Split-Level Doubleneck Amidst the standard issue guitar knock-offs, this Chinese company had one of the most unique double-neck guitars I've ever seen. Not only that, it looks like it's pretty darn playable. Even if you sling it real low, you can grab the front neck over the top. Guangzhou Pearl River Instrument Co |
Cheeky Guitar Meet Lilly. She and her sisters Layla and Lola, all share a common physical feature, best appreciated as they walk away from you. design4sound Vertriebs GmbH |
Not Quite PETA-Approved I wondered why in the world this booth had big dead things adorning it. When I took a closer look, I found that they used bits of antlers for the tuning keys, knobs and nuts. Somehow I don't think you'll see Thom York or Moby playing one of these any time soon. Zuni Guitars |
Perforated Guitars These guitars had holes in the top of their side panels, permitting the player to hear more guitar sound. In theory, it makes the guitar louder overall, but I couldn't notice the difference considering the 85db background noise at NAMM. Sound Port Technology |
Carbon Travel Guitar The Blackbird is a single-piece carbon-fiber guitar. The sound hole is up around the 12th fret on the top of the body. Previously, I've not been impressed with carbon fiber guitars, but this one actually sounded better than any other I've heard. I'll bet it would make a good paddle in an emergency. Blackbird Guitars |
Two Sides of the Odd Coin It's not very often that in one booth you find something odd & cool alongside something odd & cheesy, but these guys pulled it off. You gotta love that gold tooth in the skull. Guitarras de las Americas |
Word Association Maybe Bell & Head sounds cooler in German than it does in English, but after hearing the name, I'm left with some sort of vague Pavlovian/pornographic image. Anyway, it's kind of a cool-looking guitar anyway. Cassandra Elk Design |
Math Rock Unplugged If you can't dazzle them with your technical prowess, you can at least dizzy them with the design on your guitar. Eleca International Inc. |
Bondage & Tight Frets I'm guessing that they call the guitar (at left) the "Bondage" model because it's bound in leather. It has an interesting concave back, which may or may not have anything to do with carnal tastes. They've also refined the Delta Wing guitar (right) and added a dozen more frets with the F1 model. Gary Kramer Guitar |
Cartoony Acoustics They really ought to have a Yosemite Sam model. The Music Link |
Hindu Double-Neck My guess is that the goddess depicted here is Saraswati, given that she is associated with music. Having four arms would come in handy with a double-neck, wouldn't it? I wonder if it would be blasphemous to use a leather strap on one of these? Minarik Guitars |
My Guitar Has a First Name… Flaxwood isn't just the name of the company, it's the name of the composite material. They take wood, grind it up, mix it with some binder, and injection-mold it to make their guitars. It sounds like calling a slice of bologna a steak, but hey, whatever works. As you can see, the back is formed into an acoustic resonator. Flaxwood |
Left-Handed Tiger Another pearl hidden amongst the various knock-off swine was this cool Korean tiger guitar. Kraken Custom Guitars |
Many Scary Things Bridgecraft has made appearances in the Oddities past and this year they fielded three odd-worthy guitars. The blue dragon-thing, the double-neck blue dragon-thing, and the flashing bat. The double-neck was especially interesting since the top neck leans closer to the player. Bridgecraft USA |
Collect the Entire Set I'd hate to step on a pedal that looks this nice. This pair of Jersey Girl products goes a bit beyond color-coordination. Boston Guitar Imports |
Dread Naught Hole For a mainstream company, Martin has shown a tendency to dip it's toes in the odd. Even if it's just a prototype or two, they show up. C. F. Martin & Co., Inc. |
G# Guitar It's called the G-sharp because that's where the lowest string is tuned. The idea was to build a high-quality short-scale guitar and it looks like they're well on their way. The model pictured here has a whammy bar that can be attached two places, at the bottom or in the middle. G Sharp Instruments AS |
Raptorcaster Maybe they built this for Steve Miller to play on one song… or maybe not. Fibenare Guitars |
Raising the Dead Eastwood is bringing back the guitars from dead companies of yesteryear. Only this time, they've got higher quality parts to equip them with. Eastwood Guitars |
What's in a Name? With a company name like Henmanbevilacqua it's no wonder they named this guitar model the "S1." They had to get that letter count down somehow. I especially liked the ultra-clean design of these guitars. Henmanbevilacqua Guitars |
NAMM Oddities '07 Home | Guitars |
Other Goodies | Percussion |
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©2007 Barry Wood