All user reviews for the Hufschmid Guitars H6E

I was looking for a luthier to build a custom guitar. I played different music styles, and I've been following Patrick for a long time, and I was always impressed by his work. I finally ordered a 6 string tantalum model. The tech specifications are the following:

one-piece mahogany body & neck
A beautiful highly figured "quit maple" top with a red finish
"Crelicam Ebony" fingerboard, 24 frets, 25.5" scale, 12" radius
Torlon 4203 nuts
Orange glowing fingerboard block inlays
Exclusive made Hufschmid humbuckers
High Tolerance CTS pots
NOS Russian “FT-2” 0.022uF Teflon Capacitor
25 coats of hand-applied oil-based varnish

Since Patrick and I started conversations to build this guitar, he was always very meticulous on every detail before beginning to make it

Patrick has been almost daily updating me about the progress and exchanging ideas about its specifications and details. The final result is astonishing! I truly trusted him 1000% during the whole process.

This is the best guitar I have ever played in the last 35 years of experience. Sounds clear when needed (I love jazz) and, when you give it some gain, it can be really a metal machine! This Tantalum model is highly versatile. Patrick's humbuckers do the job!

It's is lighter than my previous guitars, the frets are remarkable. The best fretwork I have experienced so far.

The neck is fantastic. Super comfortable. It's unbelievable that Patrick makes it by his own hands.

You cannot compare this guitar with mass production guitars, or even with some fancy brands custom ones. Patrick's craftsmanship, understanding of the wood tones, attention to clients' needs, and innovative materials are unique in the market. You can feel his passion for crafting his guitars. It really makes the difference!

I received my Hufschmid Tantalum model guitar a few weeks ago, and I could not be more happy!!

The workmanship on this guitar is the finest I have ever seen. The guitar is beautiful to look at, and has an amazing feel to it when it is played. All the materials used to create this guitar are the finest available: highest quality wood, frets, fretboards, everything is the absolute best. The shape of the neck was even customized to the shape of my hand. All the finishes on the guitar are perfect...the guitar is flawless.

The sound and playability of the guitar is equally impressive. The ‘glowbucker” pickups on this guitar are custom made, and they sound great!! The cleans are pristine, the overdrive sounds are rich and full. I play a variety of music styles; from “softer style rock” to classic rock to harder rock. The guitar handles all of it perfectly. I also use a variety of amplifiers; both tube and solid state. The guitar sounds amazing through any type of amp. It also takes pedals very well. I have also found that the guitar seems to have almost an endless amount of sustain. I have never experienced a guitar like that. It is a result of the high quality of the workmanship and materials used to make the guitar.

The guitar plays like butter. The action is the best I have ever played. Access to the higher frets is excellent. The shape and thickness of the neck are just right. The guitar weighs in at a little over 7 pounds...a perfect weight for a gigging musician.

I have been playing guitar for over 45 years, and I have owned them all; Gibsons, Fenders, Carvins, Guilds, etc. No guitar I have ever owned is even in the same category as this guitar. Not even close. Patrick Hufschmid is an artist. The care and skill he put into creating this guitar is something you will never find in a mass produced instrument. If you are looking for a once in a lifetime instrument, for a guitar like no other you have ever played, than this is what you want. Do not hesitate in ordering a Hufschmid guitar. You will not regret it.

