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| Schecter's Oddball |
NAMM Oddballs - Guitars from the Other Side
By Cliff SuttleWhile wandering around the NAMM show looking for Golden Axe Award nominees, occasionally I would spot something I just had to take a picture of. Not because they could be in the Golden Axe finals, not because they played well, not because I really wanted to buy one - just because they were weird. Oddballs, every one. So odd and interesting in fact, that I had to tell you about them.
So, in no particular order, here they are:
#1 - I like to call this one "Here's looking at you kid." If you look closely at the picture, you will see that those little colored spots are eyeballs. This Schecter-made seven-string actually has glass eyes embedded in some gooey looking stuff that forms eye lids around the eyes. Not the kind of guitar you want to play if your drummer is paranoid. Not for the weak of heart, this guitar can really give you the creeps. To contact Schecter, if you dare, visit their web site at www.schecterguitars.com.
#2 - From Jackson comes this instrument obviously made by a guy who can't decide what he likes more - cars or guitars. Didn't get a chance to play this one (note the do not touch sign), but it looks like it would be weird to play with those wheels rolling across your stomach and all. I was wondering if is came with a remote and was capable of jumping ramps and doing flips. And just when you thought that was weird, you get to drive you guitar home. Check out the Jackson web page at www.jacksonguitars.com.
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| Oddball #2 from Jackson |
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| Oddballs #3 and #4, from GMW Guitars. | The 8-string oddball from Novax. |
#3 & #4 - These are a pair of custom guitars from GMW Guitars that are kind of hard to describe. Lee Garver, the owner, states that he doesn't like his guitars to be boring. Well these two guitars are odd, bizarre, certainly over the top, and anything but boring. Interestingly, GMW Guitars took the fourth position in the Golden Axe Awards with a guitar they made called the Medusa (which doesn't look anything like these). Totally hand carved, the bones guitar uses real snake skin to cover the carved wrap-through snake. Really a nice piece of work it you like that sort of thing. The GMW web page is at www.gmwguitars.com.
#5 - Finally comes this rather normal looking guitar. It's normal looking at first glance at least. Now, take a closer look at the frets, the bridge, and the pickups. This eight string baritone guitar from Novax has many unusual, creative, and innovative features. The frets aren't straight, but travel in a fan like formation that, according to the builder, gives amazingly clear, articulate tone. In a piano, the strings are all different lengths in order to get better sound. I guess that's the idea here as well. The bridge is actually eight individual bridges that are designed to eliminate crosstalk between strings. Being that I slap the strings a lot on my bass, I can see how this feature could help eliminate unwanted string buzz. Lastly, there are two separate sets of pickups. There are guitar pick ups for the first six strings and then bass style pickups for the bottom four strings. Yes, they overlap so the E and A guitar strings actually are picked up by four pickups. Playing this guitar is a little strange at first, but I would think that with a little work it could be like an old friend. This is the only one of the oddballs that I think I might actually like to own. You can visit the Novax web site at www.novaxguitars.com.
This article is dedicated to oddball guitar makers everywhere. Keep those creative juices flowing guys. It's nice to know that not everyone makes Strat copies.
| Keep Jamming,
Cliff |
Cliff Suttle (cliffnotes@harmony-central.com) has been studying music for over twenty years including studies at the University of Michigan. Fluent on keyboards, guitar, and bass, Cliff is currently playing in an all original rock band Middle Earth. Cliff's motto: Understand the theory and you can play anything.
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