Aries Guitar

[romaen]

Hi everyone

I thought I post some pictures of my latest build. I was participating in the same contest as the puzzle bass (Puzzle Bass) on gitarrebassbau.de

After a couple of instruments where I borrowed the design of the big companies I finally managed to make a guitar I designed myself. I hope you like it.

Body and neck are made of curly maple I found here in Switzerland. The fingerboard is made of Indian Rosewood. The pickups are splitcoils that sound similar to singlecoils but without any hum.

Cheers,
Romaen

[romaen]

more pics...

[romaen]

and some more...

[Ganorin]

Romaen was so humble not to mention, that this was the winner of this years contest
Great guitar!!

[romaen]

and more....

[Nay]

Absolutely stunning... kudos.

Nothing more I can say!

[Barnaby]

That's just beautiful. Really, really stunning. Clean lines, amazing design...wow!

[Claymore]

Simple, modern, elegant.....
Great job, and congrats on the win!

[romaen]

Thanks guys!

Maybe I should give you some more info on the instrument? My intention was to make a guitar that is no Lester, no Strat, no Telly, no SG etc. but something of my own. On the other hand, I wanted it to be comfortable to play for both Gibson- and Fender-players. Therefore, I made it with a scale of 25" and with a neck-angle of 2 degrees (LP 4.5 degrees, Strat 0 degrees).

As for the pickups I wanted a clear singlecoilish sound without the annoying hum. That was achieved with selfwound splitcoils with six individual Alnico5 magnets (3 for the treble strings and 3 for the bass strings). I'm pretty happy with them.

Cheers,
Romaen

[Jay Jillard]

i am completely floored by the shape+carve on this guitar. well. done. good sir.

[emoney]

Romaen, that is simply stunning! What a beautiful design and from the pics, the craftsmanship
seems superb! Kudos!

On the nosy side, how much does she weigh and when do you plan to share the sound clips?

[romaen]

Thanks guys!

@emoney: she weighs about 3 kilograms (about 6.6 pounds). Pretty light for a maple body, huh. The guitar is not as big as a strat an not as thick either. And I didn't use rock maple.

I'll see about the sound clips....

Cheers,
Romaen

[oigun]

Nice and clean I like it!

[romaen]

Made some recordings with frozen fingers in cold and snowy Switzerland...

Every recording is neckpickup first, then both and then bridge pickup.

Aries Guitar Sound Samples

Cheers,
Romaen

[Thumpalumpacus]

Good stuff, bud.

[Bruiser74]

Wow, that's really cool, great work!

[romaen]

...and maybe some pictures for the non-logged users...

[VictOr358]

Wow, you've managed to combine rather sharp edges with really smooth curves, the transitions are really organic! Plain art again!

[LC100]

This is really a stunning guitar. Have any sound clips?

[Barnaby]

Originally Posted by LC100

This is really a stunning guitar. Have any sound clips?

Check post 14 above. Listening to them now.

[LC100]

DOH! Thanks.

[romaen]

That's how it all started a few months ago.

[romaen]

Body wood



... and some wood for the neck and peghead

[Barnaby]

True story...

...for some reason, my computer downloaded your soundclips into iTunes. I listened to them the other day, but not too closely, as I was getting ready for work. Then, I charged up my MP3 player and wandered out the door.

Yesterday, I was walking through Shibuya and had my iPod on 'shuffle' (random music) and this short, vaguely familiar piece with an amazing sounding guitar came on through my headphones. I stopped dead in the street and said "Wow", then had a look - sure enough, it was your soundclip.

Awesome job, man - you literally stopped me in my tracks (and three salarymen who crashed into me immediately afterwards).

[romaen]

Great story. Thanks for sharing Barnaby!

All the best to Japan!

Cheers,
Romaen

[romaen]

Glueing the headstock

[Barnaby]

Originally Posted by romaen

Great story. Thanks for sharing Barnaby!

All the best to Japan!

Cheers,
Romaen

And to you in Switzerland. Honestly, if I were there right now, I'd spend my entire salary on vintage watches. Probably a good thing I'm not.

[Ole'Lefty]

It evoked in me the same positive reaction as does the Sydney Opera House. Then as I examined the pictures more closely the utterly perfect management of grain reinforced the classical proportions. While I am very stubborn in my appreciation of traditional guitar shapes, this one just comfortably slipped into my mental library of great individual design.

[romaen]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

And to you in Switzerland. Honestly, if I were there right now, I'd spend my entire salary on vintage watches. Probably a good thing I'm not.

Well you should probably buy some nice wood instead...

Cheers,
Romaen

[romaen]

almost there...