The World on a String
Electric guitarists have a tradition of experimentation with sound. Fuzz tones, phase shifters, and envelope followers have been a part of the guitarist's bag of tricks for some time now.
Ironically, MIDI guitar has been slow to catch on as a guitarist's sound-shaping tool. Quirky user interfaces, prohibitively costly instruments, and, above all, tracking problems have impeded the success of the guitar controller. That is all about to change.
Roland has long been an innovator and supporter of MIDI guitar and guitar synthesis. The Roland exhibit at the 2001 Winter NAMM convention included an entire wall covered with a variety of manufacturers' guitars — all MIDI capable (see “What's New,” p. 20).
Thankfully, manufacturers of MIDI guitar systems seem to have fallen in step with Roland's choice of the 13-pin cable. This is no small accomplishment; nonstandard, bulky multipin cables are gone, and the 13-pin cable is compatible with all current MIDI converters (see Fig. 1). Some guitars even offer a built-in converter with direct MIDI output. MIDI guitar is now officially part of the mainstream.
DEFINE CONTROLIt's a good idea to make a distinction between guitar synthesizers and MIDI guitar controllers. Guitar synths have been around longer than controllers have; typically, a guitar synthesizer shapes sound directly from the pickup's output or converts pitches to voltages that trigger an analog synthesizer. The Roland VG-88 is an excellent example of a guitar synthesizer, although Roland avoids describing it as such. When you play a string, the signal from the pickup is filtered to produce the purest tone possible. The signal is then physically modeled to replicate your choice of sounds, be it a vintage Les Paul, a 12-string acoustic guitar, or a brass section. However, the VG-88 cannot record your performance to a MIDI sequencer.
MIDI guitar controller systems, on the other hand, convert the string's pitch to MIDI note data and send the data to a connected device. This is not a subtle distinction: it is crucial to understanding how to make string-based controllers — whether they are guitars, violins, harps, or banjos — work for you.
SOME OF ITS PARTSThe majority of string-driven MIDI controllers consist of component systems. Some units, such as the Parker MIDIFly, offer direct MIDI output via a 5-pin MIDI jack. Pitch-to-MIDI conversion is built in to these guitars. Others have a built-in piezoelectric bridge-and-preamp system with a 13-pin output that is suitable for connecting to a guitar-to-MIDI converter. Still other systems require you to mount a hexaphonic, or divided, pickup on the instrument to gain access to MIDI converters using the standard 13-pin cable. With a divided pickup, each string has its own isolated pickup. Each type of MIDI guitar controller has its pros and cons.
The most flexible string-based controller system is a divided pickup carefully mounted near the bridge of your chosen instrument and used with a MIDI converter. This setup lets you blend your synth sounds with those of your favorite guitar. Divided pickups are available from Roland, Blue Chip, and Yamaha. All come with the same 13-pin jack, and all offer a single programmable knob and two assignable switches. The downside of this system is that it requires you to drill holes in your instrument in order to permanently mount the divided pickup; owners of vintage gear may be reluctant to do this.
Instruments with built-in 13-pin connectors rely on piezoelectric saddles and a preamp. The volume knob and switches are cleanly built in to the bodies of these instruments, so all you need to do is connect the 13-pin output to your favorite MIDI converter. Instruments with piezoelectric systems are typically more accurate in their tracking capabilities. Because the string is sitting directly on the pickup, you don't need to adjust the pickup's distance from the string.
Instruments with direct MIDI output are certainly convenient; all you have to do is connect your controller to your synthesizer using a MIDI cable. These systems are less cumbersome and easier to set up and transport than component systems, and they provide an easy entrance into the realm of MIDI controllers. However, direct-to-MIDI systems tend to have an overly simplified MIDI implementation, thereby limiting expressive MIDI control. When buying a guitar controller with 13-pin or direct MIDI output, make sure you're happy with the instrument's playability as well as its sound as a guitar.
GETTING CONVERTEDThe technology behind converting a string impulse into MIDI has steadily improved throughout the years, and two methods predominate. First, when you pluck, bow, or tap a string, the beginning parts of the produced waveform consist of the noise and attack transients created by the excited string. Some converters (such as Roland's) filter out the noise component and require a cycle or two of string vibration to convert the string's pitch into reliable MIDI data. This method creates a bit of a delay between the time the string is plucked and the time a Note On message is sent. The lower the pitch of the string you play, the longer the delay is. Roland has developed a few tricks, such as a defeatable noise filter, to improve tracking speed and accuracy, resulting in an improved performance of its recent line of MIDI controllers.
