Tim Robson's entrepreneurial streak sent him on a musical quest to engineer an acoustic guitar composed entirely of steel. However, coaxing a six-string sound from such heavy metal had been a hard sell, he tells Wanaka reporter Matt Haggart.
Wanaka engineer Tim Robson, who has made four experimental guitars fashioned almost entirely from steel and other metal materials, would certainly like to know.
Mr Robson decided to have a crack at making a steel guitar as a gift for a friend and, after completing the prototype, found he was drawn back again to try and perfect his design.
You could say Mr Robson's inspiration for creating a steel guitar was a curious mixture of entrepreneurial vision, artistic drive, and Kiwi ingenuity backed by a ''can-do'' ethos.
''For me, I love anything unique and rare, and that is what I wanted to try and do first and foremost.
''But, you know, people pay big money for guitars. They look good and often you can see them in all types of magazines, propped up in the corner of a house or on a wall.''
He kept a diary to record the 100 hours which he took to make his prototype design at the Albert Town workshop of his employer Templeton & Sons
Engineering.
His later guitars have been made from his back-yard shed.
While recreating the acoustic sound of a traditional guitar was important with his prototype, Mr Robson said he changed tack when developing subsequent instruments to include more aesthetic features.
He also decided against using a guitar neck made completely of steel, after talking to a luthier (guitar repairer) about the inherent difficulty in recreating the flexibility required in the fretboard and tuning key head.
''The first luthier I met, he told me I wouldn't be able to do it (make a steel acoustic). I was in the middle of the first one, so to hear that was pretty disappointing.
''Apparently there is a natural 'error in the neck' of every guitar, which makes the guitar work.
''I'm basically just an engineer, so I figured even if I made it and for decorative purposes, it would still be something.''
Mr Robson says he does not know of anyone else who is either trying, or has tried, to make an acoustic model entirely from steel.
He researched the internet and while there are steel body guitars, such as the type Mark Knopfler helped make famous by featuring it on the cover of hit Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms, they use a model which includes resonating ''sound-holes', rather than a traditional acoustic body, Mr Robson said.
His guitars are all hand-shaped and cut from steel.
Different models were made from copper and zinc, while he has soldered the body joins and the interior bracing.
For his prototype, he made a steel neck from a length of pipe which was crushed and then reshaped to ''get it as straight as I could''.
''Individually they've all felt really good. I've had guitarists and musos try them out to tell me what they think.
''They've always commented on how they've got a unique echo-ey sound, but they need to be louder.
''They're never going to sound like a wooden guitar, though,'' Mr Robson said.
The guitars have a faraway kind of sound which is dominated by treble tones and give an overall echo-type effect.
The sound is quieter and lacks a typical bass punch and resonance of a traditional acoustic.
They are also significantly heavier - as would be expected - than the usual
wooden guitar, particularly Mr Robson's prototype which weighs in at more than 4kg.
Using wooden necks, which he now buys in, means the guitars are a lot lighter and also cuts back on the time involved with each model.
Soldering steel frets to a steel neck made an already time-consuming process so much more complicated, he said.
He has sold one of his guitars to a collector at a Dunedin auction, while another of the models was being considered by a buyer, when the Otago Daily Times visited.
Two years ago, Mr Robson entered one of his guitars in the annual Wanaka Easter Art Exhibition, where it won first prize for best sculpture.
He had a price of $3000 on that instrument but it did not sell.
He wished he could price the guitars higher - he received about $1800 after auction fees for his most recent sale - to better compensate for the amount of time that goes into the instrument's construction.
''They're more a labour of love than any investment, but they are hand-made.
I guess I look at them like they're pieces of art, in a way. It's not unusual for people to drop up to $10,000 on some art,'' he said.
He estimates the cost of materials for each instrument at $600, although, on occasion he has been given sheets of copper and zinc to put towards his projects.
The sheer amount of time polishing and adding personalised touches to the instruments - he has computer generated signage for his ''Robson Magnetic'' models and a four-leaf clover ''for good luck'' on every instrument - also add up, Mr Robson says.
''People never really get to appreciate the true beauty of working with steel, because all too often it is hidden away in things.
''Making a guitar from scratch has definitely been a process of trial and error, because I never even knew what I was getting into. I didn't even know what kind of sound to expect from them.''
The first time he adds strings to his finished guitars to play the instruments is ''a very special moment'', Mr Robson says.
''It's a great feeling. One of apprehension and expectation. But, then it usually then leads on to another whole process of fine-tuning that sound.''
