Experimental Guitar Designer Introduces Seven-String Electric

by Staff.

Dutch experimental string instrument designer Yuri Landman has announced his creation of a seven-string electric guitar known as Springtime, which Landman produced for Blood Red Shoes guitarist Laura-Mary Carter. The instrument features one bass string, three wound guitar strings for chording and three unwound strings intended for unison tuning and the creation of a rapidly vibrating tone. Each of the three string groups has its own amplifier output, though the 3-way switching system also allows for stereo or mono amplification. The tail bridge is constructed to increase overtone possibilities. One of the primary design intentions was for the instrument to produce sounds simulating three musicians.

Landman delivered the prototype of the instrument to Carter at a Blood Red Shoes performance in Nijmegen, Holland, on May 19, 2008 (the instrument is mentioned in a video clip of the performance). The U.K.-based group released their debut album, Box Of Secrets (Mercury, 2008), last month.

Landman has built experimental-style string instruments for groups such as Liars (the Moodswinger), Sonic Youth (Moonlander) and Half Japanese (Bachelor QS) and will lecture at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain, about his instruments, string resonance, third-bridge guitar playing (such as Sonic Youth's screwdriver technique) and the relation of modern punk noise to old Chinese scale systems.

More information about Yuri Landman and his instruments can be found at www.hypercustom.com.

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