Other MIDI-string converters, such as the Blue Chip Axon, use a conversion method, similar to radar, that extracts the necessary information from the onset of the string impulse and minimizes conversion delays. These systems measure the time it takes for a string's attack to propagate the initial vibrations both to and from the bridge; they do not need to wait for the string to achieve stability, nor do they need to read the steady state of the vibration. As a result, units employing this early-detection technology provide the fastest tracking available.
MIDI BRAINSA number of companies market converters that translate stringed-instrument gestures into MIDI data. The converters described below accept analog signals from instruments with divided pickups and 13-pin cables.
Blue ChipBlue Chip offers two versions of the Axon MIDI converter: the AX100 ($1,195) and the AX100SB ($1,395). The only difference between the two is the latter's onboard XG sound card. Both units offer the same robust MIDI implementation. The AX100 (see Fig. 2) arguably tracks faster than other converters because it extracts a Note number at the onset of the string's waveform rather than relying on pitch-to-MIDI conversion.
The ability to trigger blinding flurries of notes is not the sole benefit of fast tracking. Accurate tracking is important for chord strums and fingerpicking because it keeps the lower notes in their proper place in time. Faster tracking lets you feel as though you are playing the synthesizer rather than simply triggering notes. With the AX100, Pitch Bend is extremely smooth — assuming your synth's implementation of Pitch Bend is smooth as well.
The AX100 is also adept at tracking bass. However, tracking time is slower than it would be with a guitar due to the slower propagation of the attack transients on strings with greater mass. When I tried playing a bass with the AX100 attached, the delay between pluck and Note On seemed no longer than that of an older MIDI guitar system — not ideal but still very playable.
Axon converters have settings for violin and cello in addition to bass and guitar, but I did not have the opportunity to test these. They also have a ¼-inch, unbalanced jack for microphone input and a front-panel gain knob for a monophonic pitch-to-MIDI converter that works surprisingly well.
Controller capabilities are plentiful on the AX100. The unit provides two freely assignable foot-switch jacks and two inputs for expression pedals. The AX100 can send Control Change messages and modulate values based on the pick's position between bridge and neck. To do this, the unit performs a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the initial attack. The variations in overtone content are converted into digitized values, which you can assign to controllers. You could, for example, assign continuous controllers to open and close a filter or to modulate Pan position depending on where you are picking in relation to the bridge.
Modulating continuous controllers by pick position takes some getting used to. Messages will jump to a discrete value with each Note On rather than sweep through values as they would if you were using a Modulation wheel or key pressure. Fortunately, you can scale values by limiting high and low ranges. Aftertouch messages are not implemented, but the AX100 supports any Control Change message.
The AX100's capabilities allow you to assign different sound programs to individual strings. For example, you could play a bass patch with the lower strings and a piano or pad with the higher strings. A Fret-Split feature lets you assign different sounds to ranges of a single string. You can set up zones in which pick position will call up a different patch, and you can even combine splits, zones, and pick control.
Use the Global menu to set pickup sensitivity and Pitch Bend range, send System Exclusive dumps, and more. Setup changes are automatically stored in nonvolatile RAM, and you can store settings for four different instruments.
Other performance-oriented features include the ability to sustain and then play over sounds with another patch. You can also program a second synthesizer voice to layer a sound or call up the layer when the Hold pedal is activated. The AX100 also has a built-in programmable arpeggiator and a sequencer that's useful as a sketch pad. The arpeggiator and sequencer allow you to solo over background patterns.
The AX100SB includes a 16-part multitimbral XG-compatible sound card with a solid, if unspectacular, set of sampled waveforms. Presets combine your choice of sounds in conjunction with controller settings, and you can store your edits in any of the first 128 slots.
Transposition of MIDI output and settings for finger-picking techniques (which require turning off the unit's early-detection capabilities) are embedded in the Preset menu for each patch. I prefer to reach these parameters using either a dedicated button or the global menu. However, you can store your favorite settings in presets and switch them with Program Change messages.
