ilovefuzz.com

DRodriguez wrote:Would love to hear more cleans from these. Any chance at a zephyr clean demo?

Absolutely....I received a couple requests for some clean demos, so I'll definitely make it happen...!!

rfurtkamp wrote:Curious as to the long-term stability of the bamboo for neck mounting et cetera.

Seen how bamboo stuff dries out badly over time on furniture and other stuff so it's a definite something I'd need to know before going down that road.

Also, as much as I like the Jazzmaster in the looks department, hate the LP-style switch placement (as someone who rests their hand on that bout a lot of the time while playing).

I accept it on a LP because, well, LP....but on a Jazzy, it makes me cry.

Some great questions/points raised here. Let's start with the bamboo and it's stability. The dried out furniture you are thinking of differs in a few ways. One, it's very likely that the bamboo used in the furniture you are thinking of is of a low grade species. It's the only way to keep the furniture cost cheap. Much of this furniture is also used indoors and outdoors and exposed to harsh elements. Plus 99% of bamboo furniture doesn't have any protective finish or sealer on it. Next, a lot of this furniture actually isn't bamboo--often times it is thatch or wicker, which is barley a step above straw. Regarding the matter of stability, you couldn't choose a more stable "wood" (bamboo is technically a grass). Bamboo is 250% more stable than maple and is tops on the US Department of Agriculture stability chart of woods--better than Oak, Hickory and even Teak. Much of this stability has to do with the fact that the bamboo material I use has been manufactured and engineered specifically for stability and longevity. Each layer is cross laminated. Any expansion that is prone to one layer is countered by the 90 degree orientation of the strands on the layers above and below it. In all honesty, the aluminum will expand and contract more than the bamboo will..!!

Finally, regarding the toggle switch location, my reasoning is that when you finish a "strum" the stutter switch is right there, on your hands down stroke, so you can start your stutter rhythm. The toggle switch is oriented side to side, not up and down like on a Les Paul. This helps to minimize any accidental switching. The toggle is placed really high up in the horn to, so its position for those who have played it so far has been well received. I realize that its different strokes for different folks, so if someone wanted the stutter switch and the toggle switch swapped, it would be no problem.

JereFuzz wrote:

Decibill wrote:

JereFuzz wrote:Wow! Awesome guitars with a compound radius to boot! Have you considered "loaning" one to YouTube gear demo celebs? Are you attending the next NAMM? How will they look "aged"?

HA hA....Funny you mention this, demoing by the "you tubez" stars. In fact, this very scenario is in the works...!! I expect the guitars to age nicely. The finish is a very durable, non-yellowing water bourn lacquer. Dings and drops that effect most electric guitars, will probably effect these too, some not as much others, but no more or worse than a typical wood electric. The aluminum may dent under heavy force, but it wont splinter....Bamboo is dense as hell, and isn't going to ding easily.

Sweet! I have an aluminum Smith and Wesson revolver (Airweight) and it is light and tough (can handle thousands and thousands of rounds in its lifetime). But over time its matte finish starts to show wear. But it's not pure aluminum; it's an alloy. Anyway, I was listening to that Maven and it sounded great! I assume a case will be included with the guitars ...

Yes, yes, yes...Hardshell case is included. I need to add that to the website...!!! Thanks for bringing it up....

Yea, if you're using the good grade bamboo, worlds of difference. I'm not a "Must use X wood" purist - i have a baked maple Gibson, after all! Just a case of figuring it was smarter to ask.

And as weird as it sounds, I've never been an acoustic-type strummer (so very different strokes) - my pickguards have no scratches after 10 years or more of playing an instrument. I'm precision metal strum if anything with economy of motion.

But yea, different strokes.

Will add it to my list of "hmmm" - I'm in the market next month or beyond for another larger ticket instrument, just not sure I want another Jazzy or variant!

For those of you who have asked (or wondered) about the bamboo core on the Unified guitars, here is a pic of all three cores. There is a tremendous amount of development time in each of these. There needs to be cross bracing at certain spots to give the guitar rigidity, but not too much that it becomes heavy or takes away from the resonance. There also needs to be wood under every single screw location to give said screw something to screw into. Finally, the pockets need to allow for electronics to be mounted without interfering with the wood core.....And this is just one layer of three (the other two are the aluminum plates) that go into the guitars....!! All that said, there were a LOT of hours in the development of these....!!

I keep waiting to post on this, because I want to extol the virtues of these guitars, but never think I have the time. But it's true: they sound fucking rad. When Bill was designing these, we were all holding our breath because, well, none of us had anything directly similar (chambered hybrid material electric) to compare them to. So when we finally plugged them in and they sounded BADASS, it was both exciting and a huge relief. I should post some pix - we had a couple of friends by the shop, and tried them through a couple of amps (just a couple that time - we've tried them through many more since). I really wish more of youse guys were local so we could set up a time for you to come by and try them in person,