I found out about Patrick Hufschmid from a close friend who loves guitars built by independent builders. After checking out the Hufschmid guitars website, I decided that I would like to place an order for a custom guitar. I decided upon the specifications I wanted and reached out to Patrick. He explained to me how the process works and I followed the instructions for payment. The very next day I received a picture of my "guitar to be" while it was still in the form of rough cut timbers!! Through out the entire process I received updates and photos of the progress... even some short video clips. I was kept "in the loop' through out the build process. Once the guitar was completed, Patrick told me that he does the final set up and then would ship it out to me. I waited patiently and within a week or so Patrick contacted me and said my guitar was IN THE USA! He wanted to surprise me and shipped the guitar. It arrived to me that very same day. From Switzerland to NY in 3 days.
I opened the box and after I removed the multiple layers of protection it was wrapped in, I was immediately impressed.
The first thing that I did was look over the entire guitar. No issues. I strummed a chord and was amazed at the resonance of the instrument. The guitar vibrates like it's alive. The neck shape felt very comfortable in my hand, like I'd been playing it for years. Patrick shapes his necks based on a photograph of the players hand... he nailed it. I plugged her in and was incredibly pleased with the sound of my " made to measure " pickups. I explained my taste in music and what I enjoy playing to Patrick and the pickups were wound to my liking. They sound awesome.
The playability, action, intonation and feel of the guitar exceeded my expectations. Spot on perfection all around. To say I was pleased is an understatement. I am a professional guitar tech and a player of 40 years. This is the best guitar I've owned.
Here are the specs:
Tantalum Model
Super strat double cut body, cut from one piece of perfectly quarter sawn highly ribbon figured Sapele
One piece Sapele neck, also perfectly quarter sawn ( INCREDIBLY strong, very stable )
West African Ebony fretboard, 24 jumbo wide "pyramid " frets
25.5" scale length
Hufschmid Blue nut, (lubricant filled engineering thermoplastic)
Exclusive Hufglow block inlays
Heel adjust truss rod wheel
3 X 3 Hufschmid designed tension optimized headstock design
Hipshot barrel knob locking tuners
Hipshot string through body bridge
2 Custom wound Hufschmid GLOWBUCKERS
Single volume, tone and 3 position pickup selector switch
NOS 1970's Russian Military grade capacitor
Inlaid Hufschmid logo minted coin, antique copper finish, in the back of the body ( completely unique! )
I am blown away by the attention to detail and the level of craftsmanship of this instrument. Being a professional guitar technician for most of my life, and a player for so long I have seen nearly every brand of guitar pass across my bench. My Hufschmid surpasses them all in every aspect. It took me 40 years but I finally found what I've been searching for in a guitar. THANK YOU Patrick. I would recommend a Hufschmid guitar to anyone who has been searching for something unique, a guitar that can handle any style of music, and is a true joy to play! This guitar has reignited my passion for playing...

12" neck, slight bevel for the right arm to rest on while playing. Natural wood finish. 24"
The guitar is handmade in Switzerland by luthier Patrick Hufschmid.
The H6E is the basic model with a volume, tone and 3 way pickup selector. The volume knob is very sensitive and it is very easy to clean up the signal. I rarely use the tone know, but it is the same story there, very sensitive adjustments.
Pickups are handmade from Kent Armstrong him self, very clean sounding.
Hardware is hipshot products, can't remeber the exact specs, but it works just like it's supposed to.
Sapelli Mahogany neck and body, West African Ebony fretboad.

UTILIZATION

All frets are easy to access, cutouts are perfect. The bevel on top of the body makes a perfect resting place the your lower arm while playing. The guitar is nicely balanced while playing, just the right weight. The tone and volume knobs are very sensitive and give a wide range of adjustments.
The action is low, no stringbuzz. Adjustments to the guitar is self is also very easy if you need to do some work.

This is a guitar with an oil finish, not coats and coats of lacquer. This instrument breathes, it needs more care than some CNC'd 1/1000000 guitars that are out there. But with normal good care this instrument with last for generations.

SOUNDS

I use this with an crappy old Peavy 50 watt transistor amp, Line 6 HD500. I feel that I can play any typ of music with it. It's not a metal guitar, nor is it a Jazz guitar. To me it's a guitar that can be used for anything. As for the sound of the pickups they are bright, yet warm. And like stated earlier, very easy to adjust the sound/tone to get what you want.