YamahaThe Yamaha G50 ($749.95) offers fewer bells and whistles than the other converters. Unlike the Axon and the Roland GR-33, the G50 has no built-in synthesizer. However, it tracks quickly and accurately and offers a host of real-time control capabilities, thanks to pitch-detection technology licensed from Axon. The unit has a switch on the rear panel for bass, and Yamaha offers the G1D divided pickup ($199) for guitar and the B1D ($249) for bass.
The menu is laid out logically, and tailoring the G50 to your playing style is easy. The unit provides the same position-sensing MIDI control of the Axon and adds a Touch Control feature, which allows the plucked string's envelope to be assigned to send MIDI continuous controller messages. The G50 provides System Exclusive messages embedded in ROM for certain Yamaha synthesizers, including XG-compatible synths, the Vl1, and the VL70M. The System Exclusive setup deploys Control Change messages to enable expressive use of the physical modeling capabilities, including touch control of breath noise, or pick position control of embouchure or tonguing. Although playing monophonic synthesizers with a guitar requires some getting used to, it's a lot of fun.
You get a ¼-inch jack for the hold pedal but no input for an expression pedal. Although the pick-sensing capabilities can be assigned to any CC, you get smoother real-time control with Yamaha's MFC10 MIDI Foot Controller ($349.95), which adds a built-in assignable foot pedal and includes inputs for four more pedals.
RolandRoland's GR-33 ($695) benefits greatly from its lush, expressive onboard sound set and imaginative use of expressive controller assignments. The GR-33 is a floor unit with a built-in expression pedal for controlling volume, timbre, balance between synth sounds, portamento time, arpeggiator tempo, and other parameters. The pedal can also send Control Change messages for controlling external synthesizers.
A number of the presets are a delight to play. For example, you'll find a variety of different sounds with tasty drum or hand-percussion loops assigned to the low string. Hit the Hold pedal, and you can solo or play pads over your groove. The GR-33 also includes a variety of techno and guitar patches with funky arpeggiator patterns, and wah-wah pedal control over the filters.
The internal synth offers 48 voices and six independent channels. However, the unit is not multitimbral in the conventional sense; you can only use a single MIDI channel with the GR-33 set to Poly mode, and six MIDI channels in Mono mode. The GR-33 allocates two tones (Roland-speak for a synthesizer voice) per channel. In Mono Mode, you can sequence realistic guitar parts, and the unit's synth receives Pitch Bend on separate channels. The unit will not play back polyphonic parts from a sequencer on each channel.
You can adjust the GR-33 to suit various dynamics and playing styles, including finger-picking and tapping. The built-in synthesizer has fast, reliable, and stable tracking, but it is somewhat slower when addressing external synthesizers in your MIDI system.
Zeta Music SystemsMIDI violin controllers have been around nearly as long as their guitar counterparts, largely due to the efforts of Zeta Music Systems. The Synthony II ($2,495) MIDI converter is a collaborative effort between Blue Chip and Zeta. The unit combines the hardware and user interface (but not the transient-extraction capabilities) of the Axon AX100 with Zeta's algorithms for analog-to-digital conversion of bowed string instruments. Settings are tailored to your instrument of choice: violin, viola, cello, or bass. Additional settings accommodate one of Zeta's pickup systems.
The Synthony II features the same XG sound set as the AX100SB. However, because the unit does not have the Axon's fret-switching or pick-sensing capabilities, the presets are different. Nonetheless, the two rear-panel expression pedal inputs offer real-time control of sounds using MIDI Control Change messages. The unit also features a programmable arpeggiator and drum sequencer.
READY FOR MIDINow I'll turn to stringed instruments that can be used with MIDI converters. Some of these instruments have onboard MIDI converters and a MIDI Out jack that can be connected directly to a sound module, signal processor, or sequencer. Others have a 13-pin output that requires you to use one of the MIDI converters listed previously.
Brian Moore GuitarsBrian Moore Guitars has an extensive collection of controllers. These include MIDI-ready guitars with 13-pin outputs, full-blown MIDI guitars with built-in MIDI converters, two solid-body electric basses with MIDI capabilities, and even a couple of MIDI-ready electric mandolins. The iguitar 2.13 ($1,695) and iguitar 8.13 ($1,395) offer 13-pin output jacks for accessing the current MIDI converters or Roland's VG-88. MIDI In jacks let you update software and set up the guitar's MIDI channels and basic MIDI parameters, such as Pitch Bend Range.
