Oldschool handmade electric guitar 32-3 Bernard - LOST!
Description
6-string electric guitar, serial number 32-3, nicknamed „Bernard”, handmade in Poland by Tomasz Wojtowicz. One of the 25 guitars in the collection „25 guitars collection – handmade by Tomasz Wojtowicz”. The guitar was completed in July 2017, while the start of work on this instrument was dated at January 2006. There is no mistake, the guitar was creating over 11 years. Bernard is an oldschool guitar crafted to play, not to watch. Only fine quality classical wood species were used, seasoned long time, selected to harmonize together. This is a unique instrument, requiring precision from the player. The sound is warm, fat, mahogany type, rich in harmonic components, very long sustaining. The design of the instrument, the materials and accessories used suggest the use in music genres such as blues, classic rock, hard rock and related genres. This does not mean, however, that you can’t play jazz, funky or reggae on this guitar. It depends on the type of amp, settings, and preferences. Humbuckers are deliberately used without the ability to split coils, so that excess settings do not distract the player. Bernard is a guitar to be accepted as it is. It showed its character at the beginning of the first play. "Dirty Bernard in torn jeans" turned out to be "The polite Berny in a suit who can dump his jacket when he needs it".
Below are some general details and specification:
Body
1 – piece African mahogany Entandrophragma cylindricum, medium density, thickness 43mm, lenght 425mm, width 332mm. The front of body is flat, the forearm profile is well noticable. The back of body is flat with deep ergonomic profiling. There is no additional top or facing, nor binding. The shape of body is my own project SCM Lizard, double cutaway, referring to the well known guitar constructions.
Neck
1 – piece genuine mahogany Swietenia macrophylla, medium density, quarter sawn, glued-in (joint angle 0 degrees), thickness at I fret 21mm, thickness at XII fret 23mm, width at nut 42.5mm, width at XXII fret 55.7mm, C profile around the I fret, C/D profile around the XII fret. The headstock is angled 14 degrees, facing is made of bare black African ebony with delicate grey/brown figures, just sanded and impregnated with light oil. The top surface of the headstock should be impregnated every 6 months with a lemon oil, the same oil which is used for cleaning and impregnating fingerboards. The shape of headstock is my own project and is used in every guitar in the „25 guitars collection”.
The structure of the neck is reinforced with 2 carbon rods 4x4mm, they stiffen the neck and does not change the wooden sound. Handmade truss rod is based on Martin type construction – one action, steel rod in U-shape aluminium profile. Additional vibration damping material was used. Note, do not use too much force when adjusting the neck relief. Adjustment should be done in very small steps, with sensitivity and caution, the neck reacts with some delay to screwing and unscrewing the truss rod nut. Both the rod and the adjusting nut are made of high strength stainless steel.
As with any guitar in which the neck is made of 1 piece of wood and its construction includes an angled headstock, keep in mind that the neck/headstock point is the least mechanically resistant place in the instrument. There is a reinforcement made of 2 carbon rods at this location, and a thick ebony veneer, and they provide additional durability. However, when the guitar fall on the floor, the probability of breaking the headstock is very high. Always set the guitar (every guitar!) on a guitar stand or place it securely in the case, even if it's just for a while.
Note, Swietenia macrophylla is listed on the CITES list. If the wood is used in the instrument, an export permit is required when leaving the European Union. This can also make it more difficult to move quickly with the instrument in the future when traveling between different countries of the world.
Fingerboard
1 – piece African ebony Diospyros crassiflora „black panther” (black mottles on black/dark brown wood), quarter sawn, binding unapplied, scale 25” (635mm), radius 12” (305mm). The top surface of fingerboard is mat sanded and impregnated with light oil. It needs cleaning and impregnating with lemon oil from time to time.
The following components are mounted in the fingerboard:
- 22 frets Jim Dunlop Jumbo 6150 Hard, height of crown 1.1mm
- front markers – gold MOP 3mm dots
- side markers – gold MOP 1,5mm dots
- nut made of Black Tusq XL Graph Tech
Notes:
Any slight deepening of string slots in the nut should be performed no sooner than after approximately 200 hours of playing the instrument.
The nut was fitted in the fingerboard before the instrument was finished with lacquer. When replacing worn frets in the future, frets with a crown height of no more than 1.1mm should be used. This way, you will avoid the complicated and expensive replacement of the nut with the refilling of the lacquer coating.
Pickups
- neck pickup – Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates SH – PG1N black, 4-conductor lead wire, 7,3kOhm, Alnico 2, PAF style of „Texas”, rude tone character
- bridge pickup – Seymour Duncan Custom Custom SH 11B black, 4-conductor lead wire, 14,1kOhm, Alnico 2
The pickups are fixed in low gold plated metal frames. Both Pearly Gates and Custom Custom are warm-sounding pickups with medium output that may seem to be too powerful for some guitarists who are accustomed to classic vintage tones . However, the quality of the electronics used allows you to freely adjust the volume of the instrument to the lowest levels without losing the quality of the sound.
