I am very happy to report I have finally found a new object of desire that embodies two big passions of mine: cars and musical instruments. Introducing the Alfa Romeo Harrison Custom Guitar Works!
Music, sweet music…
There are two types of music, the one we’re all accustomed to, on the radio, our music device collection and on our stereo; and then, there is music from a specific engine. In my case, I still particularly enjoy an Alfa Romeo engine sound, despite my covering electric vehicles (EV) and alternative energy. Music, colors and tastes are a personal thing, but hear an Alfa V6 rev up, a 4 cylinder scream, or the inimitable V8 growl, and you will partly understand the attraction to Alfa Romeo. It is a smaller Ferrari. So how about a musical instrument using an Alfa Romeo’s design and philosophy?
The Harrison Custom Guitars Works, hat tip Gizmag, a site that still occasionally surprises me with the wildest finds on the Internet, informs us of this Alfa Romeo commissioned guitar that is red hot, sexy, sleek and everything an Alfa should be, desirable. And desirable is the key word here, with only 11 made. According to the site: “Commissioned by Alfa Romeo, the Alfa Romeo guitar is hand crafted to the highest standards using select tonewoods, carbon composites and cnc milled high-grade aluminium billet. ‘The Alfa Romeo’ has been designed in-house throughout by Harrison Guitars to be evocative of Alfa Romeo’s automotive heritage. The three Strat voiced pick ups are housed within brushed aluminium elipses and are hand wound by renowned UK pick up maker Aaron Armstrong, we use the superb locking Tune-o-Matic bridge by Tone Pros and beautiful open machine heads from Hipshot. The Alfa badge sits on an engraved aluminium rotary volume control and the five way pick up selector switch sits on the same carbon composite as the back is made from. The guitar is finished in Alfa Giulietta red and numbered – only 11 will be made in this specification to mark each decade of Alfa’s history”
Alfa Romeo makes guitars
An Alfa Romeo guitar needs premium material, such as three milled aluminum Strat-voiced single coil pickups, hand-wound by Armstrong pickups in Kent, a maple-fronted poplar body finished in Alfa Red, of course. The pickups are selected via a 5-way switch on the upper side of the guitar’s volume control. And yes, the selector is the Alfa Romeo badge! But, what’s an Alfa Romeo without its signature grille bars? The Harrison Alfa sports an Alfa grille made of carbon fiber composite. It features a carbon-reinforced 25-inch scale neck in Korina topped by an Ebony fingerboard. An Alfa Romeo has to have a four-leaf clover and that’s what you’ll find on the third fret, along with a TUSQ (man-made ivory) nut, and Hipshot classic open gear tuners at the head. And such a distinctive, unique guitar will have a metal plaque on the back with the model’s production number and the Harrison’s signature.
Now, for the painful news
As in most fairy tales, there is a harsh landing. The Harrison Alfa Romeo guitar will set you back $6,800 (UK price £4,000), with an 8 month wait time.
The best part is that, you can plug it into that supped up Alfa Rome Marshall MiTo http://www.gizmag.com/marshall-amplifies-alfa-mito/32706/ showed us! Don’t laugh, many of us live in Alfa Romeo land, a virus for which, thankfully, no antidote has ever been found. No Alfa Romeo enthusiast should go without an Alfa Romeo Harrison Custom Guitar Works, period.
