Aluminum and Hybrid guitars: Pros, Cons, Whys.. History All-aluminum and hybrid wood-aluminum guitar construction has been around since the inception of the electric guitar. In fact, the first commercially viable guitar was all aluminum. The Electro Hawaiian Guitar Company (Rickenbacker) produced an all-aluminum body lap steel guitar The Frying Pan in ~1931. Rickenbacker history Walter …
Uses miniature headstock
Works with standard wall mounts and head-stock stands
Cool with clip on tuners
Keeps good hand feel at nut
Works with any standard strings (single ball end)
String locked down over a large area, so string breakage reduced compared to using set screw’s
Fast! re-stringing
Strings don’t need a pre-bend with a tool
Uses standard nuts
String to string variations in string height at the nut are possible
So intonation correcting nuts are possible
Made from 6061T6 hard anodized aluminum
Not zinc pot metal
Tuners at the other end (same as a locked down Floyd Rose)
For better overall balance
Pic hand tuning
Largest number of options available with a popular aftermarket neck;
21, 22, 24 frets, 22 standard
Most diverse back contours, woods, etc. available
Compound 10-16” radius standard
Most scale lengths available
Threaded inserts installed for bolts
Just say no to wood screws…poor hold and reuse
Better neck/body connection
Ergonomic sculpted body, a mix of retro and future looks
Aluminum, carbon fiber, and wood; very travel friendly and encourages play
Al-body combined with the wood-neck stay in tune better w/ changing temp
Deep neck heel pocket
Shaped carbon fiber pickguard, flush with body
Aluminum allows
Highly contoured back heel for easy reach-around for high notes
Built in bridge hardware
Small size from high stiffness
Different tonewoods /structural shapes change what gets back to the strings