New stuff. No sucking. Click to enlarge
First of all…
…Many apologies for a very long absence. The timing of the absence made things apparently worse. I pretty much went silent after posting that a typhoon was on its way. Very stupid and thoughtless of me. I was in touch with most of the posters here anyway so most knew I was fine. I suppose I wasn’t really taking the threat seriously but I should have at least dropped a sentence. I expected to be posting right away but some unforeseens were seen…Anyway to my friends and readers, please forgive me.
I have been busy as all things Hell are going well. The accessories are really taking off. Right now selling on ebay, some on the Hell website and some private sales. I’m working hard to get new products and new designs finished as soon as I can. The photo above shows some new designs that are being made at the factory now. Should have them in a couple of weeks.
The guitars and accessories are part of my master plan to develop guitars/guitar products that don’t suck. I have mentioned here and there of my general dissatisfaction with the overall poor design of especially guitar hardware. My belief is that most of what is out there is repetitive, poorly conceived and badly executed. There are a few exceptions of course but I feel that there is real dearth of intelligently designed, esthetically accomplished pieces. So we aim first not to suck while shooting for some “things” special. So far the response has been good and getting better every day. Fun stuff…
I am very glad, that you are back )And new stuff is great! Again, I have thoughts like “Wow! So sad that i don’t have a LP or SG to apply this nice things” By the way, do you plan to make gold finish series of accessorise?
welcome back…
Thanks, Nick and old nod. Glad to know you’re still here. I’ll try not to be a stranger!
Nick, regarding the accessories, yes I do have plans for both gold/black (real 24kt gold leaf) and brass/black. Hopefully coming up in a couple of months.
Loving the poker chip and dart board. Serious competition for your existing lineup.
If it’s designed well, people will want it. If it’s all designed well, people will want it all.
Thank you for making my choice more difficult. That means you’re doing your job.
Thanks Dave! We have a long holiday here this week and I’m hoping to finally test my new milling machine. With this I’ll be able to make prototypes and also some unique, one-off art pieces. I wonder if anyone would pay $150 – $200 for a handpainted, 24kt gold and/or silver-leafed truss rod cover?
People will pay big bucks for hand painted and leafed custom truss rod covers, in the name of “exclusivity” including their band’s name of their own name, if the quality is stratospheric (ha!) and the cover really “pops.” I would shoot for well less than $100 for the “average” ones, to get on the “stocking stuffer” lists towards the end of the year in the U.S. “I love you” from the wife or husband or lover is always a favorite.
As many guitarists are really liberal and “greener-than-thou,” they’d probably go for some dang pandas, polar bears and seal representations as well. Maybe one with that famous bible passage “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son…” ID in gold and silver leaf for the “worship” market turned off by the name Hell, but maybe they could be persuaded with that move. I think one made from carefully selected amber, w/ or w/o captured beastie inside, could be very interesting. Ooh: maybe a longer part of an insect, like a centipede or scorpion; a lotus or cherry tree leaf blossom shows elegant environmentalism. Want rappers/hip-hoppers/hipper Yakuza?s Show them the gold-filled “$” or other currency symbols or “the” notorious leaf outline. With phone texting symbols, the possibilities are really diverse. Somebody’s gotta want “LOL” and “Meh”…especially if those are their initials.
Hi Terry!
Well really my only criteria when it comes to making new products is primarily that I feel like creating it. So far I haven’t given too much thought (admittedly a little thought though) to what will sell. So far things have gone quite well. As for high-end pieces, I’m sure that even if I charges a couple of hundred it will probably not be worth my time in designing, painting, leafing and hand finishing a piece. I would like to create a few special pieces if I can though just to see how far I can take the art. I really love trying to take something that has been around for a long time and try to re-imagine it. It is always very satisfying when someone else makes a connection with it too. We’ll see what comes of it!
I love the name Pup-Caps, but what do you call these? Washers? Switch-chips?
Also, more importantly, where/when can we order these?
Hi Dave! The ToggleSwitchWasherRings (or whatever they’re really called) can currently be found on ebay here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/hellguitars/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3692 . As usual I’m well behind getting them in my own web shop but for now, they’re selling briskly up on the bay. There’s a bunch more on the way as well. We’re also developing our own guitar picks and some more truly unique guitarshit!