What is a 1/4 stepper guitar, Ronni? Is it like a guitar with lots of strings or fre ts?

The ¼ Stepper was a Hamburguitar built in the late 80's for Ronni by American guitar luthier, Bernie Hamburger. On a normal guitar, every fret is a ½ step, while every two frets amounts to one whole step. The ¼ Stepper simply subdivides the guitar neck into quarter steps, i.e. every fret equals a ¼ step; every two frets equals ½ step; every three frets equals ¾ step; and, finally, every four frets equals your normal whole step. Only six strings, but twice as many frets in the first octave (I think it reverts back to normal fretting somewhere between twelfth and fifteenth fret; Ronni would have to answer that).

From what Bernie says (he has built two of my guitars), the guitar is very difficult to play. He relates that Ronni played it upon delivery, then put it in its case, saying that it's a "lead guitar." It is, understandably, very hard to play chords on because of the unusual finger stretches involved...even for simple triads.

ESP Japan has also made a ¼ Stepper proto-type for Ronni, which a friend spotted while visiting in Norway back in 2001. Still, Ronni stated in a fairly recent interview that it is difficult to play, but that he hopes to eventually get a company to manufacture them because someone out there will show the ingenuity to make the instrument really come alive. I think avant-garde, fusion, jazz, experimental, and Middle Eastern is the school of thought you probably want to tackle the guitar from.

Microtonal music is very odd to the western ear. To hear some very interesting microtonal music, listen to John Catler, probably the West's leading expert on the subject. I recommend his "Evolution For Electric Guitar & Orchestra." Very odd, indeed. Also, he has an idea for a specific microtonal guitar that is much more practical than the ¼ Stepper, namely his 12-Tone Invader. It allows you to play your standard scales and chords (without the crazy stretches), but adds the most "pleasant" tones from the Just Intonation Harmonic Series. You can hit the "true 3rd," which is the common micro-bend blues guitarists go for all the time, as well as a "true" major chord, tons of interesting extension chords, and your usual crazy chromatics. I know I want one badly! Someday...someday...

Check him out at microtones.com. Pretty cool site. Sweet guitars.

...someday...soon...

If you go to http://www.ronniletekro.com/forum-view-topic-t41.html and scroll down to Bogens post. The gutar he is holding is a 1/4 stepper. Not easy to see it on this small picture, but then you have seen it.

Bebop,

You are a wealth of information!!

Really good to have you in the forums.

You are a guitar Yoda!!




Looking forward to you doing some vids

Neil

Hey, thanks, Shredder. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the video, and I will greatly appreciate your feedback; I will let you be the judge.

It's my first day since last Wednesday without a fever! It's about 1 a.m. and we just got back from Scofield, Martin, Medeski, and Wood live at the Calvin Theater in hip Northampton, MA. John Scofield completely rocked; a guitar wizard worthy of any company. That guy's got chops. Very awesome evening.

I talked with Bernie for a while about the possibility of making a new proto-type quarter-stepper with a neck scaled down for more convenient fingerings (at least for diads, triads, extensions). I even did the math and worked out a shorter scale neck. Bernie was very adamant that the guitar doesn't sound that incredibly pleasant and that I'd be disappointed in the end. He kept asking me to reconsider because of the expense and just how much use it would get (Bernie's a GREAT guy who loves each and every guitar he makes like it was one of his children; and they're meant to be played).

Either way, John Catler came out with the 12-Tone Invader, and I've been eyeing those ever since. That chased away the quarter-stepper revision idea. Someday...(I own Ronni's guitar from the first TNT album, featured in "Harley Davidson" video; anyone have a 12-Tone Invader they'd be willing to trade? ) I'm a huge fan of avant-garde, experimental, fusion, and Middle Eastern (the Tea Party, Plant/Page, Shakti, Prassana, Najma, Shawn Lane, Budapest West, Violet Samudra, etc.), so I think I could make good use of microtones. New colors to paint with! Combined with rock...hmmm...

Of course, I also want an electric sitar. (There are so many toys out there to be had...)

Cheers

That was me asking that question! Tee hee!