Ensemble

In early June 2022, I drove to the Kunsthaus Weiz in Styria with Christian, a good friend of mine, to finally hear one of the world’s best-known jazz musicians, and a major figure on the scene for decades, live in concert: Pat Metheny.

Since we had a long journey ahead of us, we set off early in the morning so we would have some time to spend in the area. Perhaps we might even get the chance to exchange a few words with him – or, in the best and most unlikely scenario, get a comment about one of my instruments.

We knew that during the pandemic, Pat Metheny had to be particularly careful about staying healthy and avoiding unnecessary contact. So we were all the more surprised when the most unlikely scenario actually happened – and in the best possible way.

Pat asked his tour manager to bring Christian’s baritone guitar, which I had built, backstage so he could play it. He liked the guitar so much that we were invited to meet him and talk after the concert. He told us that finding a nylon-string baritone guitar that really worked for him had felt like searching for the Holy Grail – and apparently, he had found it that evening.

So I built a new guitar for him, equipped with Half-Nashville Tuning. It eventually arrived at his home in New York in mid-January 2023. The next morning, he wrote to me that he had immediately played it for four hours straight – and that the guitar was fantastic.

I’m curious to see where this instrument will take him.

This guitar also has two special features:
Udo Rösner modified the pickup for this guitar, using the #Hash as the basis. He removed the microphone and replaced it with a tone control, similar to those found on the classic Ovation pickups from the 1970s and 1980s.

The second feature concerns feedback resistance. Good acoustic instruments can be extremely sensitive to feedback when amplified. I therefore developed a removable damping rod that suppresses the main resonant mode of the guitar top responsible for this problem. The rod can be installed or removed within a few minutes, effectively transforming the guitar from a superb acoustic instrument into one that is ready for the stage.

This quint guitar was built at the request of the Delta Guitar Quartet. The idea was to perform a piece written specifically for this unusual combination by Freya Arde, using a quint guitar, a third guitar, a guitar in standard tuning, and a quint bass guitar. The piece has since also been captured in this video.

There is a small but rather special detail in the wood: the backs of these guitars are made from single pieces of wood, which is quite rare. Even more remarkable is that the three pieces were cut directly next to each other from the same tree. Siblings in the truest sense of the word.

This terz guitar was built at the request of the Delta Guitar Quartet. The idea was to perform a piece written specifically for this unusual combination by Freya Arde, using a quint guitar, a third guitar, a guitar in standard tuning, and a quint bass guitar. The piece has since also been captured in this video.

There is a small but rather special detail in the wood: the backs of these guitars are made from single pieces of wood, which is quite rare. Even more remarkable is that the three pieces were cut directly next to each other from the same tree. Siblings in the truest sense of the word.

This quint bass guitar was built at the request of the Delta Guitar Quartet. The idea was to perform a piece written specifically for this unusual combination by Freya Arde, using a quint guitar, a third guitar, a guitar in standard tuning, and a quint bass guitar. The piece has since also been captured in this video.
There is a small but rather special detail in the wood: the backs of these guitars are made from single pieces of wood, which is quite rare. Even more remarkable is that the three pieces were cut directly next to each other from the same tree. Siblings in the truest sense of the word.

On this instrument, I like to use Half-Nashville Tuning. Compared to standard tuning, only the two middle strings are tuned one octave higher, while the lowest and highest strings remain unchanged. This creates a special, almost floating sound that works particularly well on a baritone guitar.
This type of tuning was made particularly well known through Pat Metheny and his use of it on the baritone guitar.

Quint bass guitars, often referred to as baritone guitars, were widespread and highly popular around the turn of the 20th century. Why they virtually disappeared during the turmoil of the two world wars remains a mystery to me. Today, they are slowly reclaiming their place within the guitar family.
I have come to greatly appreciate the unique tonal character of these instruments: warm, resonant, and wonderfully expressive at any dynamic level. They excel in solo performance and make an exceptional addition to any ensemble.
For this particular guitar, Michael chose to use exclusively domestic woods and to add a seventh string, extending the range downward to a low E.
To ensure the instrument can hold its own in a big band setting or alongside louder instruments such as the accordion, it has also been equipped with a pickup.

I sponsored this terz guitar for the 2015 guitar competition of the Liechtenstein Guitar Days. It was awarded to the first prize winner, Jinsae Kim.

An optional feature of this guitar is the segmented saddle insert called “FABS” (Free Adjustable Bridge System). With the FABS, it is possible to adjust the intonation more precisely.

An optional feature of this guitar is the segmented saddle insert called “FABS” (Free Adjustable Bridge System). With the FABS, it is possible to adjust the intonation more precisely.

… The “Santiago” accompanied me in early 2005 on my 1,800-kilometer pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela … and serves as the prototype for the entire Santino model line.