Two Phils!

Ergonomic electric guitar

Just to confuse things, I’m currently making guitars for two Phils. Phil A came over the over evening to have a fitting for his ergonomic electric guitar. I’m not sure how many players use ergonomic guitars because they actually have a physical need to or because they are just plain weird! However, on saying that, I think that once you’ve played an ergonomic electric guitar you can see/feel the advantages straight away.

Phil A does have back problems and although it may sound a bit pompous, it’s good to feel that making a guitar for someone could have real benefits for them. The result of Phil’s visit was interesting-

Firstly, no dots on the fingerboard- if you’re looking at the front surface of the f-board your posture must wrong!

We looked at how the body needs to be contoured to stop Phil’s right shoulder coming too far forward.

The position of the volume control, so that it can be turned whilst his hand is resting on the bridge.

The position of the jack-socket so that he can sit down and play without a jack plug protruding and limiting how the guitar can be held.

Once the guitar nears completion, Phil will come over for a second fitting and we’ll decide if any more modifications can be made.

Phil Hare Signature Model

The other Phil’s (Phil Hare) guitar is also coming along nicely the binding and purfling are on, the neck has been fitted and the fingerboard glued on. Phil isn’t keen on adjustable truss-rods, so we’re just going for two strips of carbon fibre running down the neck and into the body. I’ve no doubt that this is more than sufficient and, to be honest, I’ve never been convinced of the need of an adjustable truss-rod on a well-made acoustic guitar!