didnt see anything like this on a previous post and i thought maybe you all would like to get a good look at this guitar. The creator and luthier recently passed away..so sad, he was a true visionary. Rolf Spuler of Switzerland. This is the Paradis Avalon guitar. This one is made or pear tree. Only 100 or so of these were ever made. The headless version is the original “early” design. Each saddle is a separate pickup for that individual string, so there are 6 pickups. The guitar has an umbilical cable that plugs into the PloySubBass rack mount unit. This device does several things. It routes each individual string’s output to its own separate output jack, and it prioritizes the LOWEST note being played at the time to a poly sub bass processor, which drops that note by two full octaves. The PSB unit also delivers a stereo output, a mono output, an additional tuner output, but thats not all…. there is also a GK 13 pin outlet, which – in this case – drives an Axon AX100 guitar midi converter, because since all the strings are separate, you can have strings playing on the lowest strings, and a flute or piano on the high strings via a JV2080 or similar synth module. Really cool. The guitar itself is a work of art, yet absolutely functional and very sophisticated. The pointed head is actually 2 LOW frets for the low E string. There is a small thumb actuated button which acts as a ‘spike’ or ‘capo’ for the low E, which effectively makes it an instant Drop D tuning mechanism, the difference being your chord fingering doesnt have to change!
Very cool!
That low E extension is actually an idea adapted from bass viol – there’s an extension device made for bass viols that does the same thing with (IIRC) keys similar to those found on a sax or clarinet to stop the string for the low notes. Been awhile since I saw one though….
Source: Paradis Avalon nylon string polyphonic electric – Gearslutz Pro Audio Community