Flux Guitars - Double Neck DOTM

Design Of The Month

This is the kind of design that I love, creative, attractive and fully functional. Flux Guitars have recently started an IngieGoGo campaign to fund their uber smart Magnetic Double Neck Guitar  (http://igg.me/at/fluxguitars/x) The magnetic locking system they use for connecting the two guitars makes interchanging and playing the guitars for different modes really easy and simple to do. If the main guitar is connected to the amp, no additional connections need to be made to the secondary guitar for amplification as long as the magnetic connection is there.

Another special thing I really appreciate from the designer is that he is offering the option of buying the larger or smaller guitar as a stand alone instrument and also if you want to switch the 12 string to the smaller guitar and make the larger one a 6 six string, all options seem to be open. If that isn't giving the customer what they want, I don't know what is. Enjoy!

St. Vincent Signature Guitar DOTM

Design Of The Month

I have been waiting for this day to roll around to talk about this beautiful guitar from St. Vincent/Ernie Ball. From the first glance it almost has a Gibson Explorer feel to it with the overall bow-tie shape. But on closer inspection, the two back panels are angled softly to give it a more modern feel and the triple pick-ups gives plenty of variation in playing style. I really dig the detailing on the fretboard as-well. The overlapping circles (which I am presuming are Mother Of Pearl) are incredibly intricate and smooth. All together it makes for a really sleek and cool guitar and I think it sums up St. Vincent perfectly.

WillsEasyGuitar Building Guitar History YTV

02/06/15 YouTube Video

This week is a bit of a different kind of video. It is a vlog from WillsEasyGuitar where in part 1 he drives around and starts to talk about how he started as a guitar player and builder. I found this 2 part video really interesting because I learnt how Will mostly single handedly started a successful guitar business (Garvin Guitars) through constant improvement, original ideas and good decisions. Some of his designs aren't up my street in terms of taste and some of his opinions I don't fully agree with but I have respect for the knowledge he has in specific areas and I find most of his guitar related videos a must watch. Enjoy!

Bourbon Makers: Gildas DasViken YTV

26/05/15 YouTube Video

This weeks video is about a really interesting luthier from Nantes, France. He shows off some of the breath taking guitars that he has made and restored (more can be viewed on his site here: www.dasviken.com ). What really excites me about the guy is that he doesn't just use wood and other materials that normal luthiers would use when making a guitar but he uses wood that has a story or an interesting history about it and would not conventionally be used for a guitar. He also offers more than just custom guitar design, from looking at his website he can do a whole range of small custom changes and modifications, more than you could want and dream for for your guitar. Really cool guy and totally inspiring to me. Enjoy!

Duesenberg Caribou DOTM

Design Of The Month

I would like to thank the guys at Andertons for bringing this brand back into my mind. I heard about Duesenberg Guitars firstly when they created a Johnny Depp signature model, but since then they seemed to have slipped out of my brain. Until today with the video from the Andertons YouTube channel reviewing this beautiful Duesenberg Caribou. Below are several variations on the design but my personal favourite is the second one from the top with the 3 pickups (one humbucker and 2 split coils), gold pickguard, brand own tremolo system and that sensational shade of aqua blue. From the whole design I get a real retro, cool feel and obvious well made construction that would make the guitar an absolute dream to play.

Stew Mac DOTM

Design Of The Month

My design, or more specifically design company for this month is Stewart-MacDonald. Through my project at Uni all I seem to be thinking about is guitars, guitars, guitars and more guitars so this company has been burned into my brain. They are based in the US and seem to produce every tool under the sun that can help luthiers produce excellent guitars.

Most recently I have been looking at some of their guitar jigs that aim to make doing certain tasks easier and give greater control to the builder such as the Tuner Pin Drill Jig (below) which makes lining up the tuner screws a cinch. I also bought a set of pickup templates from them recently and they are very high quality and should last a few decades fingers crossed.

The delivery of products from the US to the UK may be extortionate but when getting a job lot of goodies like I am going to do in the near future, it is well worth it.

Italia Guitars DOTM

Design Of The Month

As I am currently working on a guitar based project on my final year at university I have been looking into lots of existing guitars. I have came across many ugly guitars and lots of copy cat guitars but one brand that are doing something special and different is Italia Guitars. The company was founded in 1998 by fellow Englishman Trevor Wilkinson and has famous clientele such as Lightspeed Champion and Nicky Wire and more. What I personally like about their guitars is the aesthetics. They have a classic almost Mod feel to them with colours taken straight out of a Vespa colour scheme and little details like the alternative pick ups and the beautifully curved main bodies. Altogether a great brand and I hope they continue producing modern classics forever more.

Case J2 Semi-Hollow Double Cutaway DOTM

Design Of The Month

It is only two weeks till Christmas, can you believe it? This year has gone by really fast and what better gift to celebrate Christmas with than one of these beautiful guitars. The J2 is from Case Guitars with whom the designer/maker (Jon Case) has been making exquisite guitars for many years and he produces handmade in the UK. So thats another reason you should love his work even though the guitars can easily hold up their own. The guitar has a unique style of its own that you don't really see on other Semi-Hollow bodies and he has really fine tuned the subtle details that make it an outstanding guitar. With Maple bookmatched and showing through, both colours look great and I am sure many other colours would look equally good. A classic guitar design aesthetic with a modern take that anybody would be proud to own.

Gretsch G5622T DOTM

Design Of The Month

Ever since I became interest in guitars Gretsch have always stood out to be as one of the best in terms of sound quality and of just looking proper sexy. Recently, a relative very kindly agreed to pay most of the way towards the black guitar below seeing as the price was a little over my personal budget. This equals birthday and Christmas presents for the foreseeable future as I'm sure you figured out. The guitar arrived on Tuesday to high expectations and when I removed it from the packaging I was not disappointed. It is a fine work of art that just screams great craftsmanship. It is a pleasure to play and I am going to treasure it for the rest of my life. If you haven't tried a Gretsch out yet you really should, you will be a fan.

