Mission

Guitars

Tonewoods

Construction

Components

Mission   "We love Guitars"

It isn't very grand but this simple statement is at the heart of what we do at Steen Workshops, and why we do it. Previously only involved in specialist repairs, renovations and builds it is now the ambition of Steen to extend the joys of this beautiful instrument to as many people as possible, from beginner to professional, providing quality that makes playing such an addictive pleasure. We do not make Gibsons or Fenders, but by combining the large scale modern and efficient manufacturing techniques available in Korea with our own ideas and design objectives we hope to provide everyone, regardless of financial means or ability, with the chance of owning and playing something just as good. When people play the guitar they want it to look good, not cripple their fingers, and to sing out with the same power and tone as their favourite rock heros. At Steen we are trying to help them achieve this, and though it's a project thats been a long time in development, as our range increases more poeple will have the opportunity of owning the kind of instrument that keeps them wanting more, and perhaps inspire them to love the guitar as we do.

 

 

 

 

 

Guitars

We are very much at the early stages of production at the moment and we have plans to supply a large range of both classic and unique designs at all price points. However, just to start the ball rolling we currently offer just two designs, echoing possibly two of the greatest, and certainly most successful designs of all time. One is the SLP-04 Gem, which reproduces the essential features of a Les Paul, and the other is the SS-04 Star which offers a variation on the Fat Strat. Check out the specs below and you will see how, with our use of tonewoods and quality construction techniques, we have not only reproduced the best design features of the originals, but have produced guitars that will manage excellent performance for a lifetime. These guitars are not cheap copies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonewoods

Given the nature of electric guitars often a disproportionate amount of attention is given to the electronics and their effect on the guitars sound and not enough attention is paid to the wood. Although the pickup/amp combination exerts possibly the greatest single influence on sound, it is worth remembering that they are only there to amplify the natural sound of the guitar, ie the sound generated by the particular combination of wood and strings. The type of wood used in electric guitar construction is therefore a very important consideration when trying to achieve a particular sound, as is the use of solid wood rather than laminated.

At Steen we are very conscious of this and as a result have made the choice of tonewood a key part of our designs. We always clearly state the type of wood used in every guitar description, so that the buyer knows what character the guitar sound is likely to have. Although there are many factors that affect the final sound we believe this is a most important starting point, so listed below are the all the tonewoods we use in our designs, together with their attendant sound characteristics. These descriptions are of course highly generalised and there is likely to be some variation even between different cuts of the same wood, but essentially the determining factors of a woods sound are its hardness and grain structure:

Mahogany/Nato - Medium Hard, Straight Grained.

I have seen Nato described as industrial or utility grade Mahogany, and in terms of furniture making it is certainly not of good enough quality or appearance. It is nevertheless a very usable type of Mahogany with virtually identical sonic qualities. It also has the attraction of being cheaper and much more readily available than furniture grade 'true' Mahogany, and is a much more eco friendly choice of construction material. Given that we at Steen are trying to offer top quality instruments at reasonable prices we often use Nato in our designs, especially where the grain is not on show.

Hard Maple - Hard to Medium Hard, Straight Grained and Wavy Grained

Harder than Mahogany with a more attractive variety of grain patterns, quilted and flame pattern maple is commonly used as a body cap to make the guitar more attractive as well as adding a brighter more punchy top end to the sound of a softer wood such as Mahogany.

Basswood - Soft, Straight Grained

Despite its unfortunate name Basswood makes an excellent tonewood for electric guitars. It is surprisingly light and has a well balanced tonal quality, ie well defined lows, mids & highs. We have also found it to have very good sustain characteristics which you wouldn't expect of such a light wood.

Ash/Swamp Ash - Very Hard and Elastic, Coarse Open Grain

Because of its hardness and elasticity, Ash produces a bright dynamic sound. Swamp Ash is often preferred to normal Ash as it offers the same hardness and dynamic response but is much lighter. Ash or Swamp Ash is often used by Fender for the Stratocaster, though they also use Alder which is a softer wood.

Alder - Soft, Attractive Grain

Softer than Ash, Alder has a warmer, mellower tone, it is common on Fender designs. Alderis also an attractive wood with a reddish colour and can look good on guitars that are left 'natural'.

Rosewood - Hard and Expensive

Rosewood is a hard wood often used on fret boards because of its durability and attractive dark colour. It adds a slightly darker, mellower sound to a guitar than a Maple fretboard.

 

 

Construction

If we are to hear the best of the wood we have chosen for the construction of a particular guitar it is essential that it is constructed well. We have already mentioned that it is the job of the electronics to amplify the sound created by the combination of wood and strings, and a good construction will ensure that the string vibrations are fully and accurately transferred through the wood and pickups. Neck joints, whether fixed or bolt on, have to be well fitted and solid, using accurately machined joints. Bridge assemblies need to be firmly fixed to the body. Nuts and tuners likewise need to be of good quality materials and firmly fixed to the guitar. At Steen we use excellent quality components and construction styles already utilised in much more expensive guitars. However we have also made some changes to traditional designs both in the interests of costs and general improvement:

Two Piece Neck Construction.

On many neck designs, (usually a fixed type based on the Gibson model), the headstock tilts back at an angle to the rest of the fret board, making the point just behind the nut a weak point very prone to breakage. The reason for this is that the wood grain which follows the line of the neck may only be an inch long where the headstock bends away from the line of the neck, as shown in the diagram below where the grain is shown in red:

 

 

 

At Steen Guitars we use a two piece construction technique for guitars that have the Gibson style angled headstock. Fender style necks do not have this angle and so are constructed out of a single piece of timber, usually hard maple.

Maple Tops on Les Paul Style Guitars

Here we could have saved a lot of money by using either maple veneers or 'photo' tops, however we feel this would compromise the typical Les Paul sound so we have used proper carved maple tops such are used with considerably more expensive makes. The picture below was taken of the inside of one of the pickup cavities during an alteration to fit different pickups and it clearly indicates where the maple top (pale colour) joins the mahogany (darker colour) of the main body. At this point the maple is just under 1cm thick. We believe that Steen Guitars are the only brand that can offer this quality of materials and construction within this price bracket, and it demonstrates our commitment to provide quality instruments.

 

 

 

Components

All Steen guitars use quality components throughout their construction, all manufactured in Korea based on proven traditional designs. Steen guitars not only look good but should give many many years of excellent service. Most models come with a selection of alternative pickups at different price points from the likes of Lace or Seamoor Duncan, that allow the end user to tailor the sound of his or her guitar according to their own 

tastes, though this does not denigrate the excellent stock Korean pickups in anyway.