The iguitars offer the standardized MIDI controls that appear on Roland divided pickups, including an assignable knob and two switches. The default knob control is MIDI Volume (CC 7), but you can program it to send Modulation Wheel or just about any other Control Change message. The switches are generally used to send Program Changes to connected synthesizers, but you can also use them to edit parameters in your MIDI converter. With 13-pin guitars, the switches are more context-sensitive, allowing you to set your MIDI converter's parameters, including transposition, Channel Mode messages, and even the built-in synth's voicing parameters.
The company also offers the P5 MIDI mandolin controller ($3,795). The mandolin has eight strings (see Fig. 3), though only one of each pair of strings outputs MIDI. This is an understandable design choice because MIDI guitar converters don't output more than six channels at once.
Jordan Electric ViolinsSome electric-violin makers remain faithful to the basic contours of acoustic violin; John Jordan has another idea (see Fig. 4). This company offers a unique design, the most striking aspects of which are the relocation of the tuners behind the instrument's bridge and the elimination of the violin's scroll.
You can order Jordan Electric Violins with a variety of preamp options, which come as breakout boxes or with the electronics and controls built in to the instrument body. Access to MIDI output is via a 13-pin jack.
Zeta Music SystemsIn addition to numerous MIDI violins, violas, and cellos, Zeta Music Systems sells several basses with MIDI capabilities. The Fusion Upright bass ($2,995) is a fretless solid-body that features the Zeta Strados pickup with a 13-pin output (see Fig. 5).
Parker GuitarsThe Parker Guitars MIDIFly ($3,611) features uncomplicated direct access to MIDI with its built-in MIDI converter. All you need to do is connect it to your synth with a MIDI cable, and you're ready to play (see Fig. 6). The guitar has both MIDI In and Out jacks. It doesn't have an internal synthesizer, but the MIDI In jack allows for System Exclusive software upgrades and setting control parameters. You can also use it as a MIDI merger for other MIDI devices, such as a breath controller or MIDI controller pedal. Any Channel Voice messages received will be passed through to the MIDI Out.
Onboard controls include a MIDI Volume control knob, a switch to toggle between single-channel Poly modes (with or without Pitch Bend) and Mono mode, and a three-way transposition switch (Octave down, Normal, and Octave up). The MIDIFly comes with software for Windows computers that allows you to set up sensitivity, Pitch Bend Range, Velocity curves, and other parameters.
Nechville Musical InstrumentsBluegrass banjo technique seems to lend itself to arpeggiatorlike synthesizer performance. Thus, the marriage of MIDI control to a banjo is a match made in heaven.
Tom Nechville is renowned for his innovative designs for both acoustic and electronic banjos. Imitating the banjo's rounded shape, the design of the Cosmos Meteor banjo controller ($3,250) is modern, with a single cutaway where the neck joins the body (see Fig. 7). The fifth string, which typically has a tuner at the fifth fret, travels through the neck to emerge at the headstock. The instrument evaluated for this article had a hollow body, a lipstick pickup, a one-piece figured-wood soundboard, and a specially designed banjo bridge. The bridge is mounted with piezoelectric pickups routed to the onboard preamp that feeds the 13-pin output. Just connect it to the MIDI converter of your choice and play.
The tracking speed of the Cosmos Meteor was excellent, but it occasionally sent out spurious notes when I tried it with the GR-33. However, after I spent more time adjusting the GR-33's pickup settings, I was able to eliminate the problem. The Cosmos Meteor does not have a banjo head, but other models offer a 6-inch banjo head to retain as much of the banjo's look, feel, and sound as possible. The modular design of Nechville's instruments allows his acoustic banjo pots (the head and rim assembly) to be replaced with a MIDI controller Module.
Stick EnterprisesThe Chapman Stick seems like another natural contender for MIDI control. The Stick comes in 10- and 12-string configurations and is played by tapping the string to the fingerboard. Instruments with 10- and 12-strings offer great possibilities for an orchestral approach to MIDI control; however, the Stick's string spacing is incompatible with stock divided pickups. Not only does the stick differ from standard guitars in the number of strings it has, but its bridge also is not arched like a guitar's.
Nonetheless, Stick Enterprises offers modified Roland GK-2A divided pickups that accommodate five or six strings ($330). You can MIDI-fy the bass or treble strings with a single pickup (see Fig. 8), or you can opt for two pickups and take advantage of the Stick's full range. Dual pickup systems will require two MIDI converters because of the 6-channel limitations of guitar-oriented MIDI converters.