D.O.T.F. Taylor T5Z Custom

Taylor T5Z Custom

So the other day the latest issue of Guitarist arrived on my doorstep and after barely flicking through the first few pages I came across this little beauty of a guitar. It is an electric/acoustic hybrid that is retailing for just under 3 grand which is still way over my budget. The points of this design that I especially love are the cut away sound holes that are dynamic in shape and reminiscent of flames (well at least in my mind), the detailing at the end of the fret board, the positioning of the control knobs and all of the design is harnessed in a classic Gibson body shape. Enjoy!

D.O.T.F. Gretsch Guitars

Design Of The Fortnight Gretsch Custom Shop

I have chosen not just one design this fortnight but the whole collection that the Gretsch Custom Shop have produced in the 10 years it has been around. I have always been a big fan of the Gretsch guitar design and this video below really gives an incite into what it takes to produce musical instruments of such great quality, and each with a uniqueness all of its own.

I am currently in the process of learning about the making of guitars myself so this really is learning from the masters. If the guitars that I produce are half as close to this level of quality and finesse then I will be extremely happy.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

YouTube Video O.T.W. 8/04/14

A bit of a different one this week. It is an interview with the band Soundgarden at the Guitar Center. The Guitar Center occasionally host a guest spot by artists who play some guitars and have a chat. It was really interesting watching this video, learning more about Soundgarden and how the band members got into music/playing musical instruments. It also really is a joy to see all of those beautiful guitars in the background. It really is a guitarists dream. If you have a spare 11 mins check it out.

D.O.T.F.

The pick this time is a car that I heard about when I went to the Great British Guitar Show a weekend or two ago.

The car in question is from a partnering of Fender and Volkswagen, the design rendering is below. The outside of the car has the pretty much standard look of a Beetle except from the Fender logo underneath the VW badge. On the inside is where you can really tell they have taken inspiration. The classic sunburst dashboard, swish and stylish little details and decals dotted all around and not forgetting the premium audio sound system that is installed. Just imagine driving down Sunset Strip (or in my case the ring road of Coventry) with the windows down and some great tunes filling the air.

Another dream car to add to my ever increasing list of wants.

D.O.T.F.

This Design Of The Fortnight coincides with the starting of my associated Tumblr blog. If you click on the link below you will be sent to the Musicopedia Picture page. It will have photos of the D.O.T.F. plus general images that I think are cool and or inspiring.

So I have chosen the guitar Teye La India E Series. I love pretty much everything about this design. The colours used and the details around the edge of the guitar etc. The biggest thing I like is the tattooesque detail on the front face and the head of the guitar. It gives the guitar a classic and old school vibe which I am really diggin'. When I earn enough to spend 4 grand on a guitar, this will be one of the first on my list.

Musicopedia Picture Dept

Guitar Making/Luthier Skills

Yesterday I went to see Rik Middleton a local guitar maker from Coventry. I'm currently learning about the process of guitar making and yesterday was a great experience. I learnt about different processes, materials and their sources, equipment/machinery that is needed for the job and lots more. In the afternoon of the day he also showed me how to bend the wood for the sides of the guitar. This process was always something I was interested in learning about and I'm glad I now know how it works. 

Also, visiting Rik has really inspired me to create guitar models on CAD and start building up my workshop equipment so that when I have my own workshop space I will have all the equipment I need to start building and making.

He has also made a book about making a guitar that is available on Amazon and I for sure will be picking up a copy for myself. I look forward to visiting him again next week and learning even more things.

New Design Of the Fortnight Feature (D.O.T.F.)

I have recently had a new idea for a fortnightly feature. Basically on Thursday every 2 weeks I will post a Design Of The Fortnight. It maybe graphic design such as gig posters or album covers. It could also include particular guitar designs I am currently diggin' or pretty much anything musically themed that has been designed. It should be a good little Feature.

For this week I would like to feature a couple of guitars from one of my favourite guitar brands, Gretsch.

The first guitar is a signature model for Patrick Stump from Fallout Boy. I like the relatively simple design and just a couple of stripes for a decal on the front face gives an impression of creating a square shape without having to draw all the lines. I also thought it was interesting seeing it had 3 pick ups. I learnt a bit more about it from watching the video Patrick did on the Gretsch YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rWOWXEhfG8) It was pretty interesting for me, especially because I love a bit of FOB.

And from the brand new to the very old. In fact this model below is from 1954. It is called the Gretsch Electro II, one of the first guitars Gretsch produced. From the get go you can tell they had style and a kind of look/presence that they have included throughout the years.I would hope the guitars that I produce eventually have this much style or anywhere even close.

The Wild Boar Acoustic Night!

Last night I went to an acoustic event at The Wild Boar pub in Warwick. I haven't been to one of these before yesterday in what feels like years and I was pleased by the quality of the performers who played. The majority of singers seemed to be females but all the singers had different singing and playing styles which kept things interesting. The singer I liked the most was one of the featured artists of the night, a lady who went by Miss Ellie (https://www.facebook.com/MissEllieMusic). She played a range of her own material and covers. Over the night I can definitely say I preferred listening to songs the singers had written themselves. It just seemed that there was an extra something that was brought out in the playing of the song. Recently I can say I have had enough of listening to people doing covers of pop/top 40 songs on an acoustic guitar and thinking it is totally out there and different, I have heard enough of them and sometimes I just want to listen to a song that was made for acoustic guitar. Overall, it was a good night and next time I would like to stay later and see all of the acts. Great little venue, staff and location were brilliant.