Electric solidbody baritone or 7/8 string guitars

I'm a 25 year old musician and bedroom music producer from Sweden. Music and playing guitar has been my passion for as long as I can remember and throughout the years I have been playing on a large variety of brand guitars. From my first electric guitar, a cheap Samick Stratocaster to Gibson, Ibanez, Fender, Schechter, Washburn and Jackson to name a few. But I've always felt that these guitars have been missing something in one aspect or another. Having had longstanding problems with neck and back pain I need a guitar that is light while still retaining all the tone and sustain as well as being versatile enough to handle a large variety of different music genres, from mellow jazz notes to pop music and on to high-gain riffs on demand. I first discovered Patrick and his work in, i belive it was 2010 and I was immediately impressed. Not only by the beautiful and high quality woods he is working with, or the fact that i've always been a fan of mahogany guitars and that i find the overall visual design of Patrick's guitars very appealing, but with the amazing tonal properties and clear character the sound of his guitars seem to possess. I was however hesitant to contact Patrick at first. Not only because as a college music student a Hufschmid guitar was quite far above my budget, but aslo because i know that youtube clips and soundcloud snippets are not always the best way to determine what a guitar actually sounds like. Then there is also the trap of GAS, the Gear Acquisition Syndrome that i've always been mindful not to fall into. But I did finally make up my mind and I contacted Patrick in June 2014, and man I am glad i did. "I have been suffering from back problems almost my entire life and as such I'd begun to explore different design possibilities in order to build a guitar that was as light as possible while still retaining all the tone, practicality and character of my flagship range of guitars, and with this design I believe I have achieved it." - Patrick Hufschmid on the H7 Headless As it happens this is exactly what I've been looking for. Even though i didn't really like the the headless guitar designs at first, I have to admit that they've kinda grown on me over the years, and Patricks take on them tipped the scales in favour of a Headless guitar. And as I've now found out during our e-mail correspondence, Patrick and I seem to suffer from very similar backproblems. - Hand built by Luthier Patrick Hufschmid in Switzerland - 27.5’’ scale - West African Ebony fingerboard, 12’’ radius, 24 frets - 7 Strings - Claro Walnut Top - One piece ‘sapelli mahogany’ neck - One piece ‘sapelli mahogany’ body - Hufschmid Hufglow Photo-luminescent Fingerboard Inlays - Hipshot Headless Guitar System - Hufschmid pickups handmade by Kent Armstrong specifically for customer needs - 1 Volume knob, 1 Tone knob, 3 way pickup switch UTILIZATION This H-7 Headless traveled over the mountains in Swizerland and through a rather large forest fire to get to my doorstep here in Sweden, and the guitar was apart from a such a minimal adjustment in tuning that it's not even funny, and probably not even worth to mention here, in perfect playing condition. This guitar is built rock solid, and if you take care of it properly it's most likely going to take a smaller nuclear apocalypse to make the wood move. Also the HufGlow fret marker side-inlays have an amazing glow in the dark. Just saying. The first thing you are going to notice when you hold a Hufschmid headless guitar in your hands for the first time, apart from it's stunning beauty and masterful craftsmanship, is the weight. It weighs almost nothing. I've been standing with the guitar around my neck during several hour long rehersals and if i wasn't playing on it, I'd probably forget it was hanging there. Having a guitar hanging around my neck for an hour, let alone two hours is not something I've been able to do before without having to suffer a lumbago or two afterwards. SOUNDS I generally play via a Line6 POD HD Pro (no amp selected, only for effects/compression and what not.) through a ENGL Powerball amp head with matching ENGL 4x12 vintage cab. When i travel, or find myself in a locaion where dragging along all my gear is inconvenient or unnecessary, I generally just line the POD HD Pro directly into Cubase on my PC or into a PA system. The pickups are hand wound by Kent Armstrong and they are amazing! Whatever style of music I want to play, these pickups bring their A-game. I can play a high-gain riff and when I turn the volume down the sound becomes more mellow without losng any sound quality at all. I can not praise these pickups enough! And then there is sustain. The sustain man! It's incredible! I've heard some people say that headless guitars have less sustain because, well.. the head part of the guitar is missing, including a cut out in the body to fit the Hipshot bridge and lower the weight down a bit further. These people have never played on a Hufschmid Headless, let me tell you. The sustain is second to none and I dare say it's better than many if not the majority of the big brand guitars on the market today. OVERALL OPINION Once you have agreed to work with Patrick, sent the down payment and an outlining of your hand for him to form the neck after, the process begins. There is a constant stream of communication and I recieved daily updates with pictures, videos and information about the progress of the guitar. I went along completely with Patrick's recommendations, and if I ever had ideas of my own Patrick already had the same Idea. It's apparently not only the back problems we have in common, haha. Patrick is very easy to communicate with, and very professional when it comes to answering any questions you might have about the building process in a timely manner. There was not a single moment when I didn't know what was going on, and there is indeed something very special about being able to follow the process of transforming a beautiful piece of wood into a playable work of art. The neck is fitted perfectly to my hand, and the guitar stays in tune even though I'm alternating between a couple of completely different tunings with regular intervals. I tune it, and it stays tuned. Period. This is due to the amazing bridge and nut from hipshot which, as Patrick explained to me, is only there to seperate the strings and not slide them into a headstock. This eliminates string friction and in conjunction with the solid Sapeli Mahogany wood in the neck and body, and the way Patrick selects the timber and puts it together into a rock solid instrument means that the wood will not move. So after almost two months of playing this beautiful work of art pretty much daily, there's not really any other way to say it. This is the most amazing guitar I have ever had the opportunity and privilege to play on. Both in terms of the comfort while playing the instrument, the quality of woods and hardware used in the building process and the amazing sounds it produces. Patrick is a masterful luthier and artisan and it is obvious that he puts a lot of love and passion into building these guitars. You'll see it in his work and you'll feel it when you play his instruments. Buying a Hufschmid Guitar is not just about buying a guitar, It's a personal experience and a journey.