Like any character of the sound and the equipment used, the pickups are subject to the player's assessment and are associated with his or her habits and preferences. In the case of incompatibility of the sound character of the used pickups, please do not decide whether to replace the pickups too fast.200 hours of play is a necessary minimum time to learn the capabilities of the instrument, get used to its character, find the right settings in amplifier and effects. Beyond that, please always keep in mind that "You should match up to Bernard, not Bernard to You". Bernard does not like changes.
Electronics
- 1 x volume potentiometer Bourns Low Friction trademarked as Seymour Duncan YJM High Speed 500k Audio + filter based on Orange Drop poliprophylene capacitor, preventing loss of high tones while decreasing volume
- 1 x tone potentiometer with bypass click Bourns No-Load GTN 500k Linear + Orange Drop poliprophylene capacitor
- 3-position gold coated toggle switch Goldo
- gold plated cylindric MEC output jack, fixed in handmade tortoise jack plate
The control pocket cover is handmade of tortoise.
Bridge
Fixed, gold plated Gotoh GTC101 with brass saddles. Fine designed and performed, tested for years, with the possibility of adjusting the compensation and height for each string separately.
Tuning keys
Traditional, fine quality, gold plated Grover keys with modern metal tulip buttons, 14:1 gear ratio
Other hardware
- strap buttons - Warwick Security Lock, gold plated (Be sure and periodically check if the nuts fastening the mounting on the strap are firmly tightened!)
- knobs – gold plated Gotoh VK19-1 dome type with a locking screw
- string ferrules – gold plated Gotoh ferrules, 8.3 mm mounting diameter, with an outer edge extending over the surface of the back of body
Strings
D’Addario 9-42 EXL 120
If you want use other strings, make sure that they are not warm-sounding. Probably better will be the strings of brighter, sharper sound, predictably more accurately cooperating with this instrument.
Finish
The surface of the instrument was finished by hand with a clear, glossy polyurethane lacquer. There were no coloring stains applicated on the wood, nor colorants for the lacquer. The finishing process consisted of the following stages:
- contrast wood pore filling and sanding
- Pre-coating with tinted lacquer
- re-coating with tinted lacquer
- sanding
- lacquering with tinted lacquer
- 3-leyers lacquering
- 3-week stabilization of lacquer
- sanding the applied lacquer layers
- lacquering with tinted lacquer
- 5-layers lacquering
- 5-week curing process
- multi-stage wet sanding
- pre-polishing
- finishing polishing
- waxing of the surface
After finishing process, a very high gloss and transparency was achieved. Significant darkening of wood is the result of direct application of polyurethane and is a deliberate effect. Owing to the characteristics of the lacquer used and the relatively thin coating applied, the penetration of the lacquer into the wood structure is noticeable over time. As a result, looking closely at a distance and at some angles will be visible delicate, minor and major bumps directly above the wood pores. The smooth glass-like surface will get some porous-like structure. Update the description of the finish surface 01/01/2021: as expected, the lacquer fell into the pores of the wood, no longer a mirrored and smooth coating. Finish took the oldschool character of the open pores type lacquering. This effect is much more visible on the body than on the neck. This is not a disadvantage, but the result of the lacquerning method used and the type of lacquer.
The lacquer coating protects the wood from moisture, dirt, scratches and dents. It is not resistant to point strokes with hard objects, it is not resistant to scratches caused by sharp objects. As a result of the specific surface finishing method, the lacquer coating of the instrument has minor irregularities, indentations, collapses, abrasions, mottling, straight and circular scratches and micro scratches that are visible from a very close distance at certain angles to the illumination.Lacquer coat corrections at the place of the joint neck with the body are not an attempt to mask the quality of the joint or cavities in the wood. The whole structure of the neck and the body at the joint is uniform and the elements are tightly fixed, the connection does not contain any structural defects, loops, etc.
Weight
Total weight of the guitar with fixed hardware is 3,5kg (+/- 0,1kg)
Accesories
- heksagonal key 5mm for truss rod adjusting
- heksagonal key 1,5mm for adjusting the height of saddles in the bridge
- Vileda soft mikrofibre cloth for cleaning and for suport the body in a case
- Epiphone hard shell case, basic class, designed for SG type guitars
Very important tip! To keep the guitar in the case firmly and securely supported at every point, before inserting it into the case, first place the attatched Vileda cloth (composed in 6-8 leyers) in point near the bottom of the back side of the guitar body.
Adjusments
The guitar is initially adjusted and ready to play. Any additional adjustments, according to your preferences, are to be made by you or by person servicing your instruments. To achieve extremely low string action, any micro leveling of the frets should be performed no sooner than after approximately 200 hours of playing the instrument.
A few words at the end… or rather the beginning
The instrument was performing for a very long time. After each cutting, routing or profiling any wooden element, it was set aside for several months to stabilize and any occurred deformation was corrected.This procedure has provided the natural, very high structural stability of all components of the ready instrument and any future deformation, in normal use and in typical housing, studio or stage conditions is unlikely.
