MusikMesse '99: The Guitars
By Brett Ratner
ratocaster@harmony-central.com
Truth be known, I didn't see too much to make me excited as far as guitars are concerned. Even the custom builders were spewing forth an endless stream of Fender or Gibson variations. There are, fortunately, a few companies trying to create something unique.
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Though I know Harmony Central has already done a piece on the Tueffel "Birdfish" guitar, I still think it's worth mentioning simply based on how cool the thing is. In a nutshell, two fish-shaped aluminum rods provide the skeleton upon which the pickups, neck, electronics, and bridge reside. The tension of the guitar strings is supported by two wooden rods which connect the two aluminum pieces. This is important because the two wooden rods give the guitar its resonant and tonal qualities. In order to customize the tone, you can swap the red rods (maple) for the blue rods (swamp ash). You can also have a combination of the two. To further customize the tone, the pickups clamp on to a metal ruler that allows you to slide the pickups side to side and twist them in various positions (the ruler allows you to remember your settings). Since the detachable pickups are not soldered in but rather connected by 1/8" connector pins, you can select various combinations of the five pickups provided (two single coils and three humbuckers). Lastly, the Birdfish comes in a Nubuk leather gig bag featuring pockets for the extra wood rods as well as pickups. The end of one of the "fish" sticks out of the bag, doubling as a handle.
In short, the thing sounds great (especially through a Bogner amp). Imagine a very refined, good playing Strat. Even the humbuckers had focused, single coil-type vibe. The bridge setting was bright without being harsh while the neck setting had plenty of definition. On the other hand, the controls are a bit hard to use, especially the pickup switch. It's also unfortunate that only 500 are being made.
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If you want a more conventional Tueffel guitar (relatively speaking) with better ergonomics, Tueffel was also showing a prototype seven-stringed instrument designed for industrial guitar playing called the Tesla. The Tesla's two humbuckers are in fixed positions and not interchangeable. Fortunately, they sound just fine where they are. The tone is more like a Paul Reed Smith than a Fender. The industrial aspect of the guitar are the various lo-fi and noise generating devices on board, including a hum generator, AM radio receiver, and interrupt switch. The guitar also features a glow in the dark finish, achieved by adding a special mineral, ground up, to the lacquer. The guitar's main features are maple-neck-through-body construction with pearwood "wings," plus oversized knobs and buttons. The latter make volume swells, changes in tone settings, and pickup selection easy to do on the fly.
My only beef about the guitar is that the neck has not been widened much to accommodate the extra string. Playing the thing takes very precise fingers. This may be just fine for pro level progressive and industrial rock players, but it's definitely not for beginners.
Regardless, Tueffel (who also makes the epoxy/pearwood/carbon-bodied "Coco") seems to be one of the few guitar manufacturers interested in pushing the envelope on guitar design. Most everything else I've seen at MusikMesse looks a lot like either a Fender or a Gibson. If you want some more information, Teuffel Guitars recently opened their web site at www.teuffelguitars.com.
Another unique design comes compliments of AGI-Lace (www.agi-lace.com) and their Lace Helix. The Helix features a "twisted" neck that in theory makes playing leads up on the neck easier. A string setup higher than my liking negated the benefits of the neck, I didn’t dig the looks, plus the finish and knobs seemed cheap to me. On the other hand, the guitar (also featuring Lace pickups) sounded absolutely fantastic, while the Sperzel locking tuners kept the thing perfectly in tune despite my string-bending abuse. AGI-lace is also making necks designed to retrofit on Strats.
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Another guitar maker on the edge is Auerswald (www.auerswald-instruments.com). Sporting Seymour Duncan pickups and Sperzel tuners, the guitars have sort of a T.A.F.K.A.P. ("the artist formerly known as Prince") vibe about them. Personally, these guitars weren't my style, but for someone wanting something different, Auerswalds are a good choice.
Lastly, a gang of one man makes Eyb Guitars (Phone: +49 (0)7152-2 43 85). These weren't the best looking guitars at the show. In fact, the fit and finish seemed a bit on the sloppy side. However, these were some of the best playing and sounding guitars of the day. As the builder himself states, if the frets are done well, it's a good guitar. It also doesn't hurt that the guitars feature compound radius fretboards (for maximum playability all the way up the neck). Tones comes compliments of the Schaller "Mega Switch." In conjunction with a mini toggle switch, the beefed up 5-way switch yielded the combined tones of a Strat, Tele, AND Les Paul.
Finally, what should you string these beauties with? If you are tired of your strings going dead in two days, I'd suggest the Gore Elixir strings. They are more expensive, but worth it because the patented coating keeps the strings sounding bright indefinitely. Having played a couple guitars at the Gore booth plus having used these on several of my own guitars, I've found that the strings sound no different than normal strings, and only start to dull as you wear through the coating with your pick. Depending on how aggressive you play, the coating can last a gig, or for a month. These strings would be especially cool for session players who want to avoid having to restring everything before each session.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at some of the products on display at the MusikMesse show. Unfortunately, some of the cooler ones might be impossible or very hard to find in the United States. Unlike NAMM however, MusikMesse is open to the public (for two of the five days at least) so if any of you living stateside are adventurous enough, you could make the journey to Frankfurt, and maybe I'll see you there next year.
Brett
Brett Ratner is a contributor to Guitar Player, Musician, Electronic Musician and Music & Computers. He also spent two years as the Creative Writer for www.gibson.com. Currently, Brett plays sessions and performs regularly around Nashville with the band Katoorah Jayne. Please email Brett at ratocaster@harmony-central.com with any questions, comments.
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