OffsetGuitars.com

Whoa, ok, that's a new way to do pickup swaps:


https://youtu.be/AtN1GSsWLBQ

The back is held on with magnets to an aluminum frame. The pickups are wired to a backplate that works kind of like a magsafe connector. The "handle" on the pickup backplate also turns to adjust pickup height. The battery in the picture is actually for a piezo system, and some models have a touchpad. But the pickups are passive.

[I don't remember talking about this, and I searched a bit. But they introduced this at NAMM 2018.]

It's pretty sweet, but for what some of these models cost ($4Kish) you could actually own a few decent guitars instead.

That could be said about any expensive item and doesn't really mean anything.

I'd rather have one thing of high quality that delivers subjectively/objectively 'more' than a bunch of dross or mediocrity.

Kent wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 17, 2019 10:52 pm

That could be said about any expensive item and doesn't really mean anything.

I'd rather have one thing of high quality that delivers subjectively/objectively 'more' than a bunch of dross or mediocrity.

I don't necessarily disagree, but if I'm going to drop that kind of money on a guitar I might actually prefer it do ONE thing really well and also potentially have some value as an investment and/or be unique in a way that's meaningful to me.

I'm not a session player, so being able to get a variety of toanz out of a single instrument isn't terribly important to me.

I like it. But it does seem that there is an aversion amongst guitarists to anything that isn't a lump of wood, with components strung together in ways that have barely changed since the 1950s (with all their inherent problems). And those were not only 1950s processes, but often the very cheapest ways of manufacturing in the 1950s. When someone does something sophisticated and properly, we don't want to pay the necessary premium for it (because it's new and cost a lot to develop). But then because these things don't catch on with the masses, the development / manufacturing costs never come down.

Lucky we're not still stuck with 1950's cars, phones, computers, and TVs.

If there were jazzmasters and jags built this way, from an aluminium frame that looked the same as the vintage instruments, with hot-swappable pickups (via a snap-on back), with a vintage-style wooden neck, that sounded the same as the lump of wood, and every one sounded and felt exactly the same (because it was made with modern techniques), would we buy it for US$1000 ?

Kent wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 17, 2019 10:52 pm

That could be said about any expensive item and doesn't really mean anything.

I'd rather have one thing of high quality that delivers subjectively/objectively 'more' than a bunch of dross or mediocrity.

Agree, not so much in relation to this guitar which answers a question I have never asked myself but in general yes. Quality over quantity, buy once cry once and I'd always prefer one great thing than many ok things.

D

If there were jazzmasters and jags built this way, from an aluminium frame that looked the same as the vintage instruments, with hot-swappable pickups (via a snap-on back), with a vintage-style wooden neck, that sounded the same as the lump of wood, and every one sounded and felt exactly the same (because it was made with modern techniques), would we buy it for US$1000 ?

I would be so so up for this, hell I'd take two.

I just saw this click bait on YT as being the most futuristic guitar or some shit like that. Didn’t get my view.

I think it seems like some pretty solid engineering. It definitely simplifies many things that are currently a bit of a pain (I was adjusting the height of my JM pickups just this morning) on other guitars. I’m not sold on the aesthetics, but will check out the website to be sure!