If you spend enough time wandering the NAMM Show floor, the odds are good that you’ll come across some unusual-looking guitars. Many times, such guitars are more gimmicky than practical; that isn’t always the case, though. Take, for instance, Elroy Guitars and its line of O-Guitars. The compact, brightly colored and unusually shaped guitars almost look like toys; however, they offer fun features for guitar hobbyists and gearheads alike, and they pack a lot of punch in a portable size.
O-Guitars feature rounded bodies that, from a distance, resemble the shape of a banjo. “We figured, ‘Let’s try coming out with something unique…something that’s going to be eye-catching,’” Elroy Guitars’ President, Joseph Kim, stated. “I think it works for people who want something that’s going to stand out onstage. It’s a cute, little guitar, and there’s a lot of customization you can do on it with the round shape, like hanging stuff from the rounded headstock.” Elroy Guitars’ luthiers decided on a headless tuning system in order to achieve the headstock’s unique rounded and hollow look. And each O-Guitar features pickups that are custom made in Korea.
“The first thing I noticed when I picked up an O-Guitar was the neck,” Wyatt Kane, one of Elroy Guitars’ supporting artists, said. “The neck action was amazing. The pickups are custom made. And, even though there’s no tone knob on the guitar, it’s EQ’d already. So, it has a great sound.” Kane continued, “When they were designing and EQing the guitar, they wanted it to be more mid-rangey. The cool thing about going midrange is that it sticks out. In a band, it cuts through the mix.”
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