The guitar features a Mahogany body; a highly figured old growth salvaged spalted Maple Top, an Aftenzia neck and a Brazilian Ironwood fret board. When we (Patrick Hufschmid and I) started planning the 8 string, the original idea was to use mahogany for the neck but one day I received an email from Patrick saying he had decided to use some of his private stock Aftenzia for the neck. At the time I did not understand the importance of this although Patrick had told me that Aftenzia, as a wood was very firm. Now I can easily say, the neck is as firm as any other guitar you will come across! It might as well be made of concrete! As the guitar is Oil Finished, you have to be careful and keep an eye on the humidity of the area in which you keep the guitar so that the wood does not swell, however, even in humidity that is likely slightly too high for the guitar, the neck has stayed completely solid! UTILIZATION When the guitar first arrived I was very worried that the scale length and thickness of the neck would be a problem for me (as beforehand I had only owned 6 and 7 strings). However, within minutes of playing the guitar I was quickly re-assured. One interesting thing Patrick did was asked for a tracing of my hand so he could model the neck to fit my hand perfectly. This I imagine made a huge difference to the playability. I have invested in many guitars (including Paul Reed Smith Custom 24s and various 7 strings) yet I can happily say this is by far the easiest to play on! It came set up with perfect intonation and action as low as possible without string buzz. SOUNDS When I first asked Patrick as to what pickups he usually chose to put in his guitars he told me he got a man called Kent Armstrong (who he had supposedly been working alongside for years) to hand-wire all his pickups. I will not lie; at first I was worried about this, as I had never heard of the man or his pickups. However, I can now officially say they are the most underrated pickups I know. I have never had a pair of pickups as versatile as these. They can easily pull off beautiful clean and jazz tones at that same time as –excuse me for using this word – having one of the most brutal and chunky sounds when the gain is turned up. They have the perfect amount of mids making it possible to create “djent-like” tones as well as slick and smooth leads and bluesy riffs. In fact, I am such a fan of the pickups I am thinking of possibly having a pair or two made for my other guitars! Another thing that slightly worried me was the fact that the guitar was finished with a true-oil finish (meaning the guitar had no laquer to stop it from swelling). After having the guitar for roughly 6 months, the guitar is in perfect condition. It does not dent easily either. Although I have had to give the guitar a rough oil twice (Patrick gave me clear instructions as to what products I should use and how often), otherwise I have had no need to do any maintenance of my own to it. The build quality is outstanding! It is far beyond any other guitar I have owned (especially the fretwork). It is lovely to see an artisan who has such a passion for his work that they can create an outcome alike this guitar. OVERALL OPINION Patrick as a luthier, surprised me in many ways during the project. First of all, the amount of contact he had with me during the making of the guitar was fantastic! He gave me daily updates (frequently with pictures of the guitar in the making) and kept me in touch with the project as much as I could have expected anyone to. Patrick also taught me many different things to do with guitar luthiery and was always interested to hear my opinion and answered all my questions with patience beyond recognition! There is something truly special about Patrick and his guitars and I can happily say I would seriously think about investing in another of his guitars in the future. While they are not the cheapest of instruments, the difference between his guitars and a stock guitar retailing at roughly the same price is astonishing! If you have the money and time, I would seriously suggest investing in one of his guitars as he was a pleasure to work with and produces works of art.

