Combat Mega Bass

Check out the Combat Guitars official YouTube Channel to see the latest video upload.

We uploaded another vid of Hirose demoing a 5-string Combat Mega Bass.

I'll embed the vid here below as well, but be sure to also visit our YouTube Channel to see the other uploads we have there and, if you are a YouTuber yourself, feel free to hit the subscribe button!

The Combat Mega Bass is one of Combat's original line of models, though still fully customizable. We have made them with many different body and neck material variations. Some of the most popular top laminates recently have been walnut, spalted maple, and rosewood.

In the video below, Hirose is playing a 5-string Mega Bass with Honduras mahogany body, and a walnut & padouk laminated top. The neck is 5-Piece maple/walnut, with maple/ebony fingerboard, and Haeussel Pickups.

Thanks for watching!

I hope we can get more video done soon, and get that YouTube channel flooded with loads more guitar and bass demos. Maybe some interviews? Let me know what you would want to see, and I'll make it happen!

Cheers.

- Combat Colin.

Happy New Year

Hey friends,

Here's another quick update!

We are now officially back in the office for the new year! Got a lot of Emails, etc, to catch up so just be a little more patient if I still haven't gotten back to you just yet! :D

I am just as bummed as many of you are about the new Estimate Form still not being up online, and I really apologize for that. I thought that would have been taken care of by now, so that will be the first thing I focus on getting done! I am on it! It's first on my priority list before Friday!

Thanks for your patience guys.

Well, again I just wanna say thanks to all of you for 2009. It was a rockin' year! We built a lot of bitchin' guitars, made a lot of new friends, and received so much great feedback and encouragement from so many of you. It was an amazing year.

I can't wait to see what 2010 is gonna bring!

We all look forward to making more great guitars and basses, and making more and more friends! Bear with us as we get through the returning-curve till the week's end, work out the little bugs, and then get right back in full swing for another great year!

Cheers guys!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you again,

- Combat Colin.

Happy Holidays

Hey friends,

What a year.

Can't believe how fast this year has flown by, and I really am taken back at how much cool stuff has happened as I reflect on this year coming to a close.

The amount of projects we undertook, and pulled off, and all those amazing guitars and basses we built that I hated to see go! It is truly amazing.

This little post will be my last of the year.

It is just a quick THANK-YOU to everyone who we have been in contact with this year, everyone who has showed interest in our company, everyone who chose Combat to build their custom guitar or bass, and everyone who has sent us encouraging messages through Email, MySpace, etc, with all the great comments and compliments.

Thanks guys. We truly, and sincerely, appreciate all of the tremendous support and encouragement we have been receiving by so many of you from all over the world.

I would also like to remind everyone that tomorrow marks the start of our holiday away from the office and work! We will be spending the next 2 weeks at home with family & friends, resting up from a year well done. Our holiday schedule is from Wednesday, December 23rd until Wednesday, January 6th. During this time we will, again, be out of the office and unable to respond to any Email messages, inquiries, etc.

We look forward to being back in the new year for a fresh start in 2010!

Until then guys, have a great holiday season, and a safe New Years.

Big cheers and thanks from Tokyo Japan, and all of us at Combat Guitars!

10 String / 31 Fret Guitar & Bass!

Hey friends,

Things around the Combat office have been so crazy, but I really wanted to make a point to get on here before the weekend to show off the two very unusual instruments we recently got asked to build for one particular customer.

It was quite exciting when I heard that we were going to build a, never before attempted, 10-String, 31-Fret guitar. But when I heard that the same customer also placed an order at the same time for 10-String, 31-Fret bass I was blown away!

More than thinking about how these things were gonna sound, I kept thinking about how that bass would look, and how one would actually be able to play it!!

Well, we turned our designs into a reality and the proof is below. Check out the pics of these crazy looking monsters! I have also included some of the main specs for each one.

First off, the GUITAR.

With both the guitar, and bass, the main set-up is definetly that HUGE neck-through.

The guitar's neck is seven piece Maple and Bubinga, 28" inch scale with 31 frets, held sturdy by two individual truss rods. Ebony fingerboard, with a maple accent, and Pearl inlays. The wings on both sides which make up the rest of the body are Ash, as well as an Ash laminated head top.

The top four strings are set-up on a mounted thin line bridge, while the bottom six strings run through a standard synchronized tremolo. You can find standard tuning on the guitar on the 7th string down to the 2nd, E/A/D/G/B/E. The top three strings are at C#, F#, and B, while the 1st string is at G. The unusual single pickup was provided by the customer as his own unique creation of a customized steel guitar pickup! One Vol control, and direct input jack.

Now, The BASS!

Again, neck-through construction- this time NINE piece Maple and Walnut, 34" inch scale with 31 frets, and two individual truss rods. Ebony fingerboard, with Maple accents with Abalone & Pearl inlays. The body is Ash, with a very nice BuckEye Maple laminated top, back and head.

The ten strings are set-up on two individual Gotoh 5-string bass bridges. You can find standard tuning on the bass from the 8th string down at E/A/D/G. The top two strings are at a F# and B, the bottom four strings are at a C, F, A, and D. Powered by 4 Villex pickups with an Aguilar pre-amp. The hand-made ebony controls are; 1Vol, 1Balancer, Treble, Mid and Bass.

