Codella Guitars aren’t particularly metal at all. But NAMM is a free-for-all, and the heart wants what it wants. So I stopped at the Codella booth because I was drawn in by their sleek, familiar-yet-different design that looks like it’s from an alternate future, where race cars aren’t just for rednecks.
Aside from being handmade with love here in California and having a body shape unlike any I’ve seen, the innovations on these guitars are small things. The trem cavity cover is held on by magnets, rather than traditional, pain in the ass screws, for easy access to the other cool features. Inside the trem cavity lies the Tremolizer, a patent-pending device that keeps your guitar in tune when you bend, detune, or break a string. I didn’t actually get to see it in action, so we’ll have to take their word for it. Just above the Tremolizer is the tool chest, for those of us perpetually looking for the right size allen wrench, a quartet of them are snugly fitted there for when you need them.
Another subtle but very cool feature is the flush-mount pickguard. The pickguard is sunk into the face of the guitar so it’s just a continuation of the top, rather than sticking out to snag your hand on. Like the other features of these guitars, when you see it, it seems so obvious, but why don’t we see it all the time?
