it's back to front/ upside down just plain mental.

Don't know what it's like to play, obviously requires a whole new technique, and the fact that it has to stay on a stand would require a different discipline for those of us who like to move about.But you get to beat it with a drum stick ( helpfully supplied with the guitar ). Buddy Guy and Joe Bonnamassa have used a similar technique, but this is the first guitar specifically built for this technique. It's an interesting variation, and the build reminds me of those Escher drawings of infinate stairs. Definatley eye catching.

Any innovation in guitars is a good thing, new techniques/ playing styles, help make a guitarist adaptable and it's good that there are guitar builders out there who are challenging the normal perception of how a guitar should be played, but also how a guitar should be built.

If it is as good as the manufacturers would like it to be the next logical step would be to build bass and maybe even acoustic variations. I can see a bass version being very popular.

Would like to try one, if only for the novelty value, so if the manufacturers want to send me one ......

Check out the full spec on the official website

http://myjbridge.com/home.cfm

Object Of My Desire...........part 1

The Hagstrom Super Swede.


What's that you say? A Les Paul copy?.............nah!............

Ok it it's very similar to a Les Paul, but it's the subtle differences that set it apart.

The Hagstrom Super Swede has been considered one of Hagstrom’s flagship models, since it was first introduced to the world back in the late 1970’s.

Each Super Swede is crafted using a mahogany body, maple top, and set mahogany neck.

The Super Swede’s 25.5” scale length, provides a brighter tone and longer sustain which makes a wonderful instrument for players looking for more flexibility. The Super Swede naturally features Hagstrom’s own renowned H-Expander Truss rod providing an ultimately stable neck that will not warp or twist, and also being topped with Hagstrom’s own Resinator Fret board material for increased sustain and even tone throughout the entire fret board.

I first came across the Super Swede in the late 70's/ early 80's. I saw Kevin Peek playing one when he was in classical/ prog rock band Sky. I was totally blown away by the tone he achieved. It was such a sweet tone, and, being young and impressionable, I thought that the tone came straight from the guitar, not taking into account the player.

Anyway I loved the look of the guitar as well, yes it did look like a Les Paul, but maybe it's slightly overweight cousin.

I've had the opportunity to play a couple over the years, but for some reason never got round to buying one. They are good guitars to play, feel very comfortable and just slightly heavier than  a LP. The slim neck makes a huge difference, it feels smooth and fast, and the tone is fantastic.

So a Super Swede or Super Swede Select is on my wish list......................which get's longer and longer, no matter how many guitars I buy.

There were a lot of these available in the 70's/ 80's then they seemed to dissapear for a while, in the last couple of years they have been relaunched, and seem to be enjoying a bit of a renaiscance.

Personally I think they're a good alternative to the big American brands, and would say they are as good as a Yamaha SG.

If Hagstrom want to send me one....feel free :-)

Check Out WWW.HAGSTROMGUITARS.COM

The Most Beautiful Guitar Ever Made...........? The Tao Phaeton

Came across this in my wanderings, a truly unnatainable object of desire.

Here's the official blurb, goes into enough detail for everyone. Check out www.taoguitars.com

This project started out as a cure for a friend & customer who was diagnosed with a very acute form of the G.A.S (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome).
We offered to make him a unique masterpiece that would both calm his illness and at the same time bring us the opportunity to build our dream guitar with a “carte blanche”. The whole idea was to build a hollow jazz – guitar that could handle high volume feedback in a more compact rounded ergonomic body with a solid body style sustain…

With its anthropomorphic visual and its experimental crafting method made it the most exotic vintage guitar in our eyes – some kind of mythical piece of craft, a milestone in Guitar History. This gave us the guiding conceptual direction for our “Phaeton”.
As explained by Lewis Williams in the first 1903 catalog “front and back made in swelled shape by being carved, leaving the layer grain of the wood in the same position as in its natural growth, thus insuring strength, free vibration, and unusual sympathetic resonance” or “special relatedness and agreements of parts”.