The sound of the guitar is typical for mahogany bodies with a set-in/glued-in neck. It is fat, massive, warm but selective and rich in harmony. The ebony fingerboard requires precision in the play, adds sharpness and contours to the tones. Generated sounds are sweet, but not without aggression. When you need calm - it is quiet and gentle, when you need express sudden emotions, screams generated by the guitar penetrate the whole neighborhood. Natural, long, true sustain comes from wood, construction and craftsmanship, it is not generated by cheap tricks.
Probably all the possible emotions accompanied when working on the creation of Bernard. There was joy and anger, satisfaction and embarrassment, hope and resignation, calmness, anxiety, chillout, nervousness, happiness, temperate happiness............... it all now has Bernard in itself. Someone who says that the instrument cannot have a soul, just is mistaken. Bernard has this "something" and even if it is not the best, the fastest, the nicest, it is "some", it is noticeable, it is genuine, with all its great qualities and little flaws.
For whom is this instrument
For a person who does not need great logo on the headstock, and more importantly is the sound, convenience of play, the uniqueness of the hand-made instrument. For a person who does not put a guitar in a glass-case to look at a glass-mirror thick colourful finish. For a person who plays the instrument a few hours a day, likes oldschool instruments and a natural dark aged mahogany, and does not mind the fact that the guitar gently wears out of use, it loses some of the glow and flash of the gilt elements. For the person who cares for the instrument, periodically impregnates exposed wooden elements, puts the guitar on a guitar stand so it does not fall down. For a person with an open mind.
What words did people say who tried the instrument
“There are many fine guitars in the world, but the Bernard is the only one”
“The sound is great. Very balanced”…
“A lot of warm, fat sounds. My solos are so round and powerful”…
“The best volume setting is set at 9, not at full open”…
“Everything is fine for me, except there is no logo. The headstock seems to be not finished”…
“It is so ergonomic”…
“I play like a mature bluesman”…
“Strings to low”…
“String to high”…
“Did you fix any sustainer, or what?”…
“Genuine sound”…
“It is so comfortable to play, you can’t stop”…
“Well, this was not a good idea to buy the […]”…
“I’d prefer whole black, 24 frets, maple neck and basswood body… and the red dragon drawing”…
“Typical, fine guitar, but… quite different”…
“It sounds quite different than guitars I know. What amp to match? Any crunch, I think”…
“There are no to many sounds to choose, but what it gives… they are really excellent… not for everyone, but excellent”…
“This is not a guitar I like, but I can say: this is something”…
“No deaf notes, comfortable to play, great sound, nice shape, what do we need more?”
32-3 Bernard was priced at 2750 EUR – the price is valid until 31 December 2017r.
If Bernard does not find a happy buyer in a given year, in each subsequent year its price will increase by 250 EUR.
The guitar price for 2018 year has been set at 3000 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2018 (updated 01.01.2018).
The guitar price for 2019 year has been set at 3250 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2019 (updated 01.01.2019).
The guitar price for 2020 year has been set at 3500 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2020 (updated 05.01.2020).
The guitar price for 2021 year has been set at 3750 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2021 (updated 01.01.2021).
The guitar price for 2022 year has been set at 4000 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2022 (updated 15.01.2022).
The guitar price for 2023 year has been set at 4250 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2023 (updated 07.01.2023).
The guitar price for 2024 year has been set at 4500 EUR and is valid until 31 December 2024 (updated 06.01.2024).
This instrument is subject to a 24-month limited guarantee. The guarantee does not cover the wear and tear during typical use of components such as strings, frets, nut, lacquer surfaces. The guarantee does not cover mechanical damage resulting from misuse.
Shipping to a country belonging to the European Union
The price is valid if sales and shipping goes to a country in the EU. Shipping cost is 68 EUR maximum and It depends on the country where the shipment takes place. Shipping takes place within 10 working days of receipt of payment, it is necessary time to exchange strings, pre-adjustment and settings.
Shipping to a country not belonging to the European Union
If the guitar is shipped to a country outside the European Union, the price of the guitar will be increased by the cost of obtaining an export permission for the export of a product in which the CITES listed wood is used. Thus the time of shipment will depend on the time of issue, the delay in shipping for this reason may be about 4-6 weeks, but it can also be much longer. The cost of obtaining an export permission is up to 58 EUR. The maximum cost of shipping the item is 115 EUR and is dependent on the country to which the shipment will be addressed. In case of overpayment related to the costs of obtaining the export permission and the shipment of the guitar, the overpayment will be refunded to the buyer within 5 working days. Note, the import permission for the instrument, which uses CITES-listed wood, if required, the buyer is obliged to arrange in his/her own country and at his/her own expense. The instrument can’t be shipped before both export and import licenses are issued. It is always a good idea to check before you buy if there are other import restriction in your country on wood species, mother of pearl (MOP) and other materials used in the guitar.
Please, contact me for more information,
Tomasz Wojtowicz
Tel. +48/ 602671930
e-mail: woodforguitar@gmail.com