Tyyster Guitars high-end line of instruments include an interesting guitar called Pelti, which has a sheet metal body.
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This is designed using an entirely different concept, able to produce both acoustic and electric tones that work well with slide, blues and country style players.
The company describes this instrument as one that brings a touch of Robert Johnson into your guitar tone. And based on the audio demo, it is easy to see how the infamous blues musician inspired the tone of the Pelti.
To get the old school slide vibe into this instrument, Tyyster decided to combine elements of the Telecaster and resonator guitars into a single instrument. The result is a truly unique instrument with a distinct shape and a body crafted from sheet metal.
At first glance, you might not see much of a difference other than the distinct shape, but closer inspection reveals bigger differences, which includes the unique metal body and clever pickup system. This is a brave design implementation by the company, considering how the use of none-wood bodied guitars are generally frowned upon by guitarists stating tonal differences as the main issue.
Even though the body of this guitar is crafted from metal, it doesn’t stray too far from conventional electric guitars in terms of aesthetics and tone. It proves once again that the pickups matter more when it comes to getting the tone right. In addition to sounding like a true electric, you can play the Pelti much like any conventional electric guitar, with its two humbucker pickup configuration.
But it doesn’t end with just that, Tyyster equipped this instrument with a body pickup that can capture resonator-like metallic acoustic sounds. This will let you switch between regular electric and resonator sounds without having to swap instruments.
And because of its metal sheet body, the reso sounds are not merely emulations or close approximations. A special body pickup is used to naturally capture the resonance of the metal body to produce genuine resonator guitar tones that work really well for slide and blues players.
You can utilize both the electric guitar and resonator acoustic guitar sounds together in real time by simply using the stereo output option. Tyyster Guitar’s founder Ville Tyyster said , “… using stereo output option one can maximize the sonic possibilities of electric and acoustic worlds using a two channel amp or two amps”.
Tyyster Pelti Specs:
- Sheet metal body
- Maple neck, 25.59″ scale length
- Matched pair of Tyyster humbucking pickups and a body pickup
- Mono and stereo output
- Phase shift switch
- Tyyster hard shell case
The Tyyster Pelti is currently retailing for $4000. For more information and other details, visit Tyyster Guitars.
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