You Want Someone Breaking the Guitar Mold? Gittler Guitar Makes a Strandberg Look like a ’57 Les Paul

“How the hell do you even play this thing?” was my first reaction. Seriously, it looks like a prop in a sci-fi show. But you won’t find blue-skinned women with no hair playing Gittler Guitars. Well, at least not too many. This is an actual guitar that you, Earthman, can buy.

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I say Earthman because up until now Gittler Guitars weren’t available outside of the US. Yet now those of you in Europe can also get your hands around the bizarre aluminum shape of this enigma.

So what features have they managed to fit into the minimal 3 pound aluminum frame (hey Gittler, I hope you’ve practiced pronouncing it “a-loo-min-E-um” for your trip oversees)? Well the main point of interest to me, besides people walking up to you and screaming “what the hell is that?!,” is the 6 individual pickups dedicated per string. There’s a 13-pin output in addition to the regular 1/4″ inch one, so it’ll integrate easily into guitar synth systems or simply allow for some interesting processing on a string by string basis.

But I zeroed in on that component because I’ve used similar systems before, so I know how it works. The other components though? They sound like they could be cool. But really it’s so alien to me that I have no idea.

  • Patented two-piece tuning machines with “Teflon™ impregnation of the base metal”
  • Headless neck with a string lock mechanism that “provides an isolated vice grip on each string”
  • Cylindrical frets
  • Easily removable and replaceable neck
  • 31 frets, but with the ability to even play past there down the rest of the body for a 4 octave range

Honestly I have no idea if I’m more curious as to how this guitar sounds or how it plays, but I know I need to get my hands on one immediately. The company isn’t too far from me in the NY/NJ area of the US, so maybe I’ll be able to find a local dealer. For those of you in Europe, check out Gittler at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, March 12-15.

…maybe they’ll demonstrate for you how the hell this accessory works with the guitar:

gittler-tripod

Written by

Chris Alfano has written about music and toured in bands since print magazines and mp3.com were popular. Once in high-school he hacked a friend's QBasic stick figure fighting game to add a chiptune metal soundtrack. Random attractive people still give him high-fives about that.

Latest comments
  • Heil Gittler! Seriously they should consider a name change.

    • People have such an obsession with Hitler, he was not even the worst in WW2…

  • I need one for my progressive-post-aliencore band

  • Andy Summers of the Police used one in the video for Synchronicity II back in 1983 ish

    • There weren’t any instruments in the video:

      • There *is* a video of this song that shows the Police playing in a post apocalyptic garbage dump. This must be an alternate version.

  • They took the “djent stick” thing way too seriously

  • So basically a Keytar…

    • yeah if you have no idea what a guitar, keyboard, keytar, string istruments, or anything are, yeah its a keytar.

  • cool but im not going to pay 5 thousand for it

  • “So what features have they managed to fit into the minimal 3 pound aluminum frame (hey Gittler, I hope you’ve practiced pronouncing it “a-loo-min-E-um” for your trip oversees)? ”

    The Gittler guitar is made out of *titanium*.

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