Building the Ergonomic Guitar

Custom guitar shop Shamray Guitars took the ergonomic design of the original Ovation Breadwinner (an inspiration for the subsequent Klein Electric Guitar1 and the Forshage hollowbody guitar) and updated it into this 12 string electric guitar made from striking AAAAA figured sapele wood. For those unfamiliar with sapele, Wood Identification and Use describes it as […]

Hohner USA got back to me about the EGS Electric Guitar and here’s what I learned… At this time, the guitar is only available on a special-order basis in the US. This instrument was developed for our overseas market, and we’re still evaluating its viability for the US market. The retail price is $2999.99, and […]

A radical electric guitar, the Hohner EGS or Ergonomic Guitar System “features a patent-pending design metal made ERGO-WING which allows the player to adjust the position of his electric guitar for perfect posture.” Although details are sparse and only currently available through the Hohner Germany site, the idea is similar to a built-in neck up […]

A source of inspiration for both the Klein Electric Guitar and the Forshage Headless Electric Guitar, seen and heard in this demo by Roger Placer, the Ovation Breadwinner’s stylings were inspired by the shape of a battle axe! Fortunately, style wasn’t all the guitar designer had in mind. As he states in this interview from […]

Recently, reader Alex G. shared several pictures of his innovative concept for an aluminum neck guitar based around an aluminum T-beam form. The idea definitely piqued my interest and I’m glad to learn that Alex has joined the ranks of guitar bloggers with his own site The Aluminum T-Beam Guitar. There he intends to document […]

Building the Ergonomic Guitar reader Mats Erikson recently shared information on his Klein Electric Guitar Replica. Here are some of its features: Guitar Body – Swamp ash. Neck – Moses Graphite composite Steinberger replacement neck (with truss rod). Bridge – ABM Single Bridges (combined with a locking nut). Pickups – Harmonic Design Z-90 in neck […]

Having seen an introduction to the Forshage Hollow Body electric guitar and then pictures showing Chris’ approach to making the Forshage guitar neck, it’s now time to turn to the details of the guitar body. Let’s start with a look at the top and back pieces that will soon transform into the guitar body. The […]

As promised, in my previous Forshage guitar article, here is the first installment in the making of the headless Forshage guitar. We’ll start with the guitar neck which is comprised of maple with an ebony fingerboard: One of the first things you’ll note is the laminate neck construction. Chris explains his approach: I laminate 4 […]

Along side a range of archtop and hollow body guitars, Texas luthier Chris Forshage of Forshage Custom Instruments builds an exciting hollow body electric guitar that takes ergonomics seriously. Chris came up with the idea for his ergonomic guitar after trying a Klein Electric Guitar. As Chris puts it, he “played one and really liked […]

Reader PJ Doland recently completed a beautiful Klein Electric Guitar replica. PJ was inspired by Bill Frisell’s Nashville album which was recorded largely with a Klein. As you can see in the following images, the first time guitar builder did a marvelous job! For his electric guitar, PJ chose the following: 1. Swamp ash body […]