The ugliest guitar on the planet?

xmrchi

jpfamps;642901" said:

ICBM said:



jpfamps said:

[Gretsch Astro Jet]





It's actually the headstock that makes those so awful. The body shape by itself is not that bad really, although that nameplate on the upper bout doesn't help. I found it quite a comfortable shape to play, too.





I agree; I don't think it's that bad a design.

However this is a bad design on so many levels:

@jpfamps Especially due to the frets/steps, once they wear or got a knock the guitar was fire wood, plus it needed an external power supply! I don't think it's ugly to look at but def an ugly ugly design :-D

ICBM

jpfamps said:

However this is a bad design on so many levels:

[Bond Electraglide]

Having worked on several of them I have to agree… despite being made in Scotland, but most definitely not from girders.

Moe_Zambeek

jpfamps said:

I find these strangely appealing. I really like them. I also like the Yamaha Wes Borland, which I reckon is 'inspired by..' These to some extent...

usedtobe

bingefeller;642702" said:

SteveGV said:

Just gonna leave this here....













Reminds me of fisting.

Fisting who?

Sassafras

jpfamps said:

ICBM said:

jpfamps said:

[Gretsch Astro Jet]

It's actually the headstock that makes those so awful. The body shape by itself is not that bad really, although that nameplate on the upper bout doesn't help. I found it quite a comfortable shape to play, too.

I agree; I don't think it's that bad a design.

However this is a bad design on so many levels:

What is this strange thing and why does it need that huge box with a power supply?

xmrchi

@Sassafras it's a bond dynaglide if I recall correctly, it didn't have frets, but the fretboard was stepped.

ICBM

Sassafras said:

What is this strange thing and why does it need that huge box with a power supply?

It's a Bond Electraglide guitar and it was The Future… in about 1981, the era of the Sinclair ZX81!

The electronics are active, and need the power supply. It doesn't do anything particularly clever though - the five buttons at the front are an on/off switch for each pickup and a phase switch for each of the pairs, and the three rocker buttons are up/down controls for volume, treble and bass, which are indicated in the upward-facing LED window above the bridge, in numbers that correspond to the three coloured LEDs next to the buttons. The system is not programmable and reverts to '000' on power-off.

The whole thing is made of a plastic composite (NOT carbon fibre as sometimes described) and is prone to cracking. All the hardware (including the pickups) is made by Schaller.

Finally, the fingerboard is totally unconventional - instead of a flat board with frets, it's a solid surface with a sawtooth profile called the "pitchboard" - the front edge of each step forms the "fret". As far as I understand it the idea was to simulate the feel and some of the technique possibilities of a violin, but with guitar-like accuracy. There is a major problem… the pitchboard is made from anodized aluminium which is far softer than the steel strings, so the edges of the 'frets" start to wear almost immediately, and it quickly becomes unplayable. I've seen one that Jimmy Moon removed the "pitchboard" from and fitted a conventional ebony board with frets...

They were designed and built in Scotland - up near Inverness - by Andrew Bond (not James's dad…) and the company was financed by a government start-up grant. It was not a commercial success and folded after only a couple of years - 1984 and 1985, I think. Someone I know bought quite a lot of the left-over parts and made them available as spares, although I think most or all are gone now.

There are a few known celebrity users - Mick Jones when he was in Big Audio Dynamite, and The Edge who used one on the Joshua Tree for a couple of parts, plus dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and a couple of others, but Mick Jones is the best known for it.

Sassafras

That's a shame. It sounds quite innovative but poorly implemented.

I was thinking it was at least some type of synth guitar.

xmrchi

@ICBM theirs a chap in redditch who has a fair few transformers and body blanks, I was tempted.....

ICBM

Sassafras said:

That's a shame. It sounds quite innovative but poorly implemented.

I was thinking it was at least some type of synth guitar.

If it had been, it would have been revolutionary - a guitar synth with violin-like technique possibilities would have been fantastic… at least if they'd made the fingerboard from something like titanium that didn't wear out. Probably beyond the technology and economics of the time though.

carlos

There's one for sale in Denmark Street. It looks good in the flesh but that plastic-y fingerboard feels like it'd get invented very quickly

PVO_Dave

http://d2x3wmakafwqf5.cloudfront.net/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/61/files/2014/03/the-wangcaster.jpg

http://images.gibson.com/Lifestyle/English/aaFeaturesImages2009/outrageous_Lou-Reimuller.jpg

ICBM

That's quite disturbing - far worse than the wood-carving further up. It looks like he's molesting a child.

Sassafras

This is on another thread but I think it qualifies as a very ugly guitar though not as disturbing as the child molester one.

viz

mrchi said:

This is the blackbird v2, I won't say who made it as they're still trying to sell it... For £650 down from over a grand, made in the 80s but refurbished recently by the seller/maker.

Is it just me or is it the ugliest guitar ever created.

I actually really like that, apart from the angled neck pickup which totally ruins it for me. Even the bridge pickup looks wonky. Otherwise it looks really unique.

flyingv

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s200/hammer4ever/ae6a05228f16b964491465c86ecac130.jpg Fugly

oddball

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z257/oddball13/d9ecd94d-0ebd-48df-beb7-8f19c709bbb0_zpslpeg4veo.jpg

stimpsonslostson

At the risk of being run out of the forum... Fender Antigua guitars give me the boak. I'm sure they're lovely underneath, but that finish! Mingin.

olafgarten

stimpsonslostson;644963" said:

At the risk of being run out of the forum... Fender Antigua guitars give me the boak. I'm sure they're lovely underneath, but that finish! Mingin.

Damn, those are terrible.

Sassafras

They remind me of the avocado bathroom suites that everyone tears out as soon as they buy a house that contains one.