Why Powers Electric is the most interesting new guitar brand on the planet
Ad feature with Taylor Guitars
A little over a year after a soft-launch in the US, Powers Electric is finally available in the UK, Europe and Canada – and that’s something that all fans of electric guitars should be interested in.
Why? Well, because it might just be the most unique and interesting new electric guitar brand to emerge in quite some time. Don’t believe us? Well, consider these five reasons why you should be heading to your nearest Powers Electric dealer and trying out an A-Type guitar as soon as possible…
Because one of the world’s most innovative acoustic minds has gone electric
Andy Powers has spent a decade revolutionising the acoustic guitar as the Master Guitar Designer at Taylor Guitars. In that time Powers has challenged the way we think about how acoustic guitars should be made. Now, despite being elevated to Taylor’s CEO & President, he’s turned some of his attention to solving a problem we never knew he even had – creating his perfect electric guitar.
“I wanted a sound and a feel I didn’t have,” Powers explains. “I wanted something that shared in the inspirations of past makers but was created for a more modern context. For me, it meant creating a fresh design from the ground up based on decades of work and study…. There are elements that already exist on other guitars for good reason — they suit those unique guitars. This guitar was meant to be a fresh creation, so at one level, there was an exercise of deliberately excluding the things you know already work in search of a fresh direction.”
Regardless of the name on the headstock, most of the electric guitars we play today are informed to a greater or lesser degree by designs that are 50 years old or more. For one of the most innovative minds in acoustic guitar to turn their attention to electrics, and approach the instrument with a truly different viewpoint, is a very exciting and intriguing concept, don’t you think?
They’re not built like most other electric guitars
The first Powers Electric instrument, the A-Type, demonstrates exactly why the above is so interesting for electric guitar fans. Unlike most semi- or fully hollowbody electric guitars, the A-Type doesn’t have f-holes or any outward indication that it’s got air inside – instead it uses a unique body shape that inspired by the lines of classic cars, hot rods, and surfboard design, rather than the Golden Era body styles that most guitars use as their start point.
As perhaps befits a designer who made his name with acoustic guitars, the A-Type is also internally different to most semis and hollowbodies – rather than a solid centre block or similar construction, the A-Type has a trussed hollowbody design. In practice this means that it has two internal soundposts fitted into a braced, solid-wood top. This allows the top and back to move in tandem to maximize resonance, suppress feedback and create a lyrical sustain.
This also makes the A-Type incredibly lightweight, while the contours and chamfers of the body design makes it comfortable and organic to play, regardless of your frame. It’s not just the body either – the guitar’s fretboard features a unique ‘split radius’ carve maximum playability and easier, choke-free string bending. In practice, it means that it’s slightly flatter on the treble side all the way from the first fret to the end of the fretboard – it’s a different approach to a standard compound radius, and you’ll only find it on the A-Type.
You won’t find its electronics and hardware anywhere else
Most modern electric guitars utilise common components, or styles of components – it’s a lot of work and a lot of hassle to create things like bridges, pickups, knobs and the like… especially when there are companies out there making high-quality, tried-and-tested staples of this type that people already know and love.
Powers Electric doesn’t do things like everyone else, however, and so as part of the development of the A-Type, Powers designed and engineered almost every part of the guitar in-house, and that means the A-Type is a totally different ride to almost any other electric guitar out there.
One of the most notable examples of this is the “CamTail” vibrato tailpiece – this differs from vibrato systems that you’ll see on other electric guitars, because it ensures that all the strings bend in pitch together.
““I love the tactile expression of a vibrato but have never liked the way the strings aren’t in sync as the pitch changes,” Powers explains, “I engineered a camshaft tailpiece with string ramps compensated for tension and gauge so the strings move in pitch relative to each other.”
That’s not all – the pickups used on the A-Type are also a completely new and unique Powers design, the Faraday. The Faraday pickups are a brand new single-coil design that blends modern magnetic structure with an old inspiration. Available as either ‘Full Faraday’ that offer a warmer sound, or ‘Partial Faraday’ for a firmer and brighter sound, the pickups allow the strings to vibrate more naturally and produce both fidelity and colourful warmth.
Sustainability is at the core of everything
Taylor Guitars has been a trailblazer in driving the acoustic guitar world towards a more sustainable future, and has pioneered the use of alternative and responsibly sourced timbers in acoustic guitar manufacture. As a result, it’s no surprise that Powers Electric brings this spirit to an electric guitar world that often ignores the sustainability issue.
Take the body wood for example – ash has been a popular and beloved electric guitar wood for many years, but is increasingly difficult to source, leading many brands to stop using it. Powers Electric guitars have their bodies made from Urban Ash. Otherwise known as Shamel or evergreen ash, the wood used to make the A-Type is made from city trees that need to be removed due to age, safety concerns and other factors.
And do you see those cool, colourful knobs on Powers Electric guitars? They’re made from the leftover resin from surfboard glassing – giving each one a unique and colourful pattern.
You really can make it your own
Powers Electric might be a new brand with just one model, but the level of customisation available even from the start is impressive – not only can you spec a guitar with either the Full or Partial Faraday pickups, and choose between a CamTail vibrato or Powers’ unique hardtail design, but the finish options are, genuinely, scarcely believable.
At time of writing, there are a whopping eighty four – 84! – different finishes to choose from on your A-Type – from quilted tops to solid colours and even metallics. There are 19 different shades of blue on offer, and even four different blacks – if you want a guitar that truly feels as unique and different as you are, Powers Electric has you covered. Just check out the Powers Electric Instagram if you want to see more.
Powers Electric and the A-Type is a breath of fresh air for an electric guitar world that can lean towards the conservative and traditional – while still paying homage to the design language that inspired some of the most iconic designs of the 1950s and 60s.
If you’ve had your interest piqued, you should find your nearest Powers Electric dealer, and give one of these remarkable guitars a try for yourself – it’s Andy Powers’ perfect guitar, it might be yours too.
For more information, visit powerselectricguitars.com
The post Why Powers Electric is the most interesting new guitar brand on the planet appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
