An old idea finally comes of age. Many early violin family instruments had sympathetic strings inside the neck, and this concept has found it's way into our new guitar designs. Dubbed 'Light Body Guitars', these instruments are incredibly lightweight and durable, and provide an amazingly clear and accurate acoustic guitar tone that can also be overdriven into 'full-shred mode' without breaking up.

These unique guitars weigh about the same or less than typical acoustic guitars, and feature 12 sympathetic strings running through the inside of the neck. Produced in limited numbers, these guitars represent a significant leap forward for players desiring expanded tonal and dynamic expression from their guitars. The goal behind the design is to produce a very durable, light and roadworthy guitar that covers every range of sounds from pure acoustic to overdriven electric, with the addition of extended overtones and harmonic complexity due to the sympathetic strings and hollow neck.

The primary bridge is fully adjustable for string height, spacing, and precise intonation adjustments, and features a custom PUTW Model #27E polymer film pickup. The bridge for the sympathetic strings contains a specially made PUTW Stealth polymer sensor inlaid into a graphite and ebony micro-bridge. A blending knob pans between the primary bridge and the sympathetic bridge pickups, and this signal is then sent to a master volume. These instruments also feature the new PUTW Hybrid Poly-Mag pickup, and this produces a nice electric tone that can be blended in with the more acoustic sounding film pickups. All pickups use ultra-low noise PUTW P-5 pre-amps, and the result is a completely versatile blend of electric and acoustic tones.

When playing, panning from the primary string bridge pickup to the sympathetic bridge has the same effect as turning up a reverb knob, but in this case, the notes are produced naturally, and accurately follow the dynamics of the playing style. The sympathetic strings can also be tuned to virtually any pitch the string gauges will allow (within reason).

Several unique features make this guitar completely original in both design and performance. The first is the stave constructed neck. This design uses seven or nine separate staves of wood that are precisely mitered then joined together with opposing wood grain orientations. The result is an unbelievably stiff neck with unparalleled stability. The wall thickness of the finished neck is around 3/8", but because of the multiple stave laminations, it actually has the same or more stiffness then a solid slab of the same species of wood. There are also two Composite graphite spars that run down each side of the neck from the nut to the bridge to add even more structural stiffness.

The sympathetic strings are gauged & tensioned to perform the same function as a conventional truss rod, and do a fantastic job of applying reverse pull on the neck to counteract the tension from the primary playing strings. The sympathetic strings can be tuned in any number of different tunings and modalities, and use standard ball-end guitar strings.

Light Body Guitars also feature a relief cut into the neck between the primary bridge and the sympathetic string bridge to allow access to the sympathetic strings for tuning and playing. A very large range of pitch tones can be addressed on the sympathetic strings, and the string gauges can be adjusted to suit without problems. The production versions of this guitar have an expanded width and access for the sympathetic strings, and this makes it possible to fingerpick them, or for two people to play on the same guitar at the same time.

Because there is acoustic coupling through the neck of the guitar, there would normally be a fair amount of the sympathetic string vibration getting picked up by the primary bridge pickup. To control this, we invented a special three-position lever to dampen the sympathetic strings. In one position, soft cork dampens the sympathetic strings. In the middle position, the strings ring open, and in the bottom position, a small metal bar contacts the strings and causes them to buzz like a Sitar or Tamboura.

The body contours of the guitar are designed for absolute comfort, balance, and light weight. The body halves are permanently tenon-joined to hardwood neck fastening blocks, and these are precisely fitted to the contours of the back of the neck.
Current production models feature Sperzel 'Simple Perfection' tuning machines. These tuners are tiny, and feature extremely light alloys and the highest degree of tuning precision and stability. The tuners are available in black or nickel satin, and are fully guaranteed.