DemarsGuitars.com
Title
DeMars Guitars
Description
Philosophy & Design
The humble acoustic guitar, in various iterations, has been around for several hundred years - even longer, when you consider Renaissance instruments like the lute. The modern American acoustic guitar was conceived by C.F. Martin back in 1833 – a design that continues successfully to this day. Although players have loved the classic and familiar tone produced by traditional dreadnaught or OM-style acoustic guitars, they have come to realize that these guitars are all-too-easily subject to the destructive effects of changes temperature and humidity. This is partly due to their design and the delicacy of their construction; cracked tops and warped necks are the most common. What about simple use/abuse? Pulled-up bridges, smashed backs, pierced sides…the list goes on. These are simply the results of regular use, live performances, careless roadies and/or the plain bad luck of the road. However, improvements have been made in the design and construction of acoustic guitars – mainly since the 1960s.
DeMars Guitars, designed and built in the USA, have adopted the best of current guitar design – and added a few new innovations. These guitars employ chambered solid bodies of basswood with an opaque black finish (optional mahogany with a clear finish) joined to traditional tops made of AAA-grade Englemann spruce or AAAAA-grade flame maple. The tops give the instrument the appearance of a traditional acoustic guitar while the bodies avoid the structural disadvantages of traditional acoustic construction, including the delicacy and sensitivity to changes in temperature and humidity that often result in warped or cracked tops.
How can the tops on traditional acoustic guitars vibrate freely if they are subjected to hundreds of pounds of pressure applied by strings pulling upward on the bridge? The vibrations of the strings on DeMars Guitars are captured by the under-saddle piezo elements without regard to a vibrating top, with only downward pressure onto the bridge saddle. There are no bridge pins, as the strings are retained by ferrules in the rear of the body. In addition to capturing string vibration at the bridge, the unique DeMars design captures the effect of the neck on the instrument's tone. For decades, luthiers have recognized the importance of the neck to the instrument’s overall tone, but few, if any, have actually captured such. All DeMars Guitars feature a second dime-sized piezo transducer located at the neck heel. Both neck and bridge transducers are controlled via a custom onboard 2-channel preamp, facilitating the player’s control of pickup balance and EQ.
Languages
English
