Rick Toone | Luthier

Michael Spalt Hybrid Guitar

EDITOR'S NOTE: Informal interview with Michael Spalt via. Ola Strandberg. Spalt's hybrid electric travel guitar is lightweight, comfortable, and features weight saving aesthetic choices including Lace Alumitone pickups and Ola Strandberg's EGS hardware bridge system.

"I started making the hybrids in the late 90's and have made about a hundred or so by now. I started with guitars, but they found no acceptance — the vintage craze was just taking off. However the guitars had a very nice bell-like bottom end with great definition, so I decided to try some basses. I also counted on the fact that bassists are a bit less conservative than guitarists; I might find more acceptance among them. It seemed to work better and I made quite a few hybrid basses until years later guitarists started asking for a "guitar like that". Originally I made the hybrids under the "Spaltbasses" moniker. Now I make more guitars than basses — there seems to be an opening lately for non-traditional designs, with people simply looking for high performance and good tone rather than just the same old thing.

"The hybrids are hand machined and cut and shaped from a plate of 6061 Aluminum, then polished or anodized. The wood parts allow me to use a lot of exotic and smaller pieces of wood, since they have no noticeable impact on the tone (determined by the triad of neck wood/aluminum and pickup/hardware). In general the hybrids have a very warm even tone with good transparency and a lot of punch and sustain. The tonal color can be influenced by a choice of neck wood and electronics.

"This hybrid was designed as a light travel guitar. Weight was the main consideration in the choice of pickups for instance. The client supplied the wood — he was particular about the specific piece he wanted — I worked with him on the specs. It is a walnut burl with open inclusions and pores finished with a tung-oil finish. It has a bird's-eye Maple neck that was shaped after his favorite guitar neck, with a pronounced V and a 9"-12" compound radius with a 25 1/2" scale length. The fingerboard is Ziricote. The headpiece is from ETS hardware in Germany — it was a block of brass which I shaped according to the neck contour. The Strandberg tuners obviously contributed a lot to the light weight and to the looks. A 6-way rotary switch offers various tonal combinations along with a single volume control (no tone).

"The owner has some reservations as to the tone of the pickups (as have I), but loves the guitar and it's ergonomic qualities.

"I'm currently not set up with a fully functioning workshop, so any orders would entail quite a bit of lead time — around 6 months or so. The options are numerous — a lot of them are also included in the base price since I make every instrument from scratch and to the client's specs. Things like neck shape/scale etc., most wood choices and some pickup/bridge choices are included. I haven't quite figured out what the European pricing will be, but it's probably going to be in the neighborhood of 3800 Euros." [Michael Spalt]

Starfish Guitar Video

I built Starfish in 1993 as my personal instrument. At the time I was fascinated by George Nakashima's furniture, and just starting to spread my metaphorical design wings.

Goran discovered the guitar and convinced me he would be a better curator. Starfish got a complete refurbish and flew to Sweden, where she now resides with her new family. He just created a beautiful video featuring the instrument, compiled from photos taken prior to restoration.

The music is a song — Fire — written and recorded in my home studio in 2004, and features Starfish extensively. This version is the vocal-less instrumental track, which makes it easier to appreciate the sound of the guitar. Signal chain:

Starfish
MesaBoogie MkIV (1991)
AT4050 CM5 (close-mic'ed in vocal booth)
Avalon Vt-737sp
MOTU

Claro Walnut Sculptural Guitar — Starfish

EDITOR'S NOTE: White sheets. Smooth dark curves. Slow lingering camera shots. Soundtrack featuring copious splashes of wah. Remind you of anything?

I built Starfish in 1993 as my personal instrument. At the time I was fascinated by George Nakashima's furniture, and just starting to spread my metaphorical design wings.

Goran discovered the guitar and convinced me he would be a better curator. Starfish got a complete refurbish and flew to Sweden, where she now resides with her new family. He just created a beautiful video featuring the instrument, compiled from photos taken prior to restoration.

The music is a song written and recorded in my home studio — Fire — in 2004, and features Starfish extensively. This version is the vocal-less instrumental track, which makes it easier to appreciate the sound of the guitar. Signal chain:

Starfish
MesaBoogie MkIV (1991)
AT4050 CM5 (close-mic'ed in vocal booth)
Avalon Vt-737sp
MOTU

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License

Ulrich Teuffel Video Interview

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following up on our discussion of problem vs. solution as an effective means of Creative Guitar & Bass Design is this two part interview with luthier Ulrich Teuffel. His design solutions are unique, in part because of the questions he asks himself. (Thanks Goran).

Creative Guitar & Bass Design

There is a problem that has plagued the guitar (and bass) industry for at least 60 years, a problem made visible by the legacy of Les Paul.

Gibson's Les Paul guitar is a distinctive shape, an iconic shape. There is a subliminal math to its contours, deeply rooted in acoustic guitar tradition — but missing a bite — and our collective subconsciousness instinctively grasps this design. It is instantly recognizable from across the music store showroom, or a packed arena.

On an abstract symbolic level, that shape now represents electric guitar in Western culture. And that's the problem.

The downside of success is imitation. The Les Paul is scavenged by an incestuous cycle of derivative copies spiraling in tighter and tighter circles, until the remains are picked over in a courtroom by those large enough to muscle in on the carcass.

Quarter Inch War.

PHOTO: NEW FOR 2009 model guitar that is "Unlike any guitar before it." Of course. We've never seen this shape before. Example ad was randomly selected from a catalog. Name blurred to protect perp's identity.

Despite the millions of dollars spent on lawsuits, the original Les Paul shape emerges unscathed. Have you ever met a guitarist who really wants to own a Les Paul clone?

Clones seem to be purchased mostly because of issues with cost or quality. Which means market share gained or lost by Gibson is primarily due to their own (internal) struggle.Do you think this same principle applies to other iconic designs as well?

Curiosity

I love this haiku by Matsuo Basho written in the mid-1600s:

don't imitate me
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon

You want to create the next iconic design. Where to begin? I think it begins with curiosity. It depends what questions you ask.

Problem vs. Solution

Let's use Leo Fender's ubiquitous Precision bass as a starting point for our thought exercise. If you stare at his designs too long, however, you will find it difficult to imagine anything new. So let's ask a question instead:

Q: What problem was Leo trying to solve?

The outline below is a methodology that consistently works well for me. It is ingrained habit, and I use it — consciously or subconsciously — every time I approach a design issue:

I. CLARIFY

• What problem am I trying to solve?
• What solutions have been tried before?

II. BRAINSTORM

• Sketch, doodle, make notes
• Generate ideas without judgment
• Take risks
• Consider opposites
• Try variations
• Take a break
• Collaborate with a partner

III. EDIT

• Set restrictions
• Redefine the problem
• Evaluate and prioritize

IV. REPEAT

I've noticed my brain can not work in more than one of these modes simultaneously. For example, it is impossible to brainstorm and edit at the same time because imaginative and critical thinking are separate functions. Your experiences may vary. For an alternate take, especially when recording music, check out Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies.

PHOTO: Orchid is one of many possible solutions to the problems a young woman was having struggling to play a Precision bass. We began the design by determining what was working well for her, what was not, and why. Drawing to scale.

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License