Jack White recently rang in his 50th birthday and, in true Jack White fashion, the celebration included something wonderfully weird: a one-of-a-kind custom instrument that blurs the line between guitar and bass. Dubbed the Ugly Stick, this franken-beast of tone is the creation of master builder Chip Ellis, best known for his work with Fender and his long-standing collaboration with the late Eddie Van Halen under the EVH brand.
Ellis and White go way back. Chip previously crafted Jack’s iconic Triplecaster, a wildly unique guitar in its own right. But this latest project takes things to an entirely new level of eccentric brilliance: “I can’t stop with the thank you-s for these incredible presents I received for the big Hawaii 5-0 last week,” White wrote. “This over the top custom built axe is the invention of Mr. Chip Ellis @chip_ellis who has built my Triplecasters and EVH’s over the years.”
The Ugly Stick is just as unusual in construction as it is in concept. It’s literally half bass, half guitar, with the low bass strings recessed below the guitar strings so they can all be played at the same height—an ergonomic and sonic experiment 30 years in the making: “Chip has been working on this for 30 plus years on and off. It’s called the ‘Ugly Stick’ and is half bass, half guitar.
“I have it tuned to open E on the low and open A on the high strings. But you could do what you want with it. The bass strings are recessed lower than the guitar strings so you can play them all at the same height/same time.”
White has already put the Ugly Stick to work in the studio. A prototype version made its way onto two tracks from his recent NO NAME album: “Number One with a Bullet” and “Terminal Arch Enemy Endling.” Though he hasn’t brought those songs to the stage yet, this new build might just change that.
“I used a prototype of this axe on 2 songs on the NO NAME album… and haven’t been able to really perform them live yet, but now I can,” he said. “Thank you so much Chip, this thing is out of this world. I’m either wishing I had this back in the White Stripes or I am glad I didn’t!!!”
As far as birthday gifts go, it’s tough to top a 6-string mutant capable of redefining your sound.