OVERALL OPINION

This is by far the best guitar I've every played. It feels incredible, sounds amazing. I had never tried another Hufschmid guitar before I got my own. Simple reason, they are hard to get a hold of. They are made by order and there are not that many out in circulation. I've played other custom/non custom of most brands, but this just feels the best to me.

Next time I'm looking into buying a guitar, a Hufschmid will be on the very top of my list.
The value of this guitar is nothing short of amazing. It's quite basic in regards to what you get, but I need a guitar with a volume and tone know, pickup selector. That's it. I get that, just with 100% quality throughout the whole instrument.

This guitar was made by Patrick Hufschmid in Switzerland. The body and neck is cut from Sapele Mahogany. The fretboard is West African Ebony and has 24 frets at a 25.5" scale. The 12-pole humbucker pickups are hand made by Kent Armstrong in Vermont. Patrick used a picture of my left (fretting) hand to carve the neck of this guitar. This makes the guitar insanely comfortable for me to play. There is one volume knob, one tone knob, and a three way pick up selector. The knobs are also made of West African Ebony.

The top is made from a rare, highly figured Bastogne Walnut. The top that Patrick and I selected is gorgeous. When sunlight hits the guitar, the natural grain in the wood comes to life and has a glowing, psychedelic looks to it. Whenever I take my guitar out of it's case at a gig, I instantly get people coming over to look at the guitar and ask questions about it. Patrick is a master luthier and artisan. The guitar is built flawlessly and also sounds amazing.


UTILIZATION

The neck was carved to my hand dimensions. I can access every note easily, the action is nice and low so I can play lots of notes with ease, sweep picking is now easier than ever. The pickups sound awesome with the wood combinations. They produce a clean, crisp, and warm tone. Between the three way pick-up selector and the tone knob, you can find any tone that you are looking for. Another bonus is the way the volume knob is set up. You can turn it back to a lower volume and your tone doesn't suffer in any way - it only gets quieter. This allows for great dynamics in my playing.

The guitar is ultra light. Patrick looks for tension in his wood choices instead of weight. This makes the guitar very comfortable to hold while gigging.


SOUNDS

The guitar sounds even better than it looks. Each note rings out clearly and fully. The guitar has amazing sustain. I primarily play lead guitar/psychedelic rock so I use a good amount of delay, chorus, overdrive, wah, volume pedal, among others. The guitar is extremely responsive to my pedals. I have actually found new ways to utilize my pedals due to the clarity of the tones I get from this guitar. I play through a Fender Twin Reverb, which also allows me to get great clean tone. When I play guitar solos or doing lead work, I will use my Maxon OD808 overdrive pedal. The combination of this guitar and pedal leaves me with a gorgeous tone for soaring but clear guitar solos.

OVERALL OPINION

I think I should start off this section by giving credit to the man who built this guitar - Patrick Hufschmid. Patrick is not only a master artisan/luthier, but a great guy to correspond with through the building process, which took about 2 months. He sends detailed emails of his daily progress building the guitar. I would wake up every morning to an email full of pictures and updates. He is very respectful to his customers. I really can't say enough about how positive my experience was with him. When you pair his customer support ethic with his masterful guitar building, you will not find a better experience in buying a high end guitar. In all honesty, I have nothing bad to say about my experience with Patrick.

I rate this guitar a 10 out of 10. If you are in the market for a high end guitar, look no further than Hufschmid Guitars. It is worth every penny!

This is a 6 string handmade guitar from Swiss independent luthier Patrick Hufschmid, which I commissioned in 2012 as a follow up to the 8 string guitar he had built for me previously. The specification is as follows:

- One piece quatersawn Sapelli Mahogany body
- One pice riftsawn Afzelia "Doussie" neck
- Grafted Walnut (Franquette + Claro) top
- West African Ebony fingerboard, 12" radius, 24 frets, 25.5" scale
- White Ebony rear control cavity cover
- Hipshot bridge, Sperzel tuners
- Techtron Nut
- Hufglow Side Inlays
- Custom handwound Hufschmid pickups by Kent Armstrong

Obviously this is a premium spec'd instrument with nothing but the best quality used for all materials and hardware.

