The Springtime is an experimental electric guitar with seven strings and three outputs. The instrument was created in 2008 by Dutch

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

Yuri Landman for guitar player Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes.

Technical information

The string set up of the guitar is 1 bass string, 3 wound guitar strings for the chords and a cluster of 3 unwound strings tuned off-key

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or pe ...

, causing a rapid vibrating tone. Each group of strings has its own individual output for three amplifiers to preserve tonal interference. The sound simulates three musicians at once; a bass player, a

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

ist and a solo guitarist or a Greek electric

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

. The instrument also is fitted with a so-called tailed bridge (as on a Fender Jaguar) to increase overtone possibilities. The electronics contain switches to change the 3-way system to

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

or mono if fewer amplifiers are available. Landman handed over his prototype to Carter before their sold out gig on May 19, 2008 in the venue Doornroosje in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, Holland. This is the first guitar created by Landman which is put in serial production. The reproductions have a red or blank body.

Springtime II

A few months after the first Springtime, Landman built the Springtime II on specifications made up by Lou Barlow.Picture
of Barlow's alternate Springtime Barlow's version has eight tuning pegs, two of them unused, but available for an alternative seven or eight string set up. The other six employ the strings for the instruments in four positions similar to a

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, but the upper two positions are double coursed strings. Because of this the instrument remains a six string guitar. Also the pickup configuration is different and four single coils are present instead of three. The lowest positioned pickup is left out and a regular bridge and neck pickup are placed aside of the rotated pickup duo. The

velcro Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fast ...

tape to mute undesired string resonance from the tailed bridge is also not present on this version. Also other alternate versions of the Springtime exist. For Mauro Pawlowski of

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or " deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief ...

Landman made an alternate version with nine tuning pegs and an additional pick up in the tail to explore the possibilities of creating

third bridge The Deputy Darcy Castelo de Mendonça Bridge, colloquially known as the Third Bridge (Portuguese: Terceira Ponte), is the second tallest bridge in Brazil, connecting the cities of Vila Velha and Vitória in the state of Espirito Santo. Spannin ...

sounds. This pick up has a separate output. Also a fifth pick up was added, similar to the bridge pick up present at Barlow's version. Also a red version for Meric Long of

The Dodos The Dodos are an American indie rock band consisting of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber. History The Dodos began playing music together in 2005, when musician Meric Long, who had been gigging steadily in San Francisco as a solo singer-songwriter, ...

is made with an alternate pickup and string configuration. A red Springtime was used by

Placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

frontman

Brian Molko Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a Belgian-born Scottish-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his distinctive nasal, high-pitche ...

in 2008, while he was in the studio for recording '' Battle for the Sun''. On the ''Battle for the Sun'' bonus DVD, Molko is seen experimenting with the Springtime and discussing its possible uses with producer David Bottrill.

Sources

Additional Dutch sources

Article
on myownmusicindustry.nl
Article
on

The Dutch Rock & Pop Institute The Dutch Rock & Pop Institute ( nl, Nationaal Pop Instituut, NPI) was a centre for the Dutch popular music culture. Established since 1975, the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Culture to promote Dutch music at home an ...

website
Article
on

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more so ...

's 3VOOR12 website

External links

www.hypercustom.nl
{{Experimental musical instruments Experimental electric guitars Dutch inventions