« Hufschmid Tantalum (Blue Burst) 6 string Guitar Review »

I first noticed Patrick’s work on the Internet around 5 years ago. I was instantly intrigued by the pics he made, how every single one was hand made by him and their unique, purpose built design, with carefully chosen materials.
After using his pics for several years and having always been a fan of his guitars, I was in a position to buy a serious instrument. I had read every review online and watched everything I could find on YouTube about them and my mind was made up, time to order one.

I contacted Patrick via his contact form on the website and he replied quickly, after a few emails discussing my specs for the guitar / how the process would work, I placed the order and sent payment.
The next day I received a photo of the bare wood that would eventually become my guitar.
Over the weeks that followed (around 6-7 weeks I think) I was always kept updated by email regularly, every time he had worked on the guitar and it was amazing to see it progress. I was even able to see him carving the neck live on Instagram and chat with him in the live video, a seriously cool experience you simply will not get anywhere else. Patrick was absolutely brilliant to deal with, a super cool guy who really cares about keeping the customer updated during the build process.

After the build was complete, he had the guitar shipped and it arrived in 4 days from Switzerland to the UK even during the (current) pandemic. It arrived very well packed and first impressions were even better than I thought. The case even contained a free Hufschmid guitar strap and a logo mouse mat, an extra nice touch indeed! I had followed the build online, so I knew what to expect, but in the flesh this guitar was just on another level.

The guitar is simply stunning. For a start when I removed it from the packaging it was still perfectly in tune even after shipping, and after some time getting to know the guitar it is incredibly stable for tuning. The quilt maple top in blue burst looks amazing in the flesh and you can tell straight away this is a very high quality guitar indeed. The attention to detail is insane, every glow block inlay on the fingerboard is seamless and perfect and there is even a Hufschmid metal coin inlayed into the back of the guitar and It also has the Hufschmid pickup mounting rings.

I plays effortlessly as Patrick hand carves each neck to a photo of the customers hand, so it feels like the perfect neck and the intonation / action is absolutely spot on.
The pickups (I went for Glowbuckers) sound huge. I play mainly rock / metal and they have clarity, bite and growl unlike anything I have heard before. They also play clean amazingly well and when both pickups are selected the clean chimes are quite similar to a tele. It is truly a very versatile guitar that can produce hundreds of different tones when playing with the volume and tone controls.
You can always drop a set of nice pickups into any guitar, but this so much more than that, it is the sum of incredible tone woods, great quality components and a lifetime of Patrick’s talent, skill, passion and care that create the perfect recipe for the huge tone and great playing feel.

I have owned and played a lot of good guitars over playing for nearly 20 years now, all the big brand stuff and I know this is better than all of them, there is a certain organic feel you get from it that you simply cannot get from a factory guitar. It really feels alive and sounds huge even without an amp, proving the high quality of construction and woods / materials used.

For the price I think they are incredibly good value for money. To have a guitar built to your own specs, totally by hand from one very talented luthier with a lifetime of experience. A lot of thought, care and expertise goes into these guitars. There are no CNC machines involved here, everything is done totally by hand with hand tools like files, or some small basic power tools. Considering there are many factory made guitars that cost a lot more than these, I think they are 100% worth considering when looking for a seriously high quality guitar.

I saw in a review for these guitars once that “You don’t own a Hufschmid, you simply look after it for the next generation” and now I have one, I totally agree!
Quite simply the best guitar I have ever played and it has made me enjoy playing music so much more.
In summary, I firmly believe Patrick leaves no stone unturned in creating these phenomenal guitars. They are very cleverly designed, very well thought out and expertly built. The ultimate recipe for the perfect guitar in my opinion.

Pros:
Looks amazing and totally unique
Sounds huge and very versatile for different music styles
Feels effortless to play
Made from top quality components, by hand
Inspires me to play more
Glows in the dark!
Incredible tuning stability

Cons:
None. Although I already want another one!

Robin Stephens,
Cornwall, UK.