the more I thought about this design, the more I liked it. To my mind, memories of doing trills, hammer-ons and bends would have been much better with this design in my hands in my formative years. you can read about it at the Rick Toone site click here
personally, I find this topic a drag so I suppose I should get it out of the way as soon as possible radius I started on a classical guitar so I became accustomed to having my fretboard dead flat. then I went onto a certain jangly guitar as used by some fab guitarists (I keep forgetting their name...) and not only was the neck so thin but so narrow, you couldn't compare the two. they were a million miles away from each other as far as design is concerned then I purchased a custom guitar. I got it second hand, it had a Floyd Rose tremolo and some hot pickups but what I would regard as the best feature - the fretboard was dead flat. now I suffer from WFS. I have all my life Weeny Finger Syndrome having a flat fretboard on an electric guitar was a dream come true. coupled with a thin neck and jumbo frets. the best cure for my syndrome known to man. having experienced this design on an electric guitar, all other instruments I played from that day onwards felt odd. the trend of the day was thin necks and jumbo frets but every time I experienced that curve, no matter how slight, I felt like I was sinking in quick sand plus if you are going to have a fretboard radius so slight, why not get rid of it altogether? it's like some strange hangover when violin and cello builders also built guitars. I don't want to bow the damn thing, I want to pluck it or strum it. I read this statement on the internet "smaller radii (7.25–10") are said to be more comfortable for chord and
rhythm playing, while larger radii (12"-16" and up to flat) are more
appealing to fast soloing"
not in my experience. but that is me. infinite radius works for me. maybe I can't defend anything else.
now this design exists in an instrument, in one form. I can't show it because the designer hasn't gotten back to me. I always thought it made sense,if it was done right. I had a chat with a few buddies brainstorming the concept and if you had the ability to remove the fretboard from the neck i.e make it detachable, it could be done. let's start with the cross section of a traditional fret
has the tang that holds the fret in place what I want is to incorporate the frets and the fretboard. make it out of aluminum or stainless steel
with cnc machines and the best quality materials you could make an accurate and durable fretboard. and then scalloped frets. would be easy
treat the fretboard with anodizing and you will have something that is going to last a long time no fret dressing and no frets falling out.
now what we have before us is a design house a deluge of designs without fear or favor. that statement reflects the goal of this blog - to look at new guitar designs without fear or favor. whatever makes the guitar function in new ways, either in manufacture or playing, is the goal.
Obstructures. I know the topic is guitars but they do so much more click here
having said that...
new guitar design in no way endorses having a guitar run over by a car or being set on fire still, pretty good point as far as durability goes
but let's have a look at one of their instruments 0.750b Machined Aluminum Electric Guitar
I love the minimal nature of this instrument. neck through construction, volume and tone controls are in a unique place and the fretboard looks dead flat. Infinite radius - my favorite kind of radius.
one solid block of aluminum to read more click here
on the subject of durability
Rick Toone displaying a thin but durable neck. try doing this with a wooden neck. why aren't there more builders or designers embracing materials other than wood? It seems so obvious to me that you are going to get a precision instrument that is immune to so many environmental issues. like getting run over by a car.....
so the guitar sound can be controlled via the use of computer software. if you see an earlier post, that is a fact but that was some time ago, what has happened since then? maybe the question that needs to be asked is, what is happening now? Livid Guitar Wing controller
works with its own software or in conjunction with your sequencer via Bluetooth. does all the things in the Wii video I posted earlier but so much more. what I love about this device is the potential of it. not just dumb filter sweeps but you can assign it to sequencer functions or external effects those glorious words, "open ended" I learnt tabla for many years and the first thing I thought about is using the pads to alter the tone/pitch/whatever rhythmically.
with an emphasis on whatever
go to the Livid site but moreover, have a look at their Youtube page for more information than I could possibly impart in this blog.
now I am going to talk more about this designer, but I thought I'd get this video up ASAP because I love watching the process. hope you do too. in the meanwhile, go to KOZM guitars and have a look around click here
I can remember the first time I saw the original Steinberger bass. headless and had that balancing wing. looked like something from outer space. then came the guitars and then a tremolo that would become a coveted item throughout the land the Trans Trem
now this is a very fortunate situation because we have an image of the latest incarnation of this tremolo arm
actually, we have two not only could it transpose all strings up (F# and G) but down as well (D C and B) as well as make some interesting pedal steel effects whilst bending and holding down a chord the bodies of the original guitars were made from carbon fiber and featured no truss rod. the no truss rod idea sent the head of your average guitar player spinning like a top. I admit that I had a hard time coming to terms with it myself then I played a six string GL with Trans Trem and all my doubts disappeared. another thing that really impressed me was the on off switches for the pickups. so you could have each individual, bridge and middle, neck and middle, bridge and neck or all on at once. never experienced all on at once before and it really was versatile. the thing I love about Ned Steinberger is that he has never rested on his hands. never stood still in the field of design go have a look at what Ned is doing now and read up on the history of this amazing designer NS Design click here thank you to NS design for providing me with these images.