For starters, the specs: -One piece quartersawn Sapele Mahogany body -Salvaged One piece Cherry top -One piece quartersawn Sapele mahogany Neck -Pau Ferro Fingerboard -27" scale length -Torlon 4203 nut -Hipshot Tuners and bridge -Luminlay side dots -High Tolerance CTS pots -NOS Russian 'FT-2' 0.027uF Teflon capacitor -Made to measure resin cast hufschmid humbuckers -25 coats of hand applied oil based varnish The looks: Visually the guitar is stunning. The cherry top, which was salvaged by patrick from a local cherry tree after it was struck by lightning, is gorgeous. not only are the 2 distinct dark streaks very eye catching, the colours in the top are very varied with the multiple shades of brown, and even some pink shows up in person! and to top it all off it even has some interesting,but subtle figuring in the wood, adding just a touch of movement. the mahogany used for the neck and body has beautiful ribbon figuring with loads of movement when it catches the light. the Pau Ferro fingerboard is beautifully striped and works incredibly well with the colours already present in the cherry and mahogany. The bevels and curves in the guitars design make it look like the meanest superstrat you'll, ever see and the black hardware ties it all together. The playability: the neck profile on this guitar is incredibly comfortable, it fits my hand like a glove! And thats no surprise given that patrick carves the neck profile based on a picture of your fretting hand. The set up of the guitar made it a dream to play, very low action and the perfect amount of relief in the truss rod. The guitar holds tuning great, thanks to the Locking hipshot tuners, torlon nut and hipshot bridge. the 27 inch baritone scale length gives me extra tension, allowing me to use thinner strings than id normally want on a seven string instrument making it a lot easier on my fretting hand. it didnt take any time at all to adjust to the longer scale length, it feels perfectly natural, and the extra room in each fret is very welcome higher up the fretboard, making it a lot more comfortable to play the highest frets. The sound: Patrick has the pickups made to your specifications, in my case i asked for something like a dimarzio super distortion but with extra midrange, and they sound GLORIOUS. the pickups sound spot on to what i wanted, with the great top end of the super distortions but with the extra mids to really get the best out of that extra low string. the pickups are really articulate, you hear every part of the string as it vibrates. I was actually taken aback by how well the pickups clean up when you roll off the volume, they dont lose any clarity or top end. Normally I dont really use tone controls on guitars, but after playing around with the tone control on this guitar ive found its very usable and sounds great all throughout its range. The most pleasant surpise with the tones in the guitar was the middle position, ive never tried a middle position with humbuckers that i found inspiring, but on this guitar its a different story. The middle position has a really cool "quack" to the attack, making it a really interesting option for clean tones. The build Quality: The guitar is rock solid, and every detail is beautifully taken care of, its an insanely well made instrument. throughout the progress of the build Patrick was sending me pictures and videos of the build, so i was able to see the all of the care and attention to detail that went into each step, and seeing the guitar steadily come together was very fun and exciting. The Conclusion: I've been following Patrick's work for years, so to finally own one of his guitars is a dream come true. The guitar is absolutely perfect for my needs. it looks stunning, and i've dubbed the guitar "Typhon", the name of the serpentine giant that zeus defeated by throwing a lightning bolt at them (in reference to how the top is from a cherry tree that got stuck by lightning, seriously, how cool is that?!) it sounds thunderous, and plays and feels amazing. If you are ever in a position to do so, i can happily reccomend that you commission a guitar from Patrick, it's an incredible experience and you end up with an absolute monster of a guitar.

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Sound What I notice with the pickups is that there is no obvious bass, midrange or treble that dominates, regardless of the pickup position. Certainly the neck pickup is darker and warmer than the bridge pickup (true of any guitar), but it is not muddy or has too much bass. Likewise, the bridge pickup is not bright or shrill. They both sound balanced relative to their positioning and intended tone output. Overall, it could be stated that the Duncan Solar pickups are ‘flat’ in response, thus making it easier to tweak your tone with the tone knob and other gear, e.g., pedals and amps. The flatness of these pickups also make for an excellent Metal platform, since playing rhythm (chugging) and leads remain tight, yet full. Nonetheless, cleans are good and clear. My favorite rhythm and lead tones come direct from the bridge pickup for the most part, but often I include the bridge pickup (either full humbucker or split) in varying degrees (30% volume is typical). Adding just that hint of warmness makes the tone fatter and thicker. Playing clean tones sounds good on just about any of the eight combinations. The GF1.7FBB allows for the blending of both humbuckers in full or split mode and the ability to adjust the volume level of both pickups independently, as well as their tone. Thus, you could have a lot of fullness with the full neck humbucker and then add a touch of sparkle with the bridge pickup split – or a shimmering soft response by blending and splitting both pickups. Regardless of the combination, the result is a very clear and straight-forward tone. Features A Les Paul style guitar, the GF1.7FBB is a seven string designed for Hard Rock and Metal. It has ‘full spectrum’ Duncan Solar pickups, which are standard stock on Solar guitars, also offer great clarity for clean and crunch tones – even with high-gain amps. This 25.5” scale guitar has a ‘soft’ C shape all-access neck made with 5-ply maple/jatoba (through body design), an ebony fretboard and a 15.74” radius. The neck also boasts 24 super jumbo stainless steel frets, large Luminlay side dots, dual action truss rod and the Solar logo on the 12th fret. Moving up to the headstock there is an engraved Solar symbol/logo truss rod cover, a silver/metal ‘SOLAR’ logo, 18:1 locking tuners and a graphite nut. The body is made of mahogany with a flame black burst matte finish and has an arm, belly, and heel carve for improved comfort. There’s also a small carve along the single-cut horn for easier upper fret access. The GF1.7FBB also has an Evertune F-Type tail piece/bridge, a Mono 2Poval Steel jack cover and a 473k condenser. The 3-way toggle switch offers eight different pickup selections with its dual push/pull (for splitting) series/parallel combinations. Both pickups share the same Tone knob. The guitar comes with a truss rod tool and Black Smith 0962 Nano-Carbon coated strings, whereas a case is optional. Overall Impression This guitar was an upgrade to my previous Solar. The ability to blend the pickups with individual volume controls was the biggest selling point, having experienced that function with an Ibanez and Eastwood guitar. Having a Metal guitar do the same intrigued me and the outcome is pure satisfaction. And then there’s the stainless steel frets, moving up from a 6-string to a 7-string (that low string comes in handy at times), the neck-through design and the 5-piece neck. I knew the playability and sound from the previous Solar guitar, and so neck feel, string action and tones were par for the course. All the extras above made it a worthy investment. The only drawback to this wonderful guitar is that I would prefer better high-fret access. The single cut is fairly decent and the neck heel not too thick, but I need longer fingers to get to those highest notes and bend those strings.

