Gittler Guitars are back! The most unique, revolutionary guitar of the 20th century is now a 21st century marvel.
The Gittler Guitar is a striking minimalist design incorporating rounded cylindrical and ergonomic features. The guitar is manufactured entirely of 6AL-4V aircraft grade Titanium.
With only 60 models made during the 1980′s, the original guitar became a legendary and iconic symbol of think-forward design. Allan Gittler, the creator of the instrument, was a visionary musician who aimed to dispel the common misconceptions embraced by guitar players since the 1930′s. His goal, and ours, is to provide modern guitarists a foundation from which to build their personal tone. We at Gittler Instruments maintain that a musician should begin to develop his or her signature sound by starting with the purest signal, completely absent of coloration. Just as a painter begins with a blank canvas, we believe each musical journey should begin with the bare principles of vibration and gain.
We all love the sound of a traditional electric guitar.
Wood, as a construction material, has been used for more than 75 years to create the classic electric tone that we’ve all become accustomed to. We at Gittler Instruments ask the question, “Why?”
Wood is an organic and resonant material that provides a natural compliment to the vibratory characteristics of a guitar string. We believe the sound that wood imparts is pleasing, but it is an inarguable fact that this is a coloration added to the signal. Like it or not, that guitar you purchased already has its own individual and very specific sonic fingerprint. Wood is typically described as having fundamentals and overtones but no two pieces of wood, even from the same species, will sound the same.
Too many variables contribute to the tone of the instrument. At Gittler Instruments, we endeavor to provide something revolutionary to the guitarist by taking all the commonly accepted notions of what a guitar “should” be and methodically stripping away all that is unnecessary and redundant. When Allan Gittler was asked in an interview, “When were you satisfied enough to seek a patent?” He replied, “When I found I could take nothing more off.”
Why Titanium?
The Titanium grade we chose is a high tensile strength, wrought alloy containing 6% Aluminum and 4% Vanadium. It is used in a great many high-tech applications ranging from aircraft turbine engines to bioinert surgical implants. It is also both extremely costly and notoriously difficult to machine. At Gittler Instruments we chose this material because we had to. Because in a no compromise approach to realizing our vision – it was the only choice.
Perhaps it was best said by President Kennedy in his 1962 speech in Houston, TX:
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy – but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one which we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win”
Titanium, despite its challenges, was a natural choice for us. Our special Grade 23 Titanium is a high purity version of 6AL-4V which demonstrates superior damage tolerance to other alloys and exhibits the highest ratio between strength and density of any metallic material. It has exceptional corrosion resistance and fatigue strength, while weighing 42% less than it’s original steel predecessor. Perhaps most importantly, this metastable alloy has a crystalline structure of close-packed hexagonal grains, which allows for optimum transfer of acoustic energy.
This dense, uniform grain structure explains why Titanium is a superior choice for musical instruments. Simply put, it allows the string energy to more easily transfer into the body of the instrument, resulting in far more sustain, resonance and clarity. The nuances of your playing can now take a more central role. You will find that better note definition and dynamics are slowly adding a new dimensional to your style.
