What is my Double Guitar Made From?--- by Matthew T. Mruzek MD

The double guitar started it's life as a six string Lotus brand Stratocaster copy and an Ibanez Gio 5 string bass.

I acquired the blue six string version of the Lotus guitar about 3 years ago from an ad on Craigslist for 35 dollars. It had no strings on it, and was missing a volume knob that had broken off. When I strung the guitar up, I realized that it played extremely fast with low action, and no fret buzzing. The neck radius on this guitar is almost completely flat!

The pickups are extremely bright with tons of treble. I read that most people online don't like these pickups. I do notice they are prone to microphonic feedback when I am running them through an effects chain with lots of distortion. However, this guitar is my favorite when I am running it through a tube amp cranked up all the way with tons of reverb and no distortion. I recorded a batch of songs with this guitar that have yet to be put out. I chose this guitar for my double guitar because it was the cheapest guitar I had around, so I didn't feel as bad drilling holes into it.

I'll give you a closer look at how these guitars are connected! They are joined together with two handles from an old Peavey 2x15 bass cab that I had blown the speakers out of. I use the actual cab as a good keyboard stand in my basement these days.

I purchased the Ibanez Gio bass from a Music-go-Round store used for 129 dollars. I was drawn to this bass because it had fresh strings with really low action on it. I was in need of a bass at the time because the bass I had been using was stolen at an Ill Itches gig at PJ's Lager house. That bass wasn't mine, but belonged to another band member. So don't feel sorry for me!

So, long story short, I put the guitar together about two years ago, started playing with Pete the drummer a couple months later. Then we had a really good bass player for a while, so I took the guitar apart. Pete and I stopped playing for a while, the bassist disappeared, then Pete and I tried to get him to re-join with no luck. Then Pete and I invited several people from Craigslist to play with us, but there was always a cancellation at the last minute.

Out of frustration, Pete suggested that I bring the double guitar back to life. I wasn't too optimistic about it, but I was willing to try. The double guitar is a beast of an instrument. I estimate that it weighs about 20 pounds. The guitar is very hard to reach. It is a grueling instrument that can fill me with dread when I force myself to play it! I think I am getting used to it. The only thing worse than playing a double guitar is playing with no bass player!

--- Matthew T. Mruzek MD