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DESCRIPTION The guitar is made in Japan 26.5 scale It features 24 frets, a volume knob and a 3-way switch Equipped with awesome Bare Knuckle Aftermath pickups (neck and bridge) Set bridge Neck is a 5-piece Wizard-7 in maple and wenge with titanium reinforcement Basswood body Ebony fretboard Fretboard indicators on the side only Matte black finish with black chrome hardware Gotoh auto-locking tuners USE I’ve tried this guitar for a month on a PEAVEY VALVEKING 212 tube amp, a MARSHALL MG50 DFX solid-state amp and a sound system using a LINE 6 POD HD500x. The fretboard is beautiful and very pleasant to play, your fingers slide perfectly on it and I’ve had no problem playing on a longer-scaled guitar. I’ve played it in standard A, Drop G and Drop G# tunings. Thanks to the tuners, il perfectly stays in tune. It’s a bit heavy but I believe it to be due to the ebony fingerboard, you can feel a nice resonance when playing unplugged and its curves provide optimum playing comfort – whether you play while sitting or standing up. SOUND The Bare Knuckles Aftermaths provide an awesomely rich sound. Overdriven sounds are sharp and incisive, edgy yet very clear no matter whether you play power chord, legato, chopping. The clean sound made me discover for the first time a pickup that does the job in both registers, the sounds are great and stellar – provided you know how to set your amp, pedals and so on. Since the wood involved sounds rather neutral and frequency-balanced, the pickups can express their own tones in the mids and high mids, making it stand out in the mix. OVERALL As an owner of the lower-end RGD2127FX, I must admit it’s well worth its price. Forum users here or there claim that you would get the same result by getting the lower-end model and adding Aftermath pickups and the same tuners (and I do have Aftermath pickups on my RGD2127FX, just like the RGD7UC), well… just no. There’s a huge gap in terms of resonance. The RGD7UC sounds way more punchy in the low mids, and I could hear the difference when playing live with a drummer. As a consequence, I’m now considering selling my RGD2127FX to get this one, which proves that one should not trust judgements solely based on an instrument’s feature list. A single cons : the guitar’s matte color quickly degrades if you don’t take care, and i twill have real consequences on its look over time if you never wipe your guitar after using it.

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I met Patrick Hufschmid in march 2010. At that time I was looking for my first seven string, and I wasn’t convinced by the factory models. Thus I came across Patrick’s work in a random forum, and a few weeks later I received the first of the four Hufschmid I own today : the H7, then a Mockingbird-based H6, a standard H6 and finally the H7 Baritone we are talking about here. Why a second seven string? In five years, many things can evolve, and first of all, the musician’s playing. Of course I still felt comfortable on my first H7, but I was attacking the strings stronger and stronger everyday, so I felt a longer neck scale would offer a better and faster response. I also needed a tone knob, which my H7 didn’t have (as I didn’t want one then). The musician progresses, and the builder does as well : fighting against stagnation spirit which wastes many builders who keep resting on their laurels offering the same old but slightly varied song each year, Patrick is constantly searching improvement in every little detail on his instruments. Thus some new stuff appeared since my first H7 : -New head with straight pull design using no string guide -Techtron HPV® nut, a self-lubricant and extremely tough thermoplastic material -Hufglow blocks on the fingerboard, very efficient in the dark -New high quality epoxy pickup rings -Custom electronic components, etc. For the other specs : -Scale length : 26.2“ -One piece Premium FSC certified quatersawn Sapelli Mahogany body -One piece Premium FSC certified rift-sawn Sapelli Mahogany neck -Premium FSC certified West African Ebony fingerboard -Salvaged Bastogne Walnut (the world’s rarest Walnut specie) top -Fingerboard radius : 12“ -Kent Armstrong custom handmade pickups -Hipshot hardtail bridge -Hipshot locking tuners -Natural finish -Tuning : Drop A (A E A D G B E), 10-52 + 68 string gauges The craftmanship is exquisite, I had friends testing the guitar and they didn’t think first it was a handmade instrument. The neck, which is the most important thing in my opinion, is perfectly set and stable, very sturdy. Its profile, rounder on the first frets and flatter on the last ones, makes it ridiculously easy to play, despite of the longer scale. The guitar is light (3.2kg / 7lbs) and very well balanced, and its tuning stability is exemplary. When coming to sound, all I was expecting is here : clean sounds are gorgeous, defined, clear and warm at the same time, the tone knob makes wonders here. You can feel this clear character even stronger when switching to a crunch sound, each note can be heared without ever getting aggressive so you can play either hard or mellow by sligthly changing your attack. With a hi-gain sound, the instrument and pickups precision are a must for modern metal. Even the lowest notes are striking, powerful and still thick in rhythm playing, and the leads are sweet in neck position, cutting in bridge position. I play this guitar either on a Fender Tweed Deluxe, a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeilster or an Axe-FX II, and the resulting sound is always way above my other instruments. Jazz, funk, blues, rock, hard… Everything is possible because, far from bounding to metal and djent, a seventh string extends the guitars range, turning it into something more versatile, especially on a high-end instrument. I do not use this H7 for long, but its formidable physical and technical precision as well as its impressive range of different tones already convinced me : it is one of those unique instruments who give you thrill each time you grab it, knowing it is going to be a partner for life, getting better with time. One of those magical instruments only my friend Patrick Hufschmid holds the secret of.