ROLL YOUR OWNGuitars and violins are not the only instruments capable of adapting to MIDI control. With a bit of ingenuity, seemingly unlikely instruments are up to the task. In some cases, it's best to abandon some of the physical attributes of the instrument. For example, in order to create a MIDI banjo controller, I found it was necessary to work with a solid-body instrument; mounting a MIDI pickup on an instrument with an extremely resonant head would cause serious tracking problems.
Harpist Gary Garritan (profiled in the July 1995 issue) installed six custom preamps to account for his harp's 36 strings in the MIDI domain. Other instruments may require custom controllers because of atypical string arrangements and tunings (such as those found on banjos, mandolins, and pedal steel guitars). In some cases, string outputs may need to be wired to different converter inputs. The five-string banjo, with its high-pitched fifth string, is a case in point. The highest pitched string is adjacent to the lowest; this arrangement confounds a standard divided pickup because the high fifth string sits under the pickup that conventionally expects to see a guitar's low A string. The disparity in pitch can cause the MIDI converter to filter out the higher frequencies, and any notes played on this string could register as a low-Velocity glitch.
Nylon-string guitars do not work with a stock divided pickup. However, the Godin Guitars catalog has several nylon-string models with piezo saddles, preamps, and 13-pin jacks installed. Alternatively, you can install a custom piezoelectric saddle, which can pick up the nylon string's signal. The RMC Pickup Company offers the Acoustic Gold saddle set for nylon-string guitar ($250). For driving MIDI gear, you will also need a Poly-Drive II Preamp ($350; see Fig. 9). You will probably need a luthier to install the saddles; visit the RMC Web site for a list of authorized installers.
RMC's Richard McClish designs and supplies pickup and preamp systems for myriad stringed-instrument manufacturers, as well as individuals needing specialized adaptations for MIDI control. Those with a DIY bent will find a wealth of information from McClish at the RMC Web site.
STEELIN' MIDIThe slippery contrary motion of its string bends, its powerful sustain, and its unique voicings would seem to make the pedal steel guitar a natural choice for a MIDI controller. Even pedal steel giant Buddy Emmons has experimented with MIDI. The unfortunate truth is that pedal steel MIDI controllers enjoyed a brief blaze of glory in the late ’80s and have since all but vanished. Adapting pedal steel guitars to MIDI has a number of potential pitfalls.
Pedal steels usually have at least ten strings. Because guitar-to-MIDI converters furnish only six MIDI channels, a dual-pickup, dual-converter arrangement is necessary. Pedal steel guitar poses unique problems for pickup installation because the string saddle is part of a moving mechanism that bends strings; this means piezoelectric saddles are out of the question. In addition, the string spacing necessitates customized pickup placement.
Pedal steels have several different tuning and pedal systems, and the top two strings of the E9th (the traditional tuning system) has a flatted fifth and a ninth tuned below the pitch of the third string. This would require careful rewiring of the pickup outputs for proper tracking.
No MIDI converter system is commercially available for pedal steel. However, it is certainly possible to retool stock divided pickups (as Stick Enterprises does) to fit the pedal steel guitar's string spacing. The MIDI pedal steel players I spoke with use legacy systems, such as the Digitech/IVL Steelrider or a customized system with two Photon MIDI guitar converters. Unfortunately, neither of these systems is manufactured anymore. Ned Selfe reviewed the Digitech/IVL Steelrider in the September 1987 issue and still relies on this system today.
STRING CONTROLLERS 101A MIDI controller by itself is like a musician without an instrument; you can have all of the musical ideas in the world, but without your instrument, you can't reproduce a note of them. You not only need to know the controller but also need to understand the controllee.
The following are essential issues that you will need to come to terms with. Once you have learned a few basic tenets of MIDI control, your musical experience will be more rewarding.
A LA MODEMIDI Mode 4 is also known as Mono mode or Omni Off Mono. Regardless of title, understanding and using it properly is crucial to eliciting guitaristic behavior from your controller. Basically, MIDI Mode 4 is a setup for the synth on the receiving end of your MIDI guitar rig. With Omni Off Mono, the synthesizer is channel-selective, and the Mono part of the equation ensures that the device can only play one note per channel at a time.