In all its forms, car styling aesthetics are obvious here, from the two tone color scheme to the sound – holes bearing air intake visual reference, the whole thing breathing our love for the golden years of American Car Design.
The “Phaeton” name has always been synonymous with class and luxury in the automobile history.
The models from the 30’s & 40’s are the most striking examples with the likes of Cadillac, Chrysler, Cord, Packard…
After several brainstorming sessions, and the drawings that resulted, we could finally take to our workbenches with heart. As mentioned earlier, we decided to build the guitar as were built Orville’s style 03 : hand carved out of two solid slabs of wood, spruce for the top & mahogany for the back ( most of Orville’s were in walnut ).
Here we are embarked on a long and exciting journey,carving the top in this nutshell fashion. The shape of the top’s face that was quite a challenge, as we couldn’t easily work around it with our caliper, we decided to bring the piece to correct thickness using the spotlight technique : reducing differences in color shades by checking the top over a light source. From scraping to the final sanding, this process took us almost 200 hours to complete and a thousand more to finish the whole instrument… putting our love & passion in the slightest details, from the custom made pot buttons, the handmade ebony carbon layered tailpiece to our magnet locked lexan back plates. Every single part was either custom made or at least customized to our standards ( see specs ).

A YEAR AND A HALF LATER

We were finally able to hear the thing ! This was the most emotional moment of all ! The Phaeton’s sound was as bold as was striking its looks, leaning toward Gretsch character but with a real voice of its own, smooth sparkling highs and super tight and rich basses, the tuning – fork – bar design giving amazing sustain. Although the Phaeton comes in a hot jazz drapings, this guitar could also unleash a more rockin’ attitude when pushed, which was really pleasant to us!

One piece Spanish cedar with ebony fingerboard & headstock cap featuring Tao custom fretting : we start with medium jumbo to the twelfth fret, and finish with smaller ones, giving your fingers more space to play up the neck ; our single bar double action “carbon flex” truss rod ensuring neck stability and superior playing comfort.

One piece Honduran mahogany back with 2 pieces alpine spruce top

Gotoh “Stealth” tuners with matching color buttons and custom short brass bushings ; Compton solid brass compensated bridge with custom made height adjustment wheels

Polished “vintage style” CTS pots, WCR push – push pots (client request), 3 way Switchcraft with custom made button & ring, Russian paper in oil caps, polished electro – socket output jack, custom wound Bare Knuckle Pickups featuring our trademark hand made covers

Automotive DuPont colors (Rover, Bolero Red /sandalwood beige), clear

nitro lacquer top coat.

.....................sigh.....................one day, one. day.................

Guitar Project

I wanted to try building a guitar from parts bought on ebay, not exactly custom built, but as close as I could get. The photo above shows the ( almost ) finished version.
The body was an excellent hardwood body, I think the original guitar was made by Vantage or Vintage. Had a beautiful maple top in cherry sunburst. The neck was from an unknown brand. I fitted a wilkinson roller bridge and tailpiece as well as wilkinson tuners, all in gold.
The pick ups were GFS Dream 180's, described as a cross between a filtertron and a PAF. The electrics consisted of a single volume, single tone and an Artec 5 step distortion switch.

If you look closely at the photos above, you can see how high I had to set the bridge ( and bridge pick up ) to compensate for the angle of the neck. The angle was one thing I didn't check before I finished the guitar, consequently it remained very steep, not unplayable but felt weird when playing.
Anyway, I was pleased so far with how the guitar looked and wanted to make it a bit more personal. I came across a seller on ebay who custom made guitar headstock logo's. I didn't want to pretend this guitar was something it wasn't, so I had a personalised logo made.

Using as close a font as possible he put my band name as the logo in a Gibsonish style, and my name in a sort of Les Paul style font. This was a waterslide full face decal. I was very pleased with the result. I can't remember how many coats of laquer I put over it, but I would think at least ten.

The finished guitar was used for about a dozen gigs, as well as rehearsals. Although it had a great sound, very full and rounded with excellent sustain, I never really used the Artec 5 Step switch that often. Also it always felt to me to be a bit fragile, the steep neck angle had a lot to do with this.

The guitar looked good, a lot of people commented on it, even non guitarists liked it, but I never really bonded with it, mainly because of the neck angle, but also the small body.

So it was retired while I had a rethink.

I have decided to change the body, and am currently trying to source a Les Paul body that looks as good as the one I used. Obviously the wood would have to be as good quality to ensure I get as good a tone out of it.

One day the Spitfire guitar will return!!

Not exactly sure of how much I spent on it, but a ball park figure would be £150. Not too bad, wife didn't mind and it kept me quiet for a week or two :-)