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it’s not my usual aesthetic, but it’s kind of oddly appealing. certainly more ergonomic than either of the usual Steinberger designs (with/without a traditional body). i think they tried too hard to make it like a regular guitar and wound up with a worst-of-all-worlds scenario where it was too modern for the fogies and too normal for the New Moderns. i haven’t the foggiest notion what the sound like, though. it does seem like the perfect stick-in-the-overhead-compartment guitar, though.

i would be tempted to go totally in the other direction from the stock pickups and go with Bartolinis or something of that nature. something about that style says “super clean” to me.

le lambin wrote: ↑Thu Apr 03, 2025 2:39 pmWise words- trying to make something sound like it’s not is guaranteed disappointment, and I am trying to keep an open mind. We’ll see how it goes!

What stock pickups are in the Salen, are they Suhr? And what did you try to replace with? If you’re willing to share.

It's the Salen Classic (not the newer NX) with Suhr pickups ('Classic T'? they might be custom voiced, not sure).
Tried Lace Sensors, noiseless SDs, hot/cool rails, all sounded pretty bland in comparison.
Since they're designed almost exclusively with ergonomics in mind it's not surprising that the sound profile is a little odd. On the other hand I think they arguably gel with Neural DSP, etc. better than more traditional sounding guitars.

The ergonomics thing cannot be understated, though. Absolute no brainer purchase for anyone with tendonitis or back issues.

i was in my Wacky Project Guitars thread talking about what i've been working on and made a reference to my Odd Little Guitars™, which provoked me to get the other ones out for a group shot. from left:

Eastwood Wandré Soloist, brand new. Davoli repro pickups, Les Trem.

2012 Guild M-75 Aristocrat, closed hollow body, floating bridge, Franz P-90 pickups.

the Kondor: Kent body/pickguard/2 pickups, Hondo II neck, Guyatone bridge pickup, Bigsby aluminum bridge, Kay/Teisco repro tremolo, rotary pickup selector and DiPinto Pentatone varitone, Fender/Ping locking tuners w/Hipshot buttons.

c. 1962 Hopf Twisty II: body w/electronics and tremolo from eBay, correct neck w/tuners and logo from a German parts seller, correct bridge from eBay, Schaller pickups from Hopf Jupiter 62 pickguard.

repro c.1962 Fender Duo Sonic from Reverb: refinished Squier Classic Vibe DS body and Squier Mini Strat neck, Duncan Antiquity Duo Sonic pickups, pickup positions corrected from Squier placement to vintage w/Pickguardian guard from my template and body routs in pickup routs as required. the headstock decal was by the seller; i'd have left it blank, but it doesn't bother me now that everyone and their dog are buying Chibsons.


i really enjoy that i have some guitars that are as normal as could be (Strat, ES-335, Les Pauls, White Falcon) and ones like these that are just peculiar. i particularly like that none of these sound typical. no generic tones here! i'm pretty sure all of these are smaller than a Les Paul, but can't be arsed to get it out to compare. i could have also added the Gretsch 5259 Special Jet, but thought it was borderline and that i'd have to add the Les Paul Special as well because they're about the same size.

my project guitars thing has always been about getting different kinds of pickups and different voices. i have some other weird shit in the conceptual pipeline, waiting on funding.

it's hilarious to me that all these guitars are almost as little as the 22.5" scale Duo Sonic but all have 24.75-25.5" scales. some wee bodies in there. if the Kondor and Hopf didn't have such oversized headstocks they'd be Duo sized or less.

i really should have put the DeArmond in too...it's the same dimensions as the Aristocrat. oh well.

That is a lovely spread of stuff there dubs! There was a one middle pickup twisty at a local shop near me, and neck + trem felt so good I almost bought it. I just need a bridge pickup in my life. Got a fav out of those?

gosh, that's tough. i love all of them in their own way. but i guess if i had to pick one it'd be the Kondor because it's the most unusual-sounding and the one i put the most creativity into. it really doesn't sound like anything else, or anything standard. the rectangular Kent pickups are papery in the mids and round in the low end; the Guyatone bridge pickup does bark when pushed but prefers to chime. sonically across the board i like the Wandré and the Aristocrat, but that's partially because i don't fully understand the Hopf yet; the swapped pickups and 4-position tone switch makes it a little tricky to know exactly what it sounds like yet. comfort-wise the Duo Sonic is the easiest guitar i have to play. the best tremolo, surprisingly, is the Kondor. we think of 60s Japanese tremolos as being less than grand, but its 3 springs give it good tension and it has a pretty wide range. it also has that wonderful knob. i've seen 4-spring versions on eBay that would probably be, well, 33% better.

it's funny because i don't really think of "favorites" that much, but there certainly are guitars that get played more. historically i've played the Epiphone SG, Tokai Les Paul Standard and Les Paul Special, and the Gretsch Pro Jet i gutted and rebuilt with Dynasonic pickups and a floating Bigsby the most. i used to be way into the Strat, but i don't play it so much now. i notice that i tend to play guitars with shorter scales more than my Fenders, no doubt due to my tiny mandolin-player hands.

i guess the coolest guitars are the White Falcon, the 1968 ES-335 i bought for $200 with my first tax refund check in 1975, and the sparkly blue DeArmond. the Galaxiemaster and Jetstar are going to be cool as hell when they're done...that Jetstar is going to be an absolute weapon.

i've never seen or heard of anyone seeing a Hopf in a shop before now. someone on here who lives in Germany and has been following some of my stuff said that they're rare even in Germany.