Why is that important? You may take for granted that you can bend notes on strings independently. However, a MIDI Pitch Bend message affects all notes played on a single MIDI channel. With MIDI Mode 4, each string of your MIDI controller can play on a separate MIDI channel, so Pitch Bend for each string is also sent separately. Because your sound source receives this data on separate channels, each voice reproduces the bend independently, just the way a real guitar does.
Monophonic MIDI channels are important because guitars can only elicit a single note per string at a time. If your synth is playing a sound with a long release time, successive iterations of notes on the same string will run together, muddying your sound and stealing available voices from your synth. If each channel is monophonic, a new note will shut off the previous note, and your notes will remain only as long as you need them.
Another benefit of having an individual channel for each string is the ability to assign different sounds to each string. Finger pickers and chord-melody guitarists will delight in the ability to divide performances into multiple sounds. Conventional wisdom suggests bass and piano splits, but try playing brass parts with each member of the ensemble on a different string, or separating contrabass, cello, viola, and violin parts. One of my favorite tricks is playing a sampled groove with a low string, hitting the hold pedal to keep the loop going, and playing another instrument on top of it.
THE BENDSAs mentioned previously, guitarists are used to bending notes. They have developed the skills to stretch notes to just the right pitch and to release the bend with just the right timing. Furthermore, guitarists can bend multiple strings to different intervals.
Yet these skills don't come easy with MIDI gear. For one thing, you will need to match the synth's Pitch Bend range with your controller's; mismatched ranges can sound really ugly. Some MIDI controllers send Pitch Bend Range messages and automatically set up the receiving synth with the proper bend range, but some synthesizers require that you wade through menus to set them up properly.
SENSITIVITY TRAININGSetting pickup sensitivity and keeping your instrument in tune are crucial to proper tracking. Poorly calibrated systems create delays, glitches, dropped notes, and, worst of all, an embarrassing performance. All MIDI converter systems provide sensitivity calibration and tuning indicators. Take advantage of them!
It's been said before, but it bears repeating that you need to play to the sound. Remember that your synthesizer's envelope generator still rules, and blazing leads with a slow pad sound will get you nowhere. If you feel the need for speed, choose a synth patch with a fast attack or learn to program your own sounds. Often you will have to adjust the synth program's attack rate until the synth speaks the way you want it to. Sometimes dialing in a quicker release rate will also help. Remember that some synthesizers don't respond as quickly to incoming MIDI data as others, so you may need to look elsewhere for a better-quality tone generator.
While you're at it, take time to get familiar with your synth's basic MIDI architecture. Learn where your MIDI Channel and Mode settings are. The majority of self-contained MIDI controller and synthesis modules offer playback from external MIDI devices, such as sequencers. The ability to develop and edit musical ideas from a hardware or computer-driven sequencer is one of MIDI's coolest aspects. It certainly beats your controller's built-in four-bar sketch pad.
MY AXE AND YOUR PHASEDon't forget that MIDI encompasses control of signal processors too. Even if you are not using a synthesizer, you can enhance and animate your instrument's sound with some MIDI-controlled DSP.
Your processor's manual will show you how to set up real-time control of reverb, chorus rate, phase-shifter modulation depth, and more. For example, if you have an AX100, try modulating delay time or feedback with Control Change messages generated by pick position.
From its shaky start with the earliest MIDI guitar systems, MIDI has grown to be a completely viable tool for guitars, violins, mandolins, banjos, and other plucked, bowed, and tapped stringed instruments. Clearly, there is great potential in MIDI for instruments outside of the guitar and violin families. Now, hopefully, you have a few clues to joining in with your favorite instrument.
EM assistant editor MARTY CUTLER played pedal steel guitar with Hank Williams Jr. for a Sesame Street recording. Marty is now a lapsed steel player.
STRING CONTROLLER CONTACT INFOBlue Chip/Music Industries (distributor) tel. (800) 431-6699 or (516) 794-1888; e-mail mail@musicindustries.com; Web www.musicindustries.com
Brian Moore Guitars tel. (800) 795-7529; e-mail bmcguitars@aol.com; Web www.bmcguitars.com
Jordan Electric Violins tel. (925) 671-9246; e-mail jjordan@jordanmusic.com; Web www.jordanmusic.com
La Si Do, Inc./Godin Guitars tel. (514) 457-7977; e-mail sales@lasido.com; Web www.lasido.com or www.godinguitars.com
Parker Guitars tel. (978) 988-0102; e-mail
