Warr guitar
Encyclopedia
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
developed by the company's founder, Mark Warr.
Description
The Warr Guitar resembles a standard electric guitarElectric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, albeit with a very low action and more strings. It is designed for two-handed tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
techniques like a Chapman Stick
Chapman Stick
The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
, producing a similar sound to the Stick when played in this way. More traditional guitar or bass guitar techniques (like strumming, pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
, slap and pop or using a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
) can also be used. Because of the placement of the instrument's strapholders, the Warr Guitar may be played in a more upright, Stick-like position, or horizontally, like an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
.
Warr guitars have anywhere from seven to fifteen strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
. The strings may be arranged so that the lowest pitched string is nearest to the player, or in the center of the fingerboard
Fingerboard
The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...
, like on a Chapman Stick, and can be tuned to any custom tuning which the player desires for a wide range of tonal qualities. The fingerboard may be fretted, fretless, or a combination of the two. Custom-designed Bartolini magnetic, piezoelectric or a combination of both of these pickups are used. If piezo pickups are added, the instrument is compatible with onboard MIDI electronics, allowing direct triggering of Roland or Axon synths from the instrument. The neck is constructed of multiple, quartersawn laminates of varying thickness. Instruments built with ten or more strings have two embedded, dual-action truss rods and dual 1/4" outputs.
The Warr guitar is often equipped with a string dampener. This device is applied to the fretboard at the zero fret beneath the strings, allowing tapping techniques to be executed more cleanly on the instrument and eliminating overtones from the "backside" of the fretted strings. (When piezo pickups are installed in the bridge of the instrument, it is desirable to apply an extra damper pad beneath the second fret which only spans half the length of the fret. This extra pad keeps strings from "ringing" after released and being picked up by the sensitive piezo electronics.) One disadvantage of the damper pad is that it denies the use of open strings and makes the instrument less suitable for conventional guitar like playing methods.
Warr Guitar players
The Warr guitar is a relatively rare instrument; however, it can be (and has been) used in many genres, including jazz and metal.Colin Marston of Behold... the Arctopus
Behold... The Arctopus
Behold... The Arctopus is an experimental metal band from Brooklyn, New York, United States.-Biography:Behold... The Arctopus was formed by Colin Marston and Mike Lerner, who had been playing guitar together for over a year-and-a-half by the time they found a drummer. Their demo We Need a Drummer ...
uses the 'Metal' series Warr guitar. They are a technical progressive metal band that plays solely instrumentals.
Trey Gunn
Trey Gunn
Trey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...
plays Warr guitars on a number of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
albums and in his solo work.
Jared Melville (former synth player of Our Last Night
Our Last Night
Our Last Night is a Post-Hardcore band, formed in 2004 by five members, consisting ofTrevor Wentworth , Matthew Wentworth , Alex "Woody" Woodrow , Colin Perry , Tim Molloy , who were "fed up with merely jamming and playing cover songs".-Early years :After a few lineup changes, the group was...
fame) frequently brought his Warr guitar on stage and would play a number of various Winger tunes.
Markus Reuter
Markus Reuter
Markus Reuter is a German musician, composer and record producer, specialising in touch guitar playing and loop music. Recently he has expanded his activities by moving into instrument design.-Biography:...
plays a Warr Guitar in his work with Centrozoon
Centrozoon
centrozoon is a German electronic improvisational music group. The core members are Markus Reuter and Bernhard Wöstheinrich...
and Tuner (as well as on his solo recordings).
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
(of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
fame) plays a Warr Guitar on Tour while with Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures is a rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by John Paul Jones , Dave Grohl , and Josh Homme . The group also includes guitarist Alain Johannes during live performances...
.