this gives me an excuse to talk about an important topic but first let's look at an example
Goulding Guitars
Voodoo Haze
aside from being made from aluminum, that is one fine looking guitar the "sound hole" of this semi acoustic almost has a resonator guitar quality to it. unique to the designer and with that we come to the legal term "design flair" first off, I will site the example of a certain jangly 12 string guitar manufacturer and their guitars used by a member of a fab group in the sixties. You know, there were four of them. now what is their name again? the 12 string in question had tuners pointing outward and away from the headstock, eliminating the need for a long, or six tuners a side, headstock. the concept had been used in pedal steel guitars for some time but had not been implemented on the guitar.
but that is not what the issue is here
the shape of the headstock, although not a trademark in its own right is a part of the design flair, is unique to that manufacturer. although it goes in no way to assist in the function of the instrument, it is a constant design feature of that manufacturer. hence the term, "design flair" If I asked you to think of guitar head stocks in relation to the following words tele strat explorer probably the first thing that comes to mind is the inherent shape of those head stocks. The design is the builder's calling card. legally, how do I feel about this? there could be a fine line between flair and function (see guitar above). some designers/builders/manufacturers have deeper wallets and better lawyers than others being pro active and trying to secure your rights in relation to said laws are prohibitively expensive my conclusion is one of hopeless optimism I am not on the side of the "little guy", I am on the side of the "specific guy". all the people I have sited in this blog since I began it. bringing forth new ideas without fear or favor if these people cannot be defended, then we can't advance having said all that, go have a look around at the Goulding Guitars website a deluge of instruments and ideas click here
here we go. I have had my head turned around 3600 degrees in the last month and I crave new guitar design there is so much I can say, and will say in the future, about this builder and, of course, his designs maybe I should mention the two previous topics - body and bridge so much needs to be covered let's start with this Myka Guitars
2011 Custom Scorpion
electric guitar, fair enough. fanned fret, semi acoustic, scalloped fretboard and eight strings. I think I can see an output or two, but where are the controls? you'd better sit down
so on six strings we have piezo midi going to a hex output and a two way switch for patch selection.
the eight string pickup is split 6 electric and 2 bass. with outputs and volume/tone controls for both.
The one thing I need good advices on is the 5 way switch. too many possibilities to comment on.
quoting sponge bob square pants "I'm so happy, I can't feel my legs"
breathtaking. controls at the closest possible access point for the player. amazing thinking so you want pickup switching options? I knew something like this would happen and I was a silly to open my big mouth about it. 2010 Myka Electric Black
controls close up
signal path
Concentric Volume and Tone, 3-way per pickup, plus Master Volume
Switching: 5-way:
1. Neck
2. Neck and Bridge in parallel
3. Neck and Bridge in series
4. Neck and Bridge out of phase
5. Bridge
3-way for each pickup:
1. HB series
2. Coil tap
3. HB parallel
Tone 3-way for each pickup:
1. Custom Cap-1
2. Tone bypass
3. Custom Cap-2
Additional Switching: Bridge pickup blower
so you want switching options? plus it has a bridge blower. whatever you have set up on the guitar amidst the HUNDREDS of options you have in any other position, this switch goes straight to the bridge pickup.
had enough?
now this is a body topic but, don't worry, lots of electronics here.
2012 Custom Ergonomic Baritone Electric
quoting Myka,
"In a seated position the adjustable foot allows the guitar to be propped up into your preferred playing angle and it will stay there when you take your hands away to operate a keyboard or mouse"
controls
imagine if the previous guitar had a hex pickup on it. too much information!! to give these guitars justice. here are the page links to each guitar
did I say that the controls and or electronics actually had to be IN the guitar?
look at this
using MAX/MSP, Robert here is adding effects to his guitar with a Wii remote
what is MAX/MSP?
the best way I could describe it that it is an sonic manipulation environment. you bring modules together to control other modules, via your sequencer or even on it's own to manipulate sound. of course, as seen here, it can connect to a wireless controller amongst a myriad of things.
i love how the movement of the player changes the sound. I wonder if Leon Theremin had this in mind for future projects.
there will be more on this topic soon, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling with a quick video demonstration of what is not only possible, but available.
so in this brave new world where I think I want all the oysters ( I never understood that phrase "the world is your oyster", I can think of plenty of other things I want the world to be besides oysters, especially if it were mine) what controls and switching systems would I want for my dreams to come true? I am a humbucker/single coil/humbucker person, but that is sort of wrong because my middle pickup, although it may be small, is actually a dual bladed humbucker. gives a middle position Strat tone without all the hum. on my other electric I have a guitar synthesizer pickup. I can hear the groans now but this is new guitar design land and I make the rules! pay attention!
