Industry Musical instruments Divisions Full Contact Hardware Founded 2003 | Key people Jeff Babicz (CEO) Headquarters Poughkeepsie | |
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Founder Jeff Babicz and Jeff Carano Area served America, Europe and Asia Profiles | ||
Steven wilson of porcupine tree talks about babicz guitars
Babicz Guitars (pronounced BAB-bits) is a manufacturer of high-end acoustic guitars and electric guitars and a producer of licensable guitar technology. The Babicz Guitars offices are in Poughkeepsie, New York, ninety miles north of Manhattan, United States.
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Features
Babicz guitars is most known for its three patented technologies, the Continually Adjustable Neck (US patent # 7,157,634), Lateral Compression Soundboard, and the Torque Reducing Split Bridge (combined into one patent # 7,112,733). In addition to selling guitars, Babicz Guitars licenses these technologies to guitar manufacturers such as C. F. Martin & Company and Michael Kelly Guitars.
Continually Adjustable Neck
The Babicz Continually Adjustable Neck is used to adjust the action of the guitar from a low electric feel all the way to high slide, without changing the tuning or intonation of the guitar and can be done anytime without detuning. This is because unlike previous neck adjustments there is no tilting or pivoting. The neck slides in a pocket parallel to the slides of the guitar not altering scale length or string tension. This is done by inserting a 3/16" allen wrench into the trap plate on the back of the guitar and turning it in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.
Lateral Compression Soundboard
Unlike a standard 6-string guitars, Babicz anchors their strings fanned out along the edge of the soundboard near the side. The strings pass through the string retainer and over the saddle. By anchoring the strings in this fashion the overall tension of the strings is spread across the top and not concentrated in the center, which is the weakest part of the top. This allows Babicz to use a lighter form of bracing on the top other than the rigid X-brace which can impede the vibration of the top often dampening the sound of the guitar.
Torque Reducing Split Bridge
The feature allows the player to adjust the intonation of the guitar throughout its life. Loosening the fasteners on the bridge allows it slide back and forth to adjust the intonation when needed unlike standard guitars with glued bridges.
Models
Babicz has two guitar series: the Identity which is their high-end acoustic model and their Octane series hollow-body electric guitar. All guitars feature Babicz’s patented iCZ technology.
Identity Series
The Identity Series is constructed with solid Englemann spruce soundboard, solid Javanese rosewood or mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, gloss finish on back and sides, and a satin finish on the top and neck. Identity models have 20 frets, a 25.5” scale length, and a 1-11/16” nut. Body shapes include Jumbo cutaway and Dreadnought or Dread cutaway. The Babicz Spider is their all black, all mahogany guitar. The Acute and Small Jumbo FingerStyle models feature a wider neck with a 1-13/16” nut width, and a shorter 24.75” scale length along with a pointed Florentine cutaway.
Octane Series
Babicz’s hollow-body Octane 818 Series model is constructed using Solid mahogany back, sides and soundboard, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, and gloss back, sides and top with a satin finish on the neck. The Octane has three models: the Blue Flame, which has a flame maple top, the Black Top, and the Tobacco Sunburst model. The humbucker Octane comes with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates on the neck position and George Lynch Screamin’ Demon on the bridge position. The single coil Octane includes one Seymour Duncan Cool Rail pickup on the neck position and two Hot Rails for the middle and bridge positions. All Octane models offer a custom L.R. Baggs preamp option for acoustic piezo output, which includes a magnetic pickup/piezo blending knob.
Musicians who use Babicz guitars
Musicians who use Babicz guitars include:[1]