UTILIZATION

This guitar was absolutely flawless out of the box. I can't fault any aspect of it whatsoever, the fretwork is perfect, the hardware is fitted perfectly, neat soldering job, and of course all the woodwork is exactly correct. It's crazy to think that Patrick created this neck by placing a piece of wood in a vice and attacking it by hand with a plane and chisel, but that's exactly how he does it. I absolutely love how unique this makes every guitar he creates, and the amount of work he puts into making sure each neck is perfect is immediately obvious the minute you pick up this instrument.

Special mention also must go to the immense "Hufglow" side inlays to the fingerboard, massive blocks of glow-in-the-dark material which really work and have made live performance considerably easier. They are of course immaculately inlaid into the fretboard.

I've held off writing this review for a while to make sure that I've completely lived with the instrument and am 100% comfortable with it. I've travelled, gigged a lot and recorded with it in numerous different scenarios and it has been completely reliable with no issues whatsoever throughout that time. The guitar has an overall feeling of being 'solid' and the simplicity of the design means that not only has nothing gone wrong with it but also that there's really very little that can go wrong with it, past the normal wear and tear to the frets, nut and saddles that any guitar will eventually develop from years of playing.

I would also like to note that I'm extremely impressed with the Sperzel machine heads on this guitar, which are extremely smooth and clearly contributing to how well the instrument holds tune.

SOUNDS

I am primarily a modern rock/heavy metal guitarist and I bought this guitar to be the main instrument in my own band. However, I work as a full-time professional guitar tutor and play with numerous other bands across many varied styles of popular music and I need an instrument that's going to offer maximum versatility with minimum fuss.

The guitar has a very thick, warm tone that really sounds great for modern high gain tones when used in conjunction with contemporary metal amps (think Diezel, Engl etc). Due to the high output of the pickups less gain is required from the amplifiers themselves which results in a very clear, focused tone that doesn't need as much distortion "fuzzing up" the sound in order to come out strong and articulate.

The Kent Armstrong pickups are absolutely sublime in this guitar. Not to be confused with the cheap production pickups bearing Kents name, these are handwound by the man himself and resin cast for a superior design and unique finish. Although they have a high output, they are passive pickups and retain the dynamic fullness you would expect. I regularly use clean and low-gain bluesy type sounds and this guitar sounds fantastic for them - the pickups are extremely dynamic in these situations, while having a smooth top-end that reduces the need for compression, especially on clean tones (Fender Deluxe spankiness is perfect with the split pickup selection, but warm modern jazz tones are also easily accessible with the neck pickup and tone control rolled right down). In the most general way, this guitar is in the 'Les Paul' ballpark for tones and responsiveness.

I am experienced with many high-end instruments from most of the 'big name' manufacturers, and am actually fortunate enough to own several examples of them myself. This instrument easily holds its own in terms of sound and versatility against all the big boys.

OVERALL OPINION

This has been a slightly difficult review to write, as I can honestly only give the instrument 10 for each category but I'm aware that this causes huge debate and many people may discount my review on this basis. Is any guitar perfect? Of course not, because there will always be an element of personal opinion and bias featured in that decision. If I was a country player in Nashville making my living playing western swing gigs, this wouldn't be the ideal instrument but then that's not who I am. I'm a heavy metal guitarist in London making a living playing blues and teaching every imaginable guitar style (while secretly studying jazz guitar, but shhh!) and as such this guitar is honestly absolutely perfect for me.

That's really the point of buying a guitar from an independent luthier. You get a feel for the person who's building the instrument and their philosophies on guitar and design and if you feel as though you're both thinking along the same lines, you go for it and see what you get. In that sense, I can't fault this instrument - there's obviously no issues whatsoever with components or build quality, and it is everything I ever hoped it would be and more.

