DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium - Sold Guitars
2010 Hufschmid AlbinoDroïd
"Threepio"
Hufschmid guitars have an almost inexplicable magic to them ... so I'd hoped that one day ... ONE DAY I'd find one that I could bond with and refer to as MY HUFSCHMID.
This one? Odd isn’t it. Its certainly awesome, yet very odd. All at the same time.
I thought about an analogy for a while … and I reckon that this is the guitar equivalent of a Lamborghini "Egoista". Both are immaculately made, by the finest craftsmen in the world, using the finest materials available. Both are high-performance, rare as hen’s teeth, sought-after, and appeal to a limited group of nerdy gear-geeks. Yet both are kinda challenging to 'some' eyes.
I was very, VERY lucky last year to have owned a Hufschmid H7 BlackDroïd ("Chisels"). It was an exquisite guitar, as you'll see from the write-up on this site. However, I traded it within a few weeks of getting it, as one of the well-heeled collector-types from the City wanted it, and he had something that I wanted A LOT. So, we traded, and I waved goodbye to it. He subsequently sold it on (he's a serial gear-trader), an I've never seen it in the flesh since, although I DID see it on eBay for rather a lot of money.
So. Fast forward a while, and THIS showed up. It was originally owned by Rob Chapman (... no, I don't CARE that it was his, even though this is one of a string of his cast-offs that I've owned), who used it to record some of one of his early albums, then sold it on after a while. It eventually got picked up by the same guy that I bought "Sparrow" from, who kept it for a time before declaring that he couldn't justify keeping it, as he needed cash for grown-up stuff. A car, or driving lessons or some shit. Whatever the circumstances, he advertised it for what he paid for it, which seemed reasonable enough. However, I put on my lucky-haggling-pants, and turned on my Jedi-mind-price-control. It went like this:
Me: "You will sell it to me for less than that"
Him: "I will sell it to you for less than that"
Me: "You will sell it to me for MUCH less than that"
Him: "I will sell it to you for MUCH less than that"
Bingo! We shook hands on the deal before he had a chance to change his mind.
So. This is a Hufschmid AlbinoDroïd, made by Patrick Hufschmid, in his 5 square metre workshop in a wine cellar in Switzerland. There is only Patrick … no admin lady, no receptionist, no apprentice to fetch and carry stuff … our boy does everything himself. And he builds everything entirely by hand, using saws, rasps and chisels. And maybe the odd hand-held power tool, but certainly nothing as “uncouth” as a CNC machine. There are videos of him shaping necks, which show the attention he pays to the work ... you can almost sense him taking pride in it. He takes himself VERY seriously, and routinely refers to himself as an “Artisan Luthier”, which is fair enough, and would seem to be very accurate. He CERTAINLY has some appreciable skills.
Now, although he does it all himself, he does many other things too, not least of all the production of very fine and labour intensive plectrums (plectra?). So when he builds a guitar, he takes time, nothing is rushed, nothing is hurried. You see, this isn’t a production line … its not a factory … it’s just Patrick, working carefully, and churning out SEVEN GUITARS A YEAR. Seriously. Maybe that’s why they’re so bloody RARE. The closest example I have seen of someone building guitars with this level of attention, care and skill is the archtop builder John Monteleone, and for the avoidance of any confusion, I cannot ever dream of owning one of those (they're $30,000 and have a three year waiting list).
So, like “Chisels”, this is made from the most beautiful chunk (… just one chunk …) of solid Sipo mahogany, although the grain pattern is hugely more attractive that the wood that “Chisels” was made from … the depth and movement is beautiful. Hold it in sunlight and twist it around and the wood grain is alive ... like a beautiful flamed maple, yet with no flame. The set neck is the same wood, and the board is nice, plain maple (and eventually, is very clean, plain maple, as it was horrendously dirty when it arrived). Everything is finished immaculately, as you might reasonably expect.
Unlike “Chisels”, which had fret ends that appeared to have been intentionally left a little long (so you could feel them, albeit very slightly), the fret ends on this are perfect, as is the finish to the frets. More importantly, the “infinite-radius” fretboard often used by Patrick isn’t present here … this looks to have a radius of about 9”, which puts it firmly into comfy territory. Overall, playing this is a VERY tactile experience … everything is exquisite. Simple.
The tuners and bridge are by Hipshot, so are bullet-proof. The pickups … the pickups are unusual. Normally, Patrick uses custom-made Kent Armstrong stuff, but these were apparently made by a small French outfit called “SP Custom”. What information I’ve found about them suggests that they’re a small outfit, and that they hand-wind stuff. Which is nice. The controls include a master Vol and Tone, with a three-way selector (no coil splits or anything like that) and a big, red, kill-button, for those Randy moments. The control cavity is, again, IMMACULATE, with not a wire out of place, not a single blob of solder out of place, and with the screening foil covered in little pimples, where Patrick has pressed it down, randomly. Lovely.
Plug it IN, and you’d better be READY … this screams, purrs, then screams again. Everything is SO buttery and easy, and the NOISE … wow.
But I sold it. Although I DO love a great luthier-build, I got an offer on this that I JUST couldn't refuse. Thankfully, I managed to trade it back from the buyer after about 6 months. Of all the guitars I've sold over the years, this was the one that I missed more than any. So ... yeah ... it's back now.
It's interesting (to ME, at least) that Patrick found his way to this website recently. We traded a few emails, and it became instantly clear that his guitar builds are VERY important to him ... he had no idea that the original owner had sold it on, and seemed justifiably cross that the efforts he put into making this hadn't been enough to make the original owner want to keep it. Thankfully, I love it VERY dearly, and it will be with me until Hell freezes over. I parted with it once, albeit briefly. Now it is back here, it's going NOWHERE. A stunning guitar, and a credit to its talented maker. After my discussions with Patrick, I was surprised (and very happy) to receive a very posh letter through the mail, sent Airmail and sealed with a proper melted-wax seal ... all very posh. Inside was a very pleasant letter from our boy Patrick, along with a selection of his (expensive but VERY nice) handmade plectrums and all manner of snazzy marketing material. A nice touch, and a nice guy. Awesome.
