Mini Gordo Midi Guitar
From Canton Custom Guitars comes the Mini Gordo Midi Guitar – a custom design for Stephen Barry. Performing much of his live and studio work with the Roland VG-99 V-Guitar Multi Effects Processor System and Roland GR-33 Guitar Synth, Stephen was looking for something different.
According to guitar maker Rick Canton,
Stephen’s intention for this guitar was to have an elegant, sleek guitar while being simple yet powerful. He also wanted a travel friendly guitar due to his traveling schedule so this new model fit perfectly for him. Stephen aptly named it the Mini Gordo.
The Mini Gordo specs include:
- Roland GK-3 Guitar Pickup Internal Kit
- Moses graphite neck
- Curly mahogany solid body
- Bondy Hardtail Bridge
- Purpleheart 13 pin jack plate
And at a mere 4lbs 8oz, this compact instrument is just the thing for protecting your back on those long, late night gigs.
For more, check out the follow up article, Mini Gordo Guitar Revisited as well as the forum post Mini Gordo Midi Guitar in Action where you can listen to an original composition played on the midi instrument.
Very cool. I like how it can be “understated” and yet make a statement at the same time. 😉
i love it! A very nice design. but where are the midi controls? ..and one more thing- am i the only person who is
interested in the back of a guitar? 🙂
-i just love to see how stuff is made i guess 🙂
very nice piece of gear indeed!
More to come on Mini Gordo… Stay tuned… 🙂
Way cool, very very nice wood, woodwork.
What’s the pot for, Vol control or something else?
Agree, I am interested in the back of the thing.
Hi Mats, the back of the guitar is very sculptural as I am certain that pics when posted will indicate. It is actually my favorite part of the guitar. Oh, and yes, the single knob is used to control the volume of the Roland,GK3 hex pickup. best wishes, Stephen Barry
thanks Rob, cant wait! 🙂
Hi Johan, I opted not to have any midi functions on this Zen inspired guitar other than volume control. I can control all other functions via pedals. This reduces redundancy and keeps the face of the guitar very simple and clean allowing the one piece, highly figured Honduran mahogany body to really shine. I almost asked Rick not to include a volume knob but after some consideration, opted for one as my fear of unwanted feedback during live performances won out. best, Stephen Barry
Hey Stephen,
thanks for the reply! i understand the control layout now, it compliments the guitar. love the it!!
Looks pretty cool. Can you give more details on the specs? In particular, I’d like to know about the dimensions (length and scale). I travel a lot and would love to get a custom short scale guitar.
–Zack
http://www.guitarvibe.com
Hi Zack, I would suggest contacting Rick Canton. He can make you the guitar of your dreams! My Mini Gordo has a Moses 25.5 scale neck. I think the guitar is around 31″ in total length Best,Stephen Barry
some more specs:
11- 3/4″ wide x 29-3/4 long x body thickness 1-3/4″, overall thickness = 2 – 1/4″
4 lbs 8oz.
Thanks for the additional details on a wonderful instrument. Do you plan any demos?
Hi Rob, I am making a music video of one of my new songs with the Gordo that will be posted on U Tube and maybe here as well. Best, Stephen Barry
I’m looking forward to it Stephen!
Hello Stephen!
The guitar could have an even more clean looks, if the new Bondy piezo saddles would have been used together with the ghost electronics, instead of the Roland internal GK kit…
But of course that it is a one-of-a-kind already, anyway. Cheers,
J P Brito
Greetings J P Brito, Rick offered to make the Mini Gordo using the Ghost system as it surely would have continued the Zen like theme I was looking for to a higher degree. I opted to use a Roland internal GK3 because I found it to work much better with Roland’s VG-99. There seems to be a general consensus about this on the Yahoo VG boards as well. In the end for me, function won out over form in this case.
best, Stephen Barry