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Short Takes

 

Pawar Guitar will soon be producing their legendary three-coil pickup in several flavors for retrofit into any guitar that is routed for humbucking pickups. Known as the Positive Tone System, Pawar will be producing their pickups in-house rather than having Seymour Duncan manufacture their patented tonal powerhouse.

Each pickup housing contains a stacked humbucking and a single coil, which are evenly matched. Within a two pickup system is the ability to get 20 different sounds with two push/pull knobs and a five-way switch. They will make two different five-ways, a Gibson-like toggle and a Fender-like toggle.

Oasis Humidifier now makes classical guitar strings, in carbon and in hard nylon. The GPX carbon trebles and the Centurion Flex-Core Classical Bass Strings make the perfect set for those who are looking for a clear sound but with extreme poser and tonal width.

I've used this particular configuration on my cedar/Indian rosewood classical guitar and the result was pushing this warm wood combination into the realm of a spruce to. The power of the basses are astounding, the trebles are thicker in diameter than, for instance the Savarez Alliance, and to offset the Alliance, the GPX carbon trebles have more warmth. It is an exciting string for those who don't care for the small diameter of some carbons and the overly clear sound that maybe lacks warmth.

Voyage Air guitar now offers a new kind of travel guitar that has a collapsible neck. This is a full sized guitar, made in China and what is absent on their website is the actual crux of their so-called development.

The neck has a complete slice, through the fretboard and heel. With a hinge joint the neck folds onto the body and the strings slip into the hole. It's pretty crafty if it worked.

Being at the center of the pull of the tension of the strings, onto the body and neck, the cut is unattractive and the hinge idea causes heel travel and neck warp. In front of the cut the neck sunk and was twisted, in back of the cut all was well. I sampled ten of their guitars and every one was warped and the heel was as liquid as liquid. I could move the heel around easier than a three-bolt Fender Stratocaster.

If it hasn't been done before it is probably for a reason is what I suggested but the company was well under way as a company headed by Harvey Leach, a luthier well known for his inlay work and problematic guitars, at least every Leach guitar I've seen was problematic, and an anonymous investor without any guitar knowledge.

This is a true study of advertising in that what is absent in the advertising is the very ham handedness of the invention and country of origin. Hey, China makes some fine guitars so why not say it proudly? But the physics don't work out since a contiguous neck is what we depend on to make a neck withstand the pull of the strings and the ugly cut is right there in the center of the pull making the neck an elastic and movable item when "locked and loaded."

Brunner Outdoor Guitars, made in Switzerland has been making travel guitars since 1995. Based on a contiguous neck that unbolts, this guitar features a piece behind the bridge that is removable with the neck. The whole operation or loading or unloading can be done in a minute and when loaded the guitar is in tune and ready to play.

Since it has a contiguous neck there is no warp or traveling heel. The guitar is full sized and comes in multiple models including a nylon string. I say nylon rather than classical guitar; it is simply a modified smaller bodies steel string. Brunner and Voyage Air have no plans to make a classical travel guitar.

I've yet to see a Brunner, but I think it is the real thing as differentiated by the Voyage Air, which is a bad experiment at the expense of the buyer.

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