Alright, it has been a long time in the making, but finally we finished making them, (I made sure to get pics this time!) and we got them up here on the Blog for a little show'n'tell.

Look forward to hearing the feedback and comments! So let me know what you think!

Cheers,

- Combat Colin.

New site and some CRAZY new guitars!!

Hey friends,

We ran into some unexpected technical server difficulties recently, as well as a few other assorted nuisances, and so we had to pull the plug on our new website and start from scratch.

Right now it is bare basic, but the layout is looking pretty damn slick, I think.

Go ahead over to the website now, check out what we have going on there so far (remember, it's all still in the making) and please feel free to let me know what you think!

Any comments, creative input, is appreciated.. but be nice!

http://www.combat-guitars.com/english/top.html

In other Combat News, word is spreading fast about the two new absolutely mind-blowing projects we recently got commissioned to build.

They are; a 10 String / 31 Fret guitar, complimented with a 10- String / 31 Fret bass.

The wood work is all done, paint & finish was completed at the start of the week, and now it is just a matter of getting these things assembled properly with their custom built bridges, pickups and so forth. These were truly unique projects, and a TON of fun to build. I can't believe how amazing they LOOK, and we are all looking forward to how they will SOUND.

I also can't help be curious as to how one will actually PLAY them!

Look forward to these ones friends.. they are truly AMAZING instruments that definitely push the envelope.

As with my last post, I will post a few pics of some recently built guitars to hold you off until the official unveiling of the 10 String monsters.

But in keeping with the "pair" theme, I thought I would share a pair of twin Combat G-Series guitars that were custom ordered for a local band's two guitarists.

G-Series with Custom Inlay

G-Series with Inverted Head

Don't forget to check out the new website, and let me know what you think! And look for updates coming on the blog very shortly about the two new 10-Stringer 31-Fretters!

Cheers,

-Combat Colin.

Playing a little catch-up!

Wow, It has been a while since I have been able to jump on the blog and type up a few things.

So much has been going on, so I am gonna try to remember some of the cool new happenings that I would like to share for the moment. Sorry if this post comes off a little sporadic, I am gonna bring things up to speed as they come to memory in no particular order!

First off, we will have a brand new official homepage up and running by the end of the month! The URL will remain the same, as http://www.combat-guitars.com, but the entire layout will be completely different. We have always done all that sort of stuff by ourselves in the past, but as things in the past few months have become so incredibly busy, we just have not had a spare moment to do all the small things we managed to be able to do before. (Including get on the blog and post something!) A good friend and associate of ours has recommended someone to us that keeps himself busy building websites for people, so let's see how this turns out! Though the new layout will be up and running in the next couple of weeks, it will be far from perfect (as if our current one is!). Since we now have someone on our side looking after the website for us, things will be regularly updated on there.

As the weeks and months progress from the official launch, we should have all ares of the website full of good stuff, including updated pictures and news, as well as photos/specs/and price lists for all the Combat lineup of Guitars and Basses!

Please keep an eye out on the site from time to time. In any case, I will be blogging about the big updates on there, and as always you can can catch up to the moment updates by simply following us on our Twitter.. if you are the Tweeting type.

http://twitter.com/combatguitars

Ok, next is some cool stuff regarding Ohta Katsu.

Coming up very soon Katsu will be hosting a Guitar Clinic, right here on site at the Combat Guitars office in Tokyo on October 24th, and again the next day at our smaller Sendai outlet location.

Fans of Katsu will surely not want to miss out on this extra special event and sit down with the man himself, to not only see his amazing virtuosic ability, but to have the opportunity to learn a few new tricks and licks. It's also a good way to get a glimpse of Katsu's Combat Signature ST put to the test and in action!




A while ago we had two Guitar Clinics hosted by Duel Jewel guitarist Shun, and these went down really successfully, so we are super stoked at what the Ohta Katsu Guitar Clinic will be like.

Though I never thought of it for either of Shun's Clinics, maybe if opportunity arises I will remember to get some photos of the Ohta Katsu Clinic, and maybe post a little blog report.


(*photos left/right: Ohta Katsu Signature Combat ST)

We have made so much cool stuff lately, it really has been one project after another, so it has been hard to get photos of everything! I keep thinking I will have a chance to get a photo of something and the next thing I know it is out the door already!

Really is a shame that I can't share every guitar that gets built but I do have some photos of some nice looking ST Warms and G-Series guitars we have made very recently, as well as some other cool custom stuff. I will have to dig into my pc here and see what new stuff I have and just throw a collage of stuff up on here on my next post.

So before this post gets too long, just check this brand-new bitchin' ST Warm!

Gotta love that super nice quilted maple hand carved top! All natural body binding, and hand-made ebony pick-up rings as well.

Alright!

It's good to be back on here.. man I could spend all day on here talking about stuff but I will hold off so I can unload a little more tomorrow, with some more pics!

