The Key

Inspired by the music of the great Charlie Hunter, The Key is an eight-stringed behemoth of sound. The top five strings are typically tuned as a guitar would be, while the bottom three correspond to the low strings of a bass. Keeping the strings at proper tension required an extreme multiscale, from 25.5' at the high e to 29" at the low.

To harness that huge sonic range, a special pickup had to be made by Vintage Vibe pickups. Each section is electrically independent, allowing the player to choose between a mono or stereo output. Even better, to deal with the huge variation in string thickness, each of the magnets is height-adjustable to provide optimum string balance.

A lot of strings means a lot of tension- so the neck is a 7-piece laminate of rock maple and black walnut, tempered by two double-action truss rods to ensure the whole neck keeps optimum levels of relief. In the interests of balance, a headless design featuring tuners by T4M was a must. Also setting this guitar apart is a custom-made inlay of metal, pearl, and recon stone, set against jet-black ebony. The body itself is made of Butternut, chambered and capped with a wild piece of ambrosia-figured maple.