It’s no surprise we here at Graph Tech love a good collaboration, so this week we’re featuring Frank Scheucher from Zerberus-Guitars. Keep reading to learn about Frank’s custom guitars and his favourite Graph Tech gear.
It’s no surprise we here at Graph Tech love a good collaboration, so this week we’re featuring Frank Scheucher from Zerberus-Guitars. Keep reading to learn about Frank’s custom guitars and his favourite Graph Tech gear.
My name is Frank Scheucher and I live in a beautiful region of Germany called “Rhineland-Palatinate”.
When I was 14 years old, I built my first electric guitar.
In 2002, I founded Zerberus-Guitars and fulfilled one of my biggest childhood dreams. I wanted to build guitars that satisfied the demands of the modern guitarist, while providing high performance and aesthetically pleasing, musical instruments.
And, I succeeded. With designs that were fresh and original yet highly functional, my instruments stand out from the crowd. Resonant wood combined with the finest hardware and specialized circuitry offer a broad spectrum of tonal possibilities. Delivering the perfect synthesis of modern design, reliable hardware, and state-of-the-art electronics, Zerberus-Guitars always sets the bar high, adamant that every one of its hand-crafted, limited edition instruments is manufactured to the highest quality standards.
But even then, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more sound. More sustain. More uniqueness. More art.
In 2007, I started developing electric guitars with fronts and backs made of real stone. Then, in January, 2016, I launched my newest gorgonized guitar series featuring the “Chronos” model at the NAMM show in Anaheim. I built the world’s first electric guitar with a front made of genuine gemstones, such as Amethyst, Tiger’s Eye, Onyx, and Aventurine.
Zerberus-Guitars gorgonized guitars are much more than just instruments. Every tiny detail or element of design possesses my unique style. They are hand-crafted, exclusive works of art that don’t compromise on sound quality. Each one of the gorgonized guitars is absolutely unique and second to none. Thanks to the stone detailing on each top, every guitar is as unique as a fingerprint.
Throughout my years of guitar building, I have frequently used hardware made by Graph Tech Guitar Labs.
For example, here are Graph Tech’s Ghost® saddles on a Dragon guitar for a client in Alaska:
The Ghost® saddles, pictured again, on an Evil Morpheus:
I’ve also used Graph Tech’s Black TUSQ saddles on several of my custom guitars.
I’ve always liked the hardware I got from Graph Tech, but the moment I was truly hooked was when they introduced their Locking Ratio® Tuned Machine Heads to me at the Anaheim NAMM show. They gave me a set to try, and since then I have used Graph Tech Ratio® Tuners on all my custom guitars.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to use several different types of tuners created by many big labels and brands, so I’m familiar with the industry’s quality standards. I’ve used tuners that felt like there was sand inside the gear, or tuners that felt like the gear was almost elliptical.
A Chronos with a genuine turquoise top and Locking Ratio® Tuned Machine Heads installed.
Graph Tech’s Ratio® Tuners are precise, predictable, and very fast. Even at first touch, I could sense these tuning machine heads had a high precision gear inside. Initially, I thought the Ratio® Tuners were an answer to a question no one had asked -- but after installing the first set of Ratios® on my own gorgonized guitars, I realized I was wrong.
Each gear has its own specific ratio based on the core diameter of the string. This makes tuning the guitar feel more natural and intuitive. For a guitar player, who has to tune his/her guitars very frequently, this is revolutionary.
A Chronos with a real Amethyst gemstone top and Ratio® Locking Tuners installed.
A Chronos with a genuine Petrified wood top and Ratio® Locking Tuners installed.
My goal as a guitar builder is to improve quality, design, and sound. Using Graph Tech’s Ratio® Tuners helps me take my guitars to the next level. That’s why you will find them on almost all of my customer guitars.