I hope this pic of the custom ST Warm was a teaser enough to urge you back here soon to check out what else we have been up to at Combat.

See ya back here!

- Combat Colin.

Yet Another Holiday!

Hey friends,

Sorry I haven't been around much for the past while. I have been spending so much more time in the work shop, and much less time near a computer. We have made tons of new beautiful looking ST Warms, as well as some awesome looking custom stuff lately. There have been some pictures taken, and I will be sure to return to the Blog soon to update you on all the latest creations with pictures!

And BASSES! Where are the basses??! Man, I KNOW we are way overdue to show off some new bass stuff, so that will be coming as well.

Don't forget though, you can always check out our official MySpace page to see all sorts of custom Guitars AND Basses in the pics section!

http://www.myspace.com/combatguitars

Anyway, this is just quick note, as I am on my way out the door to embark on YET ANOTHER week long forced national holiday. I will be back in the office on Thursday and Friday, before taking the weekend off again, so during those two days I will be sure to update the blog with some cool pics, as well as answer emails, and get back to all who are waiting for their Estimates! Be patient till Thurs/Fri guys!

Alright, time to get my holiday on, yet AGAIN!

See ya Thursday!

- Combat Colin.

Creating Duplicates

Our long "Obon" holiday is now over, and we are back in the swing of things here at the office.

One of the things we get common requests for is "creating duplicates". This includes everything from exact replicas of various artist's signature models to the Les Paul that Jimmy Page used on a particular piece of footage.

Though we have made various "replicas" of other company's models in the past, things around our industry have changed quite significantly as of very recently.

A lot of the major companies in our industry have become increasingly noting of the amount of smaller companies out there making replicas of their models, and making a good living that way- while they themselves seem to be not selling as many guitars as they used to. This has everything to do from the possible price of certain instruments right down to a difference in quality. Whatever each individual company's reasons may be- the outcome is the same; they have made it clear that they will no longer stand aside and allow copies of their instruments to be made by other companies.

The only way around this is to pay a particular company, we'll call a "guarantee", to allow us to build a copy of one of their instruments. As a very small business, personally, we simply can in no way accomplish this.

Getting to the signature model issue; this is just not even up for argument. For obvious legal reasons, both on the part of the said manufacturer, as well as the artist in question, creating a copy of an artist's signature model is in no way possible, whatsoever.

Believe me, it has nothing to do with pride. It's not like we are just trying to force our own models on our customers. If we could get away with building anything we wanted, our orders for guitars would more than triple, and thus so would our income!

We are extremely flattered that we get so much positive feedback on the quality of our instruments, and as a business the last thing you want to do is turn a potential customer away; but the reality is that we really cannot build replicas of another company's instrument any longer.

We have always, from the inception of the company, prided ourselves on (as well as having the strict company policy as) being a CUSTOM ORDER MADE guitar and bass manufacturer. We love building instruments hand-made. We love being able to deliver exactly what our customers want. This is the most cherished core of Combat Guitars, and it will never change. We will always build each and every instrument custom order made. Though we can no longer create duplicates of another company's patented model, we can still take your ideas and turn them into something fantastic. Something original. Something of superior quality, and superior sound.

Combat also has a few original models that we are very proud of. The 4 most popular I have blogged about in the past, as well as posted galleries of on our MySpace page.

They are; the ST-Warm Series, the TL-Warm Series, the Type-G Series and the LT-Series.

Check out my blog post on them HERE.

CLICK HERE to see photo galleries of all of our original models as well as an array of custom guitars and basses we have built in the past.

I hope that helped to clear up the "creating duplicates" issue.

Thanks for your understanding!

-Combat Colin.

Out of the Office For "Obon"

Tomorrow begins yet another week long forced holiday here in Japan.

Last time was in May, when we celebrated the week long string of individual holidays collectively called "Golden Week".

This time it is for the "Obon Festivals."

The calender isn't marked at all by Obon, yet everyone seems to understand when it is. Not sure why we need to take so much time off work, but alas I am defeated by the iron grips of tradition.

Thus, we will be out of the office from August 12th until the 17th.

If you remember my extremely cynical blog post back in May about "Golden Week" and it's individual holidays, and subsequent reasons for the holiday's, I did give a brief description about what it's all about. I find the reasons for Obon to be much more respectable.

Obon stems from India, and the Buddhist beliefs of the Ullambana Sutra. The Japanese people believe that during the period of Obon that the Spirit's of their ancestors return home. So naturally, during this time all Japanese families re-unite together to celebrate the communion of the family. To reflect on their departed loved ones and express thankfulness for how the remaining impact of what they have done for us still effects our lives, and to honor them with remembrance.

I can definitely see value in a tradition like this, and so will check my usual cynicism at the reasons behind some national holidays at the door.

Though I do support a tradition like Obon, and respect it entirely, believe me when I say that I am always the last guy who wants to take time off work. Again, really sorry but, because of Obon we will be out of the office until Monday August 17th. So, let me apologize that you will have to wait for any responses regarding anything until after then.

Instead of stressing about your guitar, in the spirit of Obon- take a few days to do some nice things for your mom instead.

See ya Monday!

- Combat Colin.