On a personal note, I would like to add that Patrick Hufschmid remains the easiest man to deal with that I have ever come across when buying anything. His desire to make sure everything is perfect to such a level is completely unheard of in my experience and he really will go the extra mile to make sure you are happy with everything, completing the order within a month of it being placed and shipping it overnight from Switzerland to London because he was genuinely excited for me to get the guitar and to hear my opinion of it. His no-bullshit attitude was what originally drew me to his guitars in the first place, and I can't really give the man a better endorsement than the fact I ordered a second guitar from him.

So like I say, overall this guitar has to be a 10 for me. It has the playability of a modern shredmachine, the simplicity of a telecaster and the fat, warm "Les Paul" style tone which is the heart of modern rock and metal. In addition, the guitar cost less than ordering through many of the "big name" custom shops for a considerably more personal service. In my opinion ordering a guitar through an independent luthier makes everyone a winner, and if you're thinking of going down that route then I would definitely recommend researching Hufschmid guitars further.

Video in which I play the guitar:

This is the second guitar I bought from Patrick Hufschmid. The specifications on it are a little bit different compared to the first one. Patrick built this guitar as a prototype to try a nut made of Techtron HPV© and his new headstock design which is I think is one of the best I have ever seen on a guitar. The guitar is based on his economy model H6E. As such it does not have a fancy top but still all the great specifications that make Patrick's guitars world-class.
A guitar is more than just the sum of its parts. The way everything is put together and the knowledge of the luthier make the difference. Patrick really surprised me with this guitar because although the specifications of it are rather different to my first one you can find a lot of similar core characteristics between both instruments. That alone speaks for his level of quality and attention.

Features:

-Handmade by Patrick Hufschmid from switzerland
-6 strings
-One piece very old premium Sapelli Mahogany body
-One piece very old premium Sapelli Mahogany neck
-Pauo Ferro fingerboard, 12" radius, 24 frets
-West African Ebony control knobs
-25.5'' scale
-Hipshot bridge
-Sperzel locking tuning machines
-Handmade Kent Armstrong pickups
-Tru-Oil finish on the neck and body
-No inlays
-1 volume pot, 1 tone pot, 3 way pickup switch
-Techtron HPV© nut

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. Although there are no
fretboard inlays I have no trouble to navigate due to the side dots.
The neck is shaped with just the right thickness for my hands and playing style. It is neither an ultrathin
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 use thick strings on it that 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.
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. The sound won't get dark or muddy when you roll down the volume knob.
You can use it to get a variety of different tones.
The overall quality of the woods is just stunning. The grain on the mahogany is even more impressive
than one my first Hufschmid guitar.
The body and the neck is oil finished which gives the guitar an elegant look and high playing comfort.

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.
The guitar reacts very quickly and does not overemphasize the low end. Sometime you can get the
feeling that the guitar plays a note even before you thought about it. It is a very hones guitar.
Everything you put into it is perfectly reproduced.
Patrick created a guitar that has its own unique voicing that is nothing like I have heard before.
I play the guitar through a Diezel Hagen tube amplifier and BR Custom 3x12 cabinets which themselves have a very clear, defined and broad sound. This combination of equipment delivers the perfect sound for my bands.

OVERALL OPINION

I have my first Hufschmid guitar for almost a year now and did not experience any problems. The finish is very durable, the guitar stays in tune very well and the neck is still perfect. 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 always keep the guitar in a humidity controlled environment when it's not played.

Once again it was a very special to meet Patrick in person and pick up the guitar in the beautiful landscape of Aigle, Switzerland. Although the guitar was not build specifically for me there is nothing I would want to change about it. It is a work of art in its purest form.
The communication was fast and reliable as always. You get what you pay for in a reasonable time frame. There is no 2-3 years waiting list or anything like that that you can witness on some of the newly hyped luthiers out there.
I can definitely recommend considering Hufschmid guitars if you want to get a unique instrument with top-notch quality and sound.