Holdsworth's Fatboy signature is back for a limited time

carlos

Starting at 2k USD - https://www.kieselguitars.com/series/guitar/allan-holdsworth-fatboy

I had one very briefly (the original Carvin) but prefer the headless version. A fantastic instrument, nonetheless.

Philly_Q

I think they're cool.  I was, briefly, mildly obsessed with them and considered buying one for a week or two, but it wore off.

carlos

Philly_Q said:

I think they're cool.  I was, briefly, mildly obsessed with them and considered buying one for a week or two, but it wore off.

It's an odd one. Fender scale with a TOM and double humbuckers.... and 24 big frets. I remember the Carvin ones also allowed Wilkinson 2-bridge trems. The tops on these reissues are gorgeous, though.

Everythingon10

Weird that it comes stock with 10-46 strings. Allan himself used 8s, according to the sources I've seen. There definitely are players who can do Holdsworth-esque legato with 10s but it's harder than it needs to be, and two gauges up from what the signature artist apparently preferred.

guitarmangler

Ooo. Typical, I’ve just moved house and have no money! 

I’ve owned a couple of fatboys and they were not as lively as the thinner H model. Very different feel. Definitely more arch top acoustic. Supposedly Holdsworth didn’t even like that model! 

Even though Holdsworth is famed for using 8’s, he did also use 9’s and 10’s for non headless guitars. The 8’s he were from la Bella and have higher string tension, so 8’s feel like 9’a (though I’ve never tried a set).

carlos

guitarmangler said:

Ooo. Typical, I’ve just moved house and have no money! 

I’ve owned a couple of fatboys and they were not as lively as the thinner H model. Very different feel. Definitely more arch top acoustic. Supposedly Holdsworth didn’t even like that model! 

Even though Holdsworth is famed for using 8’s, he did also use 9’s and 10’s for non headless guitars. The 8’s he were from la Bella and have higher string tension, so 8’s feel like 9’a (though I’ve never tried a set).

I think these were created for Alan's fans who were not so keen on headless guitars.

JayGee

I don’t think you need to be a Holdsworth fan to find those appealing. Also I’m pleasantly surprised by the pricing!

carlos

Everythingon10 said:

Weird that it comes stock with 10-46 strings. Allan himself used 8s, according to the sources I've seen. There definitely are players who can do Holdsworth-esque legato with 10s but it's harder than it needs to be, and two gauges up from what the signature artist apparently preferred.

It's a custom guitar, so you can give them a call when ordering and ask for different strings.

guitarmangler

carlos said:

guitarmangler said:

Ooo. Typical, I’ve just moved house and have no money! 

I’ve owned a couple of fatboys and they were not as lively as the thinner H model. Very different feel. Definitely more arch top acoustic. Supposedly Holdsworth didn’t even like that model! 

Even though Holdsworth is famed for using 8’s, he did also use 9’s and 10’s for non headless guitars. The 8’s he were from la Bella and have higher string tension, so 8’s feel like 9’a (though I’ve never tried a set).

I think these were created for Alan's fans who were not so keen on headless guitars.

They weren’t. It’s because he lived around the corner from the factory and they made he wanted at the time. There’s pictures (soemwhere) of a guitar that shape which isn’t a carvin (now Kiesel) in Holdsworth’s possession. I think that he also went the carvin route as bill Delap ( who made those wooden headless guitars you saw him with) couldn’t make guitars fast enough for him. The twin beam acoustic thing is Delap’s idea.

Pretty soon he quietly ditched the carvin’s  in favour of his steinbergers or Delaps again as he said he couldn’t make the change back to a non headless guitar.

It was Jeff Kiesel who got him back by making the headless holdsworth. Good business move, as they pretty much were the first in the resurgence of headless guitars.

I’ve got two carvin’s and two kiesels and they’re all excellent. A fatboy with those pickups does really tempt me.

Winny_Pooh

A non-trem "Holdsworth" guitar is silly.

Philly_Q

Winny_Pooh said:

A non-trem "Holdsworth" guitar is silly.

Yeah, what sort of fuckwit would play one of those?

Winny_Pooh

Philly_Q said:

Winny_Pooh said:

A non-trem "Holdsworth" guitar is silly.

Yeah, what sort of fuckwit would play one of those?

Poor argument

gordiji

7 mins of utter dullness, despite his talent there's very little by H that's appealing, including his insipid tone.

Gizmo

Winny_Pooh said:

A non-trem "Holdsworth" guitar is silly.

Yes and no...hear me out AH did use this trem a lot and it was large part of this very unique sound/style, however once other ppl started using his aprroch to the trem and cloning his technique he just stopped using it, there are a ton of vids on YT of him talking about dropping things from his playing that other ppl lached onto, just the way the man was

the 2nd reason these have TOM's is because the back and fronts "tops" are floating and they found that removing the extra wood for the trem cavitiy drastically reduced the stability of the guitar.....

Me Myself and i think this is just a JK cash grab because Ive read that allan really didn't like this sig model very much which is why he stopped using it, that doesn't stop them being sold for mega £'s online.

Now if you want to see a MAD AH/BD guitar check out this 38" Baritone (yes AH had MASSIVE hands!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9CAIBIvUAI  

carlos

gordiji said:

7 mins of utter dullness, despite his talent there's very little by H that's appealing, including his insipid tone.

What does your opinion on AH's playing have to do with the topic being discussed?

Philly_Q

gordiji said:

7 mins of utter dullness, despite his talent there's very little by H that's appealing, including his insipid tone.

FWIW, the original clip I tried to post was 40 minutes of the same gig, but it was one of those which say you can only watch it in YouTube itself.  He played the same guitar throughout.

digitalkettle

Philly_Q said:

gordiji said:

7 mins of utter dullness, despite his talent there's very little by H that's appealing, including his insipid tone.

FWIW, the original clip I tried to post was 40 minutes of the same gig, but it was one of those which say you can only watch it in YouTube itself.  He played the same guitar throughout.

I watched the whole thing last night...was awesome!

gordiji

carlos said:

gordiji said:

7 mins of utter dullness, despite his talent there's very little by H that's appealing, including his insipid tone.

What does your opinion on AH's playing have to do with the topic being discussed?

The same as your comment here.

sweepy

The man re-wrote progressive fusion guitar and became the touchstone of many great players

steveh

Not everyone's cup of tea - I took a mate to see him decades ago who said, "I'll be humming that one all the way home" after the gig - but so very, very unique, inspirational and musical.

I bought the original Ibanez AH10 back in the day and it changed my whole approach to guitars - one of the very first I played with a flat (17" radius), wide fretboard and huge frets (Dunlop 6100); that sort of spec was nowhere near as common back then as it is now. So comfortable.

One of the real astonishing things was the tone - which sounded exactly like Holdsworth (the tone, NOT the playing!): Warm and fat with very smooth sustain. No doubt a combination of the uniquely voiced pickup (I had the single pickup model; AH20 had two), the "swimming pool" route that he insisted on to get a "semi" sound, and the basswood body. Wish I'd kept it. 

carlos

Alex Sill who is a fantastic musician and was great at the Holdsworth tribute shows