Comments on: Canton Fretless Electric Guitar

By: Rob Irizarry

Rob Irizarry — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:58:23 +0000

Hi Celine – I forwarded your inquiry to Rick Canton so look out for a reply from him.

By: celine pineda

celine pineda — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:46:10 +0000

Hi Id like to inquire on the price of the Canton Fretless Guitar. Thanks

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:45:27 +0000

oh, one more thing 6063 was also alleged to have a smoother surface finish, but now that we’re working the neck, im looking into alloys and anodizing finishes all over again….

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:20:18 +0000

well, we did a lot of research , and metal suppliers recommended the 6063 because it would take the hard anodize process better… 6061 seemed to have a lot of nice characteristics, though.
even though i did get a hard anodize, it does seem to scratch more than i would have thought. we’re in the process of doing some neck work, and may think of a new fingerboard, so im open to ideas and processes.

By: Liam

Liam — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:15:17 +0000

outstanding guitar I am amazed. Im just curious as to your choice of 6063 over 6061 is there a reason for this

Thanks
Liam

By: Rick Canton

Rick Canton — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:07:27 +0000

Thanks to everyone who posted here, I appreciate your kind words. And as always to Robert. It was great working with Mustafa on this build. I didn`t tell you this yet Mustafa, I signed, dated and #`d your guitar at the heel. You have Equinox #001, enjoy it;) I also want to thank Alan Shaffer for being kind, patient and flexible with his “Ergo 1″ build process, expect to see a pre Ergo 1 guitar for Alan soon. Thank you, Al. -Things ahead… Alan Shaffers complex in it`s construction “Ergo 1″ build, a completely new Tim Miller Custom that was co-designed with Tim, a 33″ Baritone Equinox, and soon a surprise from our friend Graham in the UK and more…
Thanks again BTEG,
Rick

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:21:57 +0000

we kept it at 25 1/2 as , the top two strings are actually a half step higher than the regular guitar…

By: Marc Ybaben

Marc Ybaben — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:47:59 +0000

Hmm, with those low notes, what is the neck scale length?

Marc

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:22:40 +0000

thanks! the tuning is c-g-c-g-c-f, low to high, which is based off the sarod tuning.
yes, to Rick’s work , you’re right! — i m already dreaming up one, possibly two more fretlesses – doubleneck 12/6 and ergo electric sarod….

By: Marc Ybaben

Marc Ybaben — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:52:33 +0000

Mustafa,
Loved the video! Great sound, interesting music.
What tuning are you using??
Rick’s work is consistently strong, isn’t it?
Enjoy,

Marc

By: Stephen Barry

Stephen Barry — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:12:37 +0000

Thanks Mustafa, I would use a Moses neck like the one on my Mini Gordo (maybe short scale)with the smallest bamboo body I could without performance drop offs.

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:42:10 +0000

hi there,
curious — are you thinking of getting the whole guitar out of bamboo??

No problems with the toggle switch placement — but i dont really do any strumming work, its all lines, or sometimes crosspicking arpeggio chords. Nothing in the way so far. If you click on the video link, you’ll get a good idea of hand placement, etc.

Good luck with your project!

By: Stephen Barry

Stephen Barry — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:54:01 +0000

Hi Mustafa, I was in contacted with Rick last night about my ideas for a bamboo GL sized guitar. Thanks for the heads up!

I wanted to also ask you about your toggle switch placement…the one closest to the neck seems close to where I might strum the strings…..any issues? thanks, stephen

By: luca

luca — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:30:16 +0000

amazing instrument !
my compliments for thinking and making it.

luca

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:48:15 +0000

Hi Stephen,
you’re in luck — we had to order a pretty large stock of the bamboo as a minimum order, so Rick has enough on hand for other necks, no problem!

By: Stephen Barry

Stephen Barry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:07:43 +0000

thanks Rob

By: Rob Irizarry

Rob Irizarry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:59:08 +0000

The source for the compressed bamboo used in the neck is the same as that used in the fretless baritone guitar referenced above - Teragren.

By: Stephen Barry

Stephen Barry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:10:17 +0000

Greetings Mustafa, what a beautiful and unique guitar! It reminds me of a manta ray swimming in the ocean. I love your choice of bamboo for the neck and the relatively small eco footprint it makes. I am thinking about asking Rick Canton to build a small bodied (Steinberger GL size) electric guitar using Bamboo for this reason. May I ask what the source for the neck wood was? I am the proud owner of a Mini Gordo Midi Electric from Rick Canton (please see pics and info on this site). I know how magical his guitars can be. best wishes, Stephen Barry

By: mustafa stefan dill

mustafa stefan dill — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:51:53 +0000

hi BurÃ§in, I thought of Alnico IIs, but wanted the flexibility of the P-90 and single coil tones with the Rails. In full humbucker mode, it still has a nice clarity and response, and you can wire each of them out phase to get a more PAF tone.

hi Alan, I’ve read about the Sustainiac and know that other fretless players use them, but Ive never had the chance to work with one directly. The guitar as is has reasonable sustain, particularly in the lower 4 strings — *especially* considering it’s so heavily chambered *and* a fretless. Rick may adjust the neck angle a bit and make a few other set up tweaks to help the sustain in the higher end, but I often use the sarod technique of using the left hand nails rather than the fingertips, and I’m able to get long lines with that so far.

hi Jerome, I love the aluminum so far — I have the brass alloy on the Vigier fretless and was going to go for something similar, but Rick really thought aluminum would be a better sonic choice, and I’m pleased he talked me in to it (always trust your luthier!) I like the clarity it seems to offer. I’m curious as to how long the hard anodize will hold out.

Rick and I did shoot some video the other day at his house — there’s a rough cut at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YZyFoWM5Y , but before BTEG embeds it, I want to edit it slightly to present a bit more cohesive performance and take off a few errant notes, lol.

Thanks to Robert for showcasing Rick’s beautiful instrument, and special thanks to Rick for building it!It really is very special.

By: Jerome Little

Jerome Little — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:59:38 +0000

Excellent guitar, well done! I love the bamboo neck. What do you think of the aluminum fretboard? Thanks for sharing–brilliant work.

By: Alan Shaffer

Alan Shaffer — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:20:41 +0000

I was surprised to see no mention of a Sustainiac pickup on the fretless Equinox and Mustafa has yet to post any audio or video. Does this guitar have a Sustainiac? I take it that the answer is no. I would love to hear Mustafa play this!

-Al

By: BurÃ§in Ankara

BurÃ§in Ankara — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:10:42 +0000

Hi!!Ä° love this guitar!Ä° try in fretless guitars standart single coil stratocaster pickups!And i’ll find with neck pickup oud sounds.With humbucking pickups its most powerfull and sustain is better.Please try Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro neck&bridge pickups.Thank you….