Neubauer Guitars Beelzebub

This guitar is finished in a unique style, that I have only seen at Neubauer Guitars yet - a transparent red on silver lacquer, with black, flame shaped, semitransparent "spots".

The body is basically mirrored in all four directions - long, pointy cutaways at neck and bottom. There's not too much wood left, so maple was chosen as the most dense type of wood available.

Bridge: Schaller Floyd Rose, 6 string

Banjo tuners (direct and quick)

Fat, round bolt-on neck for more comfortable playing, slightly arched ebony fretboard with Bubinga bindings. Custom engraved Pentagram Inlays, frets 20-24 scalloped. Jumbo Frets. Built in carbon fibre rods to ensure a stable neck for high tensions.

Accessories included: special flight case

This guitar has been made in early '96, in Vienna, Austria (Europe - NO kangaroos there!!)

24 frets

Solid Top

No controls at all. Direct line from pickup to jack - I don't like and I never use tone/volume controls as I always use foot controllers. One thing less to mess around with.

Passive Humbucker only - DiMarzio MegaDrive in the moment.

Body wood: Maple, neck quilted maple, ebony fretboard with Bubinga binding

This guitar has been designed for Metal. So it sounds just the way it should - the bolt-on neck ensures goo percussive characteristics, yet the guitar offers very good sustain, regarding how small the body actually is with all that material cut away. The A-String is somewhat characteristic, quite harsh sounding, but I like that. Mid frequencies are in the foreground, yet still I play with the bass almost completely turned down, as the basses it offers are nice, compact and strong enough to persist without EQ-help!

I use it with a Rivery Hammer 120 (TBR-3), a Hughes&Kettner Tubeman (since 96, too)that I'm going to customize with MIDI switching, and a T.C.electronics G-Force, plu 2 Laney Cabinets and 2 Marshall 1960 cabinets at the same time. That way I have more sound diversity and different characteristics - for rehearsal and recording.

This guitar is not noisy at all - I had big trouble in the beginning, but that was caused by other factors. Now I almost can turn off noise reduction without blaring feedbacks, even at higher levels.

The sound is, as said, bright and present, with full bottom. Not as full as my Les Paul, but way more precise, aggressive and defined.

The guitars sound in general has been tailored to match High Gain sounds. So, of course, it doesn't sound as sweet as a Les paul or Ibanez when switched to clean, but this guitar's sound will not be lost so easily among other instruments.

There are no dislikes. This is exactly what I wanted, and still the best of all my guitars (Les Paul, Kramer Vanguard, Ibanez EX). It is very easy to play and yet I have not found ANYTHING comparable. If so, I might have bitten my butt ;)

This guitar is 100% handmade. I could not find a single flaw. Not even after 10 years of quite heavy use. Everything was made according to my needs, that were MOST thoroughly discussed in several sessions before the making!

Really special: trhe headstock with custom handmade goat head. I saw the cow horn before and after - awsome job! Glued to an ebony plate with red mother of pearl eyes and a mink goatie (a little shred Andi Neubauer found among his curiosities).

This guitar did take a lot of bad handling during many live situations. I did handle it with care though, but some damage was unavoidable to the finish. Still it looks very good.

The hardware hasn't caused any problems ever. Just one of the string riders caught some rust underneath the chromium plating, I replaced it.

Strap buttons are perfectly solid.

I depend on it 100%. Strings break REALLY rarely. Maybe after a few months.

I used it through many years without backup. The devil never sleeps, though, so now I always play with 2 guitars. But I never had a single live problem in 11 years.

You break it - Neubauer can fix it. Though this guitar never broke, I brought other stuff for repairs. I gout special tip covers to prevent splintering in the pointed "Rear" cutaways - for free.

Warranty on the neck was 5 years.

The whole team is very helpful an nice, in a family house in the green - you always feel welcome, even if you're nagging because you CAN'T WAIT!!

I've been playing for more than 15 years now. I own a Gibson Les Paul standard, Ibanez EX 370 and a Kramer Vanguard.
If it were stolen, I could probably never again afford to get it replaced. But stealing this guitar would just be sheer stupidity - 100% unique, nowhere to hide ;)

It was made to match my needs, 100%, and every single point was fulfilled to my satisfaction. Several other Metalheads followed my example later.

I cannot compare this guitar to anything else. Maybe an ESP MK2 without the custom features...

Go for Neubauer if you seek value and service - and individualism!