Like any builder of instruments, as time goes on, we want to enhance the design of instruments, while still keeping the features that have made our instruments popular.
As some will recall, at the end of last year our shop was all taken apart so that we could install machinery for greater production and greater precision.
We’ve been producing our new instruments on this enhanced machinery since February, and now all Mobius Megatar instruments are made in this new way, which delivers more value than ever before.
Here are the new enhancements:
NECK-THROUGH DESIGN
Our older bolt-on design was emulating Leo Fender’s breakthrough, because bolt-on design generally provides more instrument for less money.
However, with our new machinery — which wasn’t available to Leo Fender — we can now create the enhanced sound that neck-through design delivers, and at the same pricing as for bolt-on.
On a bolt-on instrument, any imperfection in the join of the bolt-on neck creates some loss of conductivity of the vibration in the wood, the sound changes. The frequencies most lost by reason of bolt-on construction are the lowest ones.
Therefore when you change to neck-through design what your ears hear is a smoother and slightly deeper or more mellow sound naturally coming from the instrument, as it is now delivering all of the natural lowest frequencies.
COMPUTER-PRECISE FRETS
We now own and operate our own computer controlled (CNC) machinery, which cuts fretslots with precision down to about 0.002″. A human with a saw just can’t match it, no matter how careful he is. More precise fretslots gives more precise fret placement.
More precise fret placement means the best intonation for your music.
DARK ABALONE FRET-DOTS FOR TRUETAPPERS
We have upgraded the dark plastic fret-dots, and we now install abalone fret-dots, on all of the maple light-wood TrueTapper models (Eclipse, Dragon, and Storm).
NEW FINISH
In the past, our finish was so-so. It did a good job of preventing water-vapor exchange, which is the number one job for a guitar finish. But it was not as clear and beautiful as we’d like.
So we’ve been experimenting, and now provide finish which is very clear and lets the grain of the wood show through. [Rosewood or Wenge fretboards on dark-wood instruments are still oil-finished, of course.]
SUMMARY
So — Computer cutting for precision, and hand-finishing for beauty. New abalone dot-markers and enhanced finish. Neck-through design at the same price as bolt-on.
Our website pix are not yet updated, but as of today on our EBay Megatar Store, you can see a Storm and a MaxTapper. So you can see the abalone dot-markers, the new finish, and detail photos of the neck-through design.
(Of course these particular listings could easily vanish soon, as these particular instruments can be purchased at any minute on EBay. But we’ll have more up on EBay, as production permits.)
EDIT: Oops! The Storm on EBay sold while I was entering this post. So I’ll put the two item numbers here, so you can see them for some time after they’re sold. (I *think* this will work.) –
TrueTapper Storm with new abalone dots, enhanced finish, computer fretslots, and neck-through construction is EBay EBay Item #290131836371
MaxTapper Dual with enhanced finish, computer fretslots, and neck-through construction is EBay EBay Item #290135409253.
