vultura philosophy
White Falcon eat your heart out
First confession: I am a sucker for sparkles. Second confession: I love hot rods and rat rods. Third confession: I like my guitars big. I am a tall dude, normal guitars look like baby guitars on me. