After 7 years of development, and the approval of four patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Byrd ™ Super Avianti ® Balance Compensated Wing ® Guitars are now in production in the USA and available to the general public.
Designed by the hard rock guitar virtuoso and recording artist James Byrd, the unique guitars are being produced in Byrd’s home state of Washington.
Said Byrd, "I have been working on this project since 1997. It began with a quest to have what I considered to be the ultimate performance based personal instrument. It just kind of continued to evolve after I built the first prototype. It was very good, and just I kept making it better. When I had built 14 prototype guitars, each one better than the previous, and I had performed with them for hundreds of hours, I finally couldn’t find anything left to change, and I decided it was perfect. The unique shape I came up with was not a matter of just being stylish, but of using some common sense about how a guitar fits the player, how it balances, and questioning and addressing every detail of the shapes to fit the body and the hands to allow maximum access to the fret board . It’s original, but at the same time, it stays true to guitar tradition. I don’t believe in guitars made of plastic or other gimmicks. I think the guitar has already been invented in terms of what it’s supposed to be. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved. I think it’s also a very attractive instrument that lives up to the adage "Form follows function". People tell me it looks like something established, but at the same time, they say that they’ve never actually seen anything like it. "A new classic" is what more than one person has told me. I’ve been playing them on my albums for about 6 years now, and they just kill."
The Super Avianti ® guitar is being produced as an entirely USA made custom instrument; Body fabrication, Necks, pick-guards, electronics and wiring, finishing, and final assembly, are all being made and done in the Seattle area. The instrument has some very original features heretofore unseen in other commercially available guitars; It features a unique precision machined Acrylite ® pick-guard assembly which is precisely inset into the face of the instrument like an inlay. Rather than a square "block" with a metal plate, the neck heel is fully sculpted to fit the players inner palm, and blended into the neck which is attached with 5 recessed bolts. The unique patented Equapul ™ headstock features a straight pull reversed 2+4 tuner array for optimal string tension balance and tuning stability. The instrument also features 7 way pickup switching for the 3 DiMarzio ® hum-canceling single coil pickups. The guitar bodies are made from highly select light weight swamp ash for the two-piece bodies which feature an off-set glue seam for maximum tone. The grain angle of the wood is uniquely angled to gain maximum grain length to increase bass response. Exotically figured maple is used for the necks. Despite the expensive woods and advanced features, and the additional expense they cost the company to offer, the designer Super Avianti ® is actually priced competitively with many 'off the rack' assembly line instruments.
Said Byrd, "All of my personal exclusive features down to the last unique screw, are incorporated into the guitars. I could have had the basic design made off shore for less than a quarter of the cost, and was in fact offered it by a major factory owner. I concluded that it would have compromised the instrument’s design, construction, and materials. I ended up saying "No thanks" because for me, this instrument was always about not compromising anything from the beginning. There just wasn’t any sense to having my efforts at creating something markedly better, changed to suit their existing way of doing things. The philosophy behind this guitar is like a Ferrari:
Un-compromised performance and build quality. I needed to remain directly involved in the production of my design and be the final word on quality control. Every guitar ordered is made for a highly personalized fit to the specific customer through many neck shape, fret, and fingerboard options. If you took the neck off one of these guitars, you would see where I signed my initials in pencil under the nitrocellulose lacquer finish. That’s far more than just another "signature" guitar made on behalf of a musician, by a corporation; I am the designer, the developer, and I am the company. I believe we’re using the best possible combination of intelligent design, high technology precision fabrication, and the luthier’s tradition. It’s not a guitar for everyone, but it was never supposed to be. I don’t think that approach works. This is a guitar that has a very definite personality to it. That is how it should be in my opinion. If you think a Les Paul is the ultimate guitar, this is probably not for you. But if you like the sound of a great vintage Fender ®, but always wanted total upper fingerboard access, and a fuller but still sparkling tone, you might just fall in love with this guitar. I know I did. It’s far and away the best solid body guitar I’ve ever played."
About Byrd Musical Instrument Company:
CEO and founder of Byrd Musical Instrument Company, guitarist James Byrd, is a 21 year veteran of the recording industry, and he has appeared in hundreds of magazines and interviews over the decades. He was chosen for feature by Guitar Magazine as one of the "Ten Best" lesser known guitar virtuosos in the industry. Byrd gained additional prominence when Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen endorsed him as "One of the most exciting, European sounding, guitarists I’ve heard in years". BMIC manufacturing is located in Tacoma Washington, and Lynnwood Washington, and manufactures the exclusive patented Byrd ™ Super Avianti ® Balance Compensated Wing ® line of guitars for discriminating guitarists. The business offices are located in Kirkland Washington. Visit our Web site at http://www.byrdguitars.com
