y
Hand-Crafted
Electric
Guitars and
Basses
for the
21st Century.
Body Styles
I am working with two original body styles: The Apocalypto and the Martyr. The origin of both of these names is ancient Greek and it is back to the original meanings of these words, contrary to our modern vernacular, that I must draw your attention.
Coming Soon...
Berlin V.I. 3172 Attic Vase depicting Orpheus performing before an audience.
Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Antikensammlung, February - March 1992
Orfeus and Eurydice - a matched pair of 78 cm 4-String Basses. These basses both come from the same wood sources: from the canary wood and purpleheart laminate body to the canary wood and purpleheart laminate neck to the book-matched cocobolo fingerboards. Both will be fretted with mandolin frets. However, one will have the standard on-board electronics while the other will sport my new shoulder strap mounted electronics. These instruments will also showcase my own bridge design using Mokume Gane (a metal technique developed in 16th century Japan). See Shining Wave Metals for more information on Mokume Gane.
The Prototypes
My bass prototypes are the first prototypes completed.
The 6-String Guitar prototypes are on hold for a short while.
The Logo
Photo courtesy of Susannah Medley.
The Paian Instruments logo is emblazoned on both the front and back of the instrument head. Marquetry is used to construct the logo from an Oak and Bloodwood pi and iota on a Maple background.
Neck Through Body Construction
All instruments feature Neck-Through-Body construction for a solid and stable instrument capable of increased sustain over bolt-on neck configurations.
Photos courtesy of Susannah Medley.
The neck is composed of multiple laminates of hard maple and purple heart. The body pieces are glued to the neck.
Woods
The materials (wood, metal, synthetic material, etc.) that comprise an instrument have a definite effect on the instruments tone. The denser the material, the higher the materials resonant frequency. This translates into the ability of the material to either transfer frequencies or absorb them. Highly dense woods (ex. Ebony, Ironwood, Oak, Hard Maple, etc.) have a relatively high resonant frequency and are said to have a 'Brighter' tone than woods that are less dense. On the other extreme, less dense woods (ex. Balsa, Luan, Mahogany, etc.) have a relatively low resonant frequency and are said to have a 'Muddy' or 'Mellow' tone. Thus the material used to construct a guitar will inherently effect the instruments tone.
I will work with the customer to help them select the woods both for their inherent beauty and to produce a desired tonal characteristic.
Electronics
Another major factor that effects an electric instruments tone are the electronics. Just as with woods, Pickups have a certain resonant frequency that will greatly effect the instruments tone. Furthermore, the remaining passive or active electronic components will each color the tone in certain ways.
In addition to providing 'standard' guitar controls, I have developed an optional 4-band Parametric Equalization module that can be used further refine the tonal characteristics of the instrument.
Ultimately, like with wood selection, I will work with the customer to develop the electronic controls to fit their playing style best. Standard layouts include, but are not limited to:
Series 1 Master Volume & Passive Tone, Pickup selector switch, Output Jack. Series 2 Individual Pickup Volume & Passive Tone, Pickup selector switch, Output Jack. Plan 4 Master Volume, Pickup Pan, 4-Band Parametric Control, EQ On/Off switch, Output Jack