let's stop for a photo break. 3 Conklin guitars
quoting the web page "We developed this 7 channel stereo panning system in 1992 which enabled
the player to pan each string anywhere in the stereo spectrum for wicked
effects on stage or in the studio"
a guitar going through seven amps on stage. this is beyond my wildest dreams. maybe set the speakers up for 7.1 surround mode. mow more of this later but note the date. 1992. next up, quoting the web page once again "Sidewinder 8 string guitar; this one a solid body from 98, with fanned
frets, a hand-milled compensated tremolo, piezo pickups and on-board
MIDI electronics"
so we have a few options here. electric guitar sound piezo acoustic sound guitar synth sound plus featuring fanned frets and a tremolo. this is the ultimate goal.
plus they made a hollow body 8 string version
made in 2000. it makes me think about how we have advanced in the last decade. hmm....
it is not lost on me, but look at all the volume and tone controls. let alone the switching system now if I asked them, I am sure that Conklin could add switching for pickup configurations like series, parallel and series/parallel but until I am given the tools, here is my goal five way pickup switch a three way switch that selects synth only, guitar only or both synth and guitar one guitar volume pot one guitar tone pot one synth volume pot one guitar output jack one synth guitar output cable plus one extra switch. a throwback to my telecaster days the ability to select the bridge and neck pickups in parallel, removing the middle pickup from the signal path altogether is that enough of a palette for the new guitar design aspirant at this point? maybe I am wrong. could be a glorious mistake. I had some series/parallel switching systems put on my guitar. didn't work for me, not to say that I wouldn't look at again in the future. when i got some new pickups with a humbucker/humbucker(sic)/humbucker set up on my guitar, I was happy. the two humbuckers have coil taps on them to give single coil tones. it works for me maybe reducing things to a minimal function is of merit. don't know about Conklin guitars? click here and have a look around
I feel somewhat remiss because I have had a chat with Saul Koll some time ago. this could be one of the best excuses to talk about body shapes. but also about players that ripped my head off when I first heard them. of course, there is the topic. controls and related electronics. look at this.
The Conipulator. look at this video
one of my true guitar heroes. David Torn. not only has he put out an amazing array of solo albums, he has toured with and produced Bill Bruford and has produced one of the greatest Jeff Beck albums ever - Jeff. as per the video, the Conipulator has an inbuilt speaker connected to a momentary switch that ENCOURAGES feedback, a switch that generates a sixty cycle hum that reacts to string pitch and a switch that turns recordings going INTO the guitar ON. Coupled with David Torn's real time sampling skills, there is one recording I can recommend Prezens - track one alone. Blues for the year 8 million. Now the feedback and the audio input may be inspired, the sixty cycle hum appears in another instrument
The Teuffel Tesla let's have a look at the first build by Saul Koll for David Torn The Tornado
the three buttons and the speaker now I have to show you another guitar and it's player.
a fanned fret version of the Koll RE7 and Elliott Sharp let's look at some pictures some other versions
one fanned fret - one not but seven string/ergonomic/hollow body I got a Carbon album by Elliott Sharp some years ago and it made me think about not only different tunings but insane tunings. about an insane approach to those tunings plus he has this blues project called Terraplane. confront yourself with sound. I did and I loved it go to the Koll Guitars website click here both traditional and modern players and traditional and modern design. I really wanted to start this topic with a blast. as much as I admire the device and the player, this goes way beyond the momentary kill switch of Buckethead.
some time ago I got jumbo frets installed on my Steinberger GL hard tail. I was sure one happy camper. the buzz about at that time was stainless steel frets. I suggested that in the future I would like them installed on all my guitars. after a few expletives the technician in question flatly stated "after all the trouble i went to dressing the frets on your Steinberger, there is NO WAY I am going to put stainless steel ones in!" everybody calm down, I have known this cranky chap for some time, so the marriage isn't over just yet. but even in these early days, this goes to the heart of the POINT of this blog new guitar design - meaning? 1. the latest and the best materials available to a builder 2. the number of variables available to a builder in the form of devices used in various aspects of this thing we call a guitar 3. the ability to re-examine the form and function of a guitar 4. it has been pointed out to me that with the technology today, be it the drawing tools or the machine tools we can build instruments with an accuracy down to the micron. 5. and finally, with the technology at our disposal, we can automate certain practices. a Plek fret dressing machine comes to mind maybe i should put an addendum on point 5 incorporating design features that completely AVOID or do away with guitar design practices that frankly, have become redundant there is one thing that comes to mind but I am not going there until we start talking about fret boards. so hang in there, the best is yet to come