This high end 8 string superbly crafted combines all the familiar Hufschmid features and characteristics for quitar players who need to reach for more than the usual six strings. The old growth western big leaf maple guitar top finely crafted was salvaged from the forests of SW Oregon. The neck and body are made of premium sapelli mahogany wood. Hip shots hardware. UTILIZATION The whole instrument is incredibly light. The neck is built according to my hand shape and the 27.5’’ scale makes this guitar extremely comfortable when playing either chords or leads. SOUNDS Similarly to the 7 string from Patrick Hufschmid that I already own, everything you play will be heard. Even if the guitar is specifically designed for Jazz and metal players, I strongly recommend to push the envelope and experiment with it. For example I am tweaking it for noisy ambient soundscapes to perform my compositions for movies. Unplugged, I really appreciate its resonance, its tight and quick dynamic response and it is a delight to experience its sound quality in its purest form. Plugged, the quiet and noiseless passive pick ups from Kent Armstrong (handmade!) deliver a wide array of tones from screaming to very subtle and expressive. Each position has a very good response to volume. OVERALL OPINION The fretwork is extremely precise and the hardware retains the tuning impressively well, that is to say even when I play without locking the tuning pegs. For the last 2 years I have been constantly changing the tuning, and the guitar never transpired a sign of tiredness. As for any high quality instrument that I own, I take very good care of my H8. I give the fretboard some special oil every week or at least two times a month, and when I feel like it, I give the guitar an extra wax polish(Swiss made:-). Patrick Hufschmid's H8 salvaged old growth western maple is certainly the best playing and looking 8-string guitar available on the market today. It's an incredibly expressive and versatile instrument that was designed by an expert craftsman who understands perfectly the specific needs of today's guitarist.

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• Handmade by Patrick Hufschmid from switzerland • 6 strings • One piece very old premium Sapelli Mahogany body • One piece very old premium Sapelli Mahogany neck • Salvaged Grafted Walnut Top (Claro + Franquette graft) • West African Ebony fingerboard, 16" radius, 24 frets • West African Ebony control knobs • Baritone 26.188'' scale • Hipshot bridge • Sperzel locking tuning machines • Luminlay side dots • Handmade Kent Armstrong pickups • Tru-Oil finish on the neck and body • No inlays • 1 volume pot, 1 tone pot, 3 way pickup switch UTILIZATION The body is very thin and light which helps for good balance and ergonomics. Its shape is Patrick’s own superstrat style body. It matches the headstock perfectly and makes for a coherent look of the guitar no matter from which perspective you look at it. Due to an oversized cutaway it is very easy to access the higher frets. The neck is shaped with just the right thickness for my hands and playing style. It is neither an ultra-thin Ibanez neck nor a Gibson baseball bat neck. The oil finish gives it a very fluid feel unlike some sticky lacquer finished necks. I tune the guitar one whole step down to D standard and currently use GHS Low Boomers (011-015-019-033w-043w-053w) strings on it. Those thicker strings match the guitar very well in terms of string tension and overall playing feel. The Sperzel locking tuners and the Hipshot bridge make it very easy to change strings. I prefer the action to be at medium height, not super low which helps for clarity and gives a better feel to the notes in my opinion. Adjusting the action, intonation as well as the truss rod is also very straight forward and intuitive. Although there are no fretboard inlays I have no trouble to navigate due to the glowing Luminlay side dots which also compliment the look of the guitar very well. The fixed hipshot bridge feels comfortable and solid under my right hand and yields a perfect picking position with no disturbing parts like on a Floyd rose bridge. The guitar comes with very simple electronics: one volume pot, one tone pot and a 3 way toggle switch to select pickups. But hey, isn’t that all we need anyway. Overall the quality of the woods used for this guitar is just stunning. The grain on the mahogany alone is almost three-dimensional. The crazy walnut top is the icing on the cake. The body and the neck is oil finished which gives the guitar an elegant look and high playing comfort. I cannot say much about the guitar’s reliability because I have it for such a short time. But the overall construction and craftsmanship is on such a high level that I don’t fear to have any problems with it in the future. I am taking good care of it. SOUNDS There are some things that I am looking for in a guitar: character, definition, vibrancy, dynamics and midrange body. This guitar has all of this in spades. It perfectly sits in the context of a metal band setting. You can clearly hear every note and it preserves the dynamics even