In my search for a 7-string guitar, I ended up getting a guitar locally made (a big plus) and completely custom — The Tyger from Michael Sankey. A truly incredible, one-of-a-kind guitar. During the search, I stumbled on quite a few makers — many of them from Europe. I am devoting a page to these guitars mainly because I think they do push the boundaries of materials. I don’t believe the construction and finishes are groundbreaking. And there’s plenty of eye candy to go around, so in that respect, they are following the PRS trend. However, I do like the use of non-exotic woods that are highly figured — such as burled poplar or maple, spalted maple, walnut, myrtle, and other more sustainable woods.
These builders do go beyond traditional body styles (some headless) and extend the guitar range (multi-scale, extended string, and baritone). They’re also using stainless steel frets as a standard option. So I give them some credit for not producing the same old Strats, Teles, or Les Pauls.
There’s a definite emphasis on highly figured exotic woods with custom finishes, and extensive CNC work for these guitars — which is fine. As with all guitars, it’s the care, attention to detail, and fine hand adjustments on the woodworking that can make a big difference.
I start off with Blackmachine because I think they set the tone for these type of metal super-strats.
Blackmachine
http://www.blackmachine.net/
No longer producing these metal-style guitars — they seem to have been the first to introduce a specific style of body bevel and headstock — which are widely copied. They are extremely expensive due to their rarity. It’s hard to find the history, but it’s apparently a one-man operation — Douglas Campbell. Headstock inspiration is from an older BC Rich, but with unmistakable connections to Parker Guitars as the strings fly over empty space. Hard to tell when he started, but it looks like 2007 or so? It appears the demand went sky high and they were/are hyped beyond belief. Misha Mansoor raved about his Blackmachine B2 in this interview.
B2
B6
B7
Mayones
http://www.mayones.com/
This company from Poland is producing some eye-catching guitars. Plenty of styles to choose from. They tend to be used by metal and progressive rock players.
Skervesen
http://skervesen.eu/
This company is also from Poland, and in many respects is similar to Mayones. They seem to offer more custom options and headless guitars with more exotic shapes. I really like their 7-string tele shape model, The Tamandua 7.
Swan 7
S4
Tamandua 7
Astilla
Lizard 8
Raptor 7
Daemoness
http://daemonessguitars.co.uk/
This company from the UK really has incredible art and graphics with eye-popping finishes.
Blackwater
http://blackwaterguitars.com/
I’ve mentioned this company already in a previous post. Based in Texas, it is following in the tradition of Blackmachine but also has similarities to Skervesen.
Ormsby
http://www.ormsbyguitars.com/
From Australia — has similarities to the other makers, especially Blackmachine. If you want something close to a Blackmachine, this is probably it.
Today, there are a large number of luthiers around the world making guitars in this style. The common aspects are:
- A more exaggerated or asymmetric version of the traditional body styles of the Strat, Tele, or Les Paul
- Highly figured woods and fancy finishes
- 6,7, and 8-string models
- Multi-laminate necks
- Multi-scale
- Stainless steel frets
They are designed for the modern, progressive, or metal player.