Building the Ergonomic Guitar

With the year quickly coming to a close, it’s time to join the legion of “Best of” lists with the five most unique guitars we profiled this year.

1. The Forshage Hollow Body Electric Guitar – First featured in April, the Forshage hollow body electric guitar is influenced by the Klein Electric Guitar, the Ovation Breadwinner and the Teuffel Tesla.

Later, we had the opportunity to look at build pictures of the guitar neck and guitar body followed by a demo of the Forshage by guitarist Roger Placer.

2. Crimson Guitars’ 05Ric Extended Range Bass – In August, we looked at the extended range bass guitar conceived of by musician 05Ric and built by Crimson Guitars.

Thanks to Crimson Guitars’ generosity, we had the opportunity to look at progress pictures in three segments – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Then we saw 05Ric demo the ERB to complete the overview.

3. Henry Olsen’s MaSh Acoustic Guitar – In November, we took a look at the MaSh acoustic guitar. It was envisioned by musician Henry Olsen and built by U.K. luthier Dave Dearnaley.

With it we saw a Klein influenced shape successfully executed as an acoustic guitar.

4. Toone Guitars’ Orchid Bass – We first looked at the Orchid bass guitar back in August when it was merely a concept. As an ergonomic vision, it was striking in its departure from the Klein and Ovation Breadwinner inspired instruments we’ve often looked at.

Just this month, we saw the vision unfold in The Orchid Bass Sprouts An Unusual Neck. Not only has the concept become reality, the Orchid bass guitar incorporates a truly unique trapezoidal neck profile intended to improve technique and reduce effort.

More to come on it as it nears completion.

5. The Most Ergonomic Electric Guitar Ever? – Also in November, we saw Little Guitar Works apply its Torzal twist neck to the Klein electric guitar. Guitar maker Jerome Little took a real Klein and built one of his Torzal necks specifically as a replacement part for the Klein.

Later, The Torzal Neck Klein Guitar in Action! gave us Austin Texas guitarist Justin Telepak performing a quick demo on this highly ergonomic combination.

Final words

So there it is. Your short and sweet Best of 2007 from BTEG.

And thanks to everyone – the site’s readers, all the guitar makers both professional and amateur who contributed to the site’s success and Guitar Parts Central for its sponsorship. It’s been amazing and I look forward to 2008 and beyond.

So tune in next year for more coverage of guitars designs, alternative guitar making approaches and guitar project #2. Happy Holidays everyone!