under high gain. Further there are no dead spots over the entire tonal range and it always stays defined even with lower tuning and thick strings. Even unplugged you can hear the guitar ringing loud and clear with a good focus on the midrange. Patrick created a guitar that has its own unique voicing that is nothing like I have heard before. I am playing the guitar through a Diezel Hagen tube amplifier and Diezel cabinets which themselves have a very clear and defined sound. The guitar matches that theme perfectly. German engineering meets Swiss precision. OVERALL OPINION I stumbled on Patrick Hufschmid guitars some years ago and was fascinated by his beautiful and pure creations. Unfortunately I didn’t have the money at that time so it remained a dream. Several years later after going through guitars from different brands like Ibanez and ESP I always had the feeling that something is missing. Like those guitars hide certain frequencies and lack character in some way or another. To make a long story short, I contacted Patrick and we started to discuss a guitar build. He was very helpful, quick and honest during the whole process. I wanted a guitar that has character along with definition and clarity and of course a nice look. An ebony fretboard as well as a fixed bridge were other requirements. Thankfully Patrick agreed on all of these aspects and built a guitar that exceeded any expectations. It is always a risk to buy without trying but not with Hufschmid. The whole Hufschmid experience was great. Patrick sent me pictures of the building steps almost every day and did a great communication job in general. He always responded very fast to my emails and was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I picked up the guitar after approx. 5 week of building time in Switzerland. He showed me his workshop, his wood supplier and the beautiful landscape he lives in. Further he is just a good guy with a good sense of humor. If you are thinking about ordering a guitar from Patrick Hufschmid I can encourage you do it. You will not regret it. He has huge experience and his own approach in building guitars. I can’t wait to order my second Hufschmid guitar.

- Made by hand in Switzerland by Luthier Patrick Hufschmid - 7 Strings - Spalted Maple Top - Sapelli Mahogany Body - Sapelli Mahogany Neck - Pauo Ferro Fingerboard (20" Radius) - Hipshot Fixed Bridge - Hipshot locking tuners - Volume, 3-way toggle, Tone controls - Killswitch (it rarely sees use, but at no extra charge I couldn't resist. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.) - 24 Frets, No inlays - Luminlay dots on the side of the neck and also on the knobs - Custom Passive pickups, hand-wound by Kent Armstrong - Hufschmid Logo medallion just under bridge - Dunlop Strap Locks UTILIZATION I've never played a guitar more comfortable. During the building process Patrick asked me to trace my left hand and send it to him so that he could get an idea of how to shape the neck, something I haven't heard of many other luthiers doing. When I received the guitar I was accustomed to playing on EB/MM Petruccis and was utterly convinced that a thinner neck meant a faster guitar. I very quickly learned that that notion was incorrect. The neck on this guitar feels closer to that of a Classical guitar, and will take a couple hours of getting used to for the player that's used to toothpick-thin necks (don't misunderstand me it's NOT fat, just a different kind of thin than the Petrucci's or say, an Ibanez). After getting used to the different feel, going to back to any of my other guitars feels strange and foreign (EB/MM, Jackson, LTD, Ibanez). The fretboard has no inlays, but Luminlay side dots. The lack of inlays was a bit of an adjustment as every guitar I've ever owned has had inlays. Fortunately, the Luminlay side dots make up for the absence of inlays very well, especially because they glow in the dark which catches your eye on a dark stage (I've not gotten to try them on stage, but I assume they'd be quite useful.. and look pretty cool). When I received this guitar, the action was unbelievably low. It was about as low as it could get without touching something. Even though it was so low, there were no issues with fret buzz sustain or tone. Everything as perfect, and low enough that I barely had to try to fret a note. The Hipshot bridge is incredibly comfortable for palm-muting, best bridge I've played on. The knobs are placed perfectly so that they're just out of reach while picking, but not so far that you can't get to them quickly if you need them. The knobs also have Luminlay dots in the middle making them incredibly easy to see when playing in a dark room or on stage While the guitar remains pretty conservative and simple as far as features go, I must say it is easier to use, and out-performs any other instrument I've played of similar price-range or otherwise. SOUNDS Never heard a guitar that sounds clearer or cleaner. The pickups were wound by hand by Mr. Kent Armstrong himself, to fit tonal requirements that I did my best to convey through a lengthy word document. I play a lot of Progressive Metal (think Petrucci), but also have to play a lot of Jazz, some Pop, and just generally cleaner styles of music for school. That said, I needed some incredibly versatile. The pickups in my guitar fit everything I need them to do, while maintaining a transparency that really allows you to hear the wood and the strings themselves. This may sound stupid, but sometimes I feel they almost have the response of an acoustic guitar; Crystal clear, and very focused on the materials/components of the guitar instead of the electronics. They are incredibly responsive to adjustments of the volume and tone knobs, and at the extremes are both brighter and darker than any pickups I've ever tried. While this may not be for everybody (Though I don't know who would complain about having versatile, responsive pickups), it allows them to get an incredibly wide spectrum of sounds. They are also capable of coil splitting making them even more versatile, however I can't comment on their tone when split as haven't tried it yet. All in all they're the perfect pickups for what I'm trying to do. As for the wood. My experience with this guitar forces me to say that every time I've heard anybody say Mahogany was muddy, they are wrong. The Spalt maple top is one of the most intricate and fascinating pieces I think I've ever seen, and the natural, oil finish gives the top a VERY 3D kind of feel. As you run your hand across the top, you can feel every knot and line, almost as if it were a fine table or recently cut from a tree. I'm not sure what else to say.. This guitar has a very natural sound to it that fits every style. OVERALL OPINION I am a guitar student at Berklee College of Music, and needed a nice instrument that was built to my specifications since I'm devoting so much time and energy to guitar in school; one that would presumably last me at least until graduation. The catch though was that I wanted a company that wasn't hyped up, or posted about in Guitar Forums a billion times every day (i.e. BlackMachine, Strandberg, Daemoness, Invictus etc.), because I have a hard time putting faith in the word of the internet community of "guitarists" that just hype the newest gear. I also noticed that the amount of hype and interest in companies similar to those mentioned will force them to do things like raise prices, create waiting lists, and extend build times, which is not desirable for a poor, impatient college student such as myself (i.e. Blackmachine, Decibel). Please don’t misinterpret this as me saying that these companies are bad or shouldn’t be dealt with. That is NOT my point at all. This was just my reasoning for wanting something a little different. I stumbled across Hufschmid guitars one day when I was looking for a luthier to commission for said instrument. The first thing I noticed was a complete and total lack of bad finishes or wood choices in any previous guitars built by Hufschmid. After looking into some of the players that use Hufschmid instruments (Darius Wave, Leonardo Guzman, etc) and witnessing what the guitars could do, I knew I needed one. I truly cannot say enough good things about this guitar, or my experience with Patrick. I think I've said all that I can about the instrument without repeating myself or sounding like an advertisement, so I'd like to take this space to speak about my experience with Patrick and his process. From the day I contacted him, Patrick has been prompt to respond. Throughout my years playing I've considered going with other companies for a custom build, and sent them proposals similar to the one I sent Patrick, but have been turned off by their customer service and slow response every time. Patrick was very personal, helpful and most importantly honest with his responses to my questions. If I came to him with a question inspired by something I had read on the internet, he would answer honestly and walk me through why he gave the answer he did. Having gone to college specifically for Luthiery, he is incredibly knowledgeable about all things build-related. Through every step of the process, Patrick was sending me e-mails and pictures to keep me up to date on the progress of my guitar. When we got started, he estimated that it would take 6-8 weeks to finish my guitar, but ended up getting it to my door-step within about 4 or 5. Even now (3 or 4 months after the guitar was finished), I still receive weekly e-mails from Patrick that he sends to make sure everything is ok with the guitar. If ever there is something wrong, he will take time out of his day to get on Skype and walk me through fixing my guitar. For example: one day I decided it would be a good idea to open up the control cavity just to take a look at how he did everything and in the process, I messed up my output jack. Within an hour, Patrick was on video walking me through fixing my guitar, and 15 minutes after that it was good as new. I’ve never spoken to anybody that was as concerned about the customers utmost content as Patrick. From the first day I contacted him, he has done absolutely everything possible to ensure a happy build process, and a great instrument. He succeeded.

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(Originally written by mikethehobbit/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Jeff Loomis Signature model (Nevermore guitarist) Made in Korea. Neck Type:Set neck Wood:Maple Finish:Vampire Red Satin (neck back and head) Fingerboard Wood:Maple Fret typeJumbo Number of frets:24 Neck length (mm):66,7 Black binding InlaysMetal cross (black) Body Wood:Ash Finish:Vampire Red Satin Accessories Machine heads:Grover Bridge type:Floating tremolo or TonePros w/Thru-Body Tremolo brand:Floyd Rose Finish:Black Electronics Pickups:EMG 707 Pickups type:Humbucker Pickups model:EMG 707 (85-like) Toggle switch:3-way Electronics Controls:Volume (x1) and for those of you who are wondering: D´Addario XL strings (.010/.013/.017/.026/.036/.046) Plus a .056 string for the B string https://www.schecterguitars.com/index.asp UTILIZATION Wide neck but pretty comfortable to play with. A bit too "thick" but 7-string guitar players will quickly feel comfortable with this neck. The access to the upper frets is perfect and the hand slides smoothly and naturally all the way to the 24th fret. The guitar is very well-balanced, not too heavy and not too light. The Strat-like shaping allows all possible playing positions whether you are sitting or standing. The sound is no problem either, given the two EMG707 the beast is equipped with. The bridge pickup delivers a razor-sharp tone, ideal for high-speed rhythmic parts. The neck pickup is a real wonder for clean sounds. You'll get the "Tomorrow turns into yesterday" sound without a sweat. Although it's a typical heavy metal, low-tuning guitar, it also allows you to play other music styles with a decent sound. SOUNDS I had been looking for exactly this kind of guitar for a long time. No frills, no gadgets only a volume knob and a 3-way toggle switch. I'm a metal fan but I also like arpeggios and I believe this guitar is a great compromise between both worlds. I use different sets according to the situation. For band rehearsals I plug the guitar directly into a POD XT feeding a mixing console and I get a big tone. Now and then I use a Line6 Flextone 3 XL and the sound is also excellent. For recording, I use my POD XT directly feeding a sound card to get a larger-than-life sound. OVERALL OPINION I tried it at a music trade show a couple of months ago but I just bought it two days ago. The guitar has a fantastic finish (vampire red satin), it's unique and beautiful. I love the pickups and the neck, and the metal cross inlays give it a really slick look. I previously played a Vigier Excalibur and an Ibanez K7, both very good guitars, but I think I found the ideal mix between the sweetness of the Vigier and the big sound of the Ibanez. In short, it's an iron hand in a velvet glove! The value for money is good. This Schecter guitar is a real masterpiece! It's now my main guitar and I promise you I love it just the way it is! lol Of course I would buy it again and I will even purchase a second one if I have enough money. Go try it out, it's really worthwhile, it's an exceptional guitar. Contact me for more info, it'll be my pleasure.

As a seven string player, I've been waiting quite awhile for ESP to finally release a seven string version of their Horizon guitars with a floyd rose. They've made hard tails before, but the floyded one was what I truly wanted. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck-thru design with an ebony fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets, offset block inlays with binding, an original floyd rose, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch. UTILIZATION The guitar had some amazing fretwork. You normally don't see this kind of fretwork unless you're working on higher quality guitars. The ends were perfectly beveled, and the frets were absolutely straight, so you could get some real nice action on this. The binding was also done super clean. The inlays work was top notch with very little filler, too. I can't say enough about this guitar. The bridge on this is probably the best non-Ibanez floyd out there, so no issues there. The access to the higher frets was nice, the back of the neck was painted (a bit of a minus), but it wasn't a super thick neck (a plus). SOUNDS The guitar had EMG 707s installed in it. These can get some very polarizing opinions. Some say that they have a single coil like quality to them, and they kinda do. They have this interesting grind to them that places them, tonally, between the 81 and the 85. There is an EMG 81-7 that you can try, but I don't really recommend it unless you're going for a bright tone. The 707s do a decent job. The cleans are kinda bland, but the rest of the stuff is cool. I recommend trying out the 18v mod if you're looking for some more dynamics. If you're a metal player, you might like the standard 9v that they do. OVERALL OPINION The guitar is one of my favorite seven string guitars, and I can't say enough about it. I much prefer it to some of my other seven string guitars I own, and I'd put it up against anything, as long as I don't have to play too much lower gain stuff. The pickups in this kinda force it into the whole metal genre, which might not be a good thing for those jazz players out there.

The Schecter Guitar Research C-7 Hellraiser is a seven string, 26 1/2" scale electric guitar. It features a 3-piece Mahogany neck, Rosewood fingerboard, Mahogany body with a quilted Maple top, 24 jumbo frets, gothic cross style inlays, EMG Active 707-TW pickups, a Floyd Rose Original Tremolo and abalone binding. The tuners are nice Grovers, and all the hardware is black chrome. The controls are 2 volume pots with push and pull coil-splitting capabilities, a tone knob and a 3-way directional toggle switch. The construction is absolutely top-notch, everything is done perfectly. The fit and finish is beautiful, the abalone bindings are done right and look great. The deep, dark red finish is awesome and heavy. UTILIZATION The guitar is a dream to play, very smooth and fast action. The neck will feel big for first time players of a 7-string, and it is. Despite it's wideness, the neck is still very fast and comfortable to play. Access to the upper frets has been no problem for me, though I do have long and thin fingers. It could be a little hard to get past the 22nd fret for some players due to the lower cutaway, but I've had no issues. The instrument is not to heavy, but it has some real substance to it and could possibly get tiresome to wear for long shows, I'd recommend a high quality strap so it doesn't irritate your shoulder. SOUNDS The sound is phenomenal. Thanks to the extended scale and the fixed bridge, the attack is very well defined. I use guitar mainly to play deep, slow drones and it does that job perfectly. Every note is clear and defined and sounds awesome. This guitar can get some DEEP sounds. It sounds great clean or with extreme distortion. Overall, it performs awesomely and has done everything I've tried with it to great success. OVERALL OPINION Overall, this guitar freakin' rocks! It's great for anyone who plays a heavier style of music. It could easily go from scorching solos to Satriani style legato down to deep and brutal riffage. Anyone looking for a high end metal guitar should seriously consider this.