Burrell Guitars - Instruments That Conform to the Guitarist
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I wanted to play guitar when I was a teenager but had difficulty with bending my fingers & wrist at the same time. I reached my friend Don Frisbe’s guitar back to him and said I would learn to play guitar when it would conform to my shape rather than my having to wrap around that awful clumsy flat box.
The “clumsy flat box” which Leo Burrell of Burrell Guitars refers to above has also been an obstacle for other would-be guitarists. However, rather than accept it, Leo went on to do something about it. Leo’s instruments now include electric guitars, acoustic guitars, electric bass guitars and acoustic bass guitars.
Leo’s custom instruments combine traditional elements of guitar design and aesthetics with some very interesting variations of his own. Looking over the Challenge model, we see a few of Leo’s ideas in effect. The most striking thing is the way the guitar body twists and tapers to conform to the guitarist. As Leo notes on his homepage, this allows for “better control and visibility, while reducing player strain. The neck is also twisted, allowing for better control and further eliminating player strain.” In addition, a forearm contour brings the guitar player’s picking hand elbow closer to the body resulting in reduced strain on the shoulder joint.
More on Burrell Guitars in the near future…
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Interesting, but the Burrell’s web site doesn’t elaborate too much about his new approaches to the guitar. He does talk about how you have to bend your body to adjust to the guitar being so thin, which is what I was trying to solve with my “cushion idea”. Hopefuly, we’ll find out more about his guitars.
Gabriel
[Reply]
Robert Irizarry replied on May 15th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I have a bit more on the guitars as I indicated in this article. Leo was kind enough to provide me with some background on the history of his guitars as well as some additional shots.
[Reply]
Here’s the working link:
http://www.montrealguitarshow.com/fiche_en.aspx?expId=249
[Reply]
Robert Irizarry replied on Jun 21st, 2007 at 6:27 am
Many thanks for the link to the Burrell Guitar images. Great contribution! Thank you for the comment and keep them coming!
[Reply]
Jun 10th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
[...] I reached my friend Don Frisbe s guitar back to him and said I would learn to play guitar when it would conform to my… Visit Building the Ergonomic Guitar for all the details, pictures and commentary. …more [...]
Jun 17th, 2007 at 4:15 am
[...] I reached my friend Don Frisbe s guitar back to him and said I would learn to play guitar when it would conform to my… Visit Building the Ergonomic Guitar for all the details, pictures and commentary. …more [...]
Jun 17th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
[...] I reached my friend Don Frisbe s guitar back to him and said I would learn to play guitar when it would conform to my… Visit Building the Ergonomic Guitar for all the details, pictures and commentary. …more [...]
Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:12 am
[...] covered in Burrell Guitars - Instruments That Conform to the Guitarist , Leo Burrell takes a radical approach to guitar design particularly where it comes to acoustic [...]
Jul 4th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
[...] 2. Leo Burrell’s Acoustic Guitars - A Follow Up - Leo Burrell’s instruments are truly unique and warranted a follow up to my original post - Burrell Guitars - Instruments That Conform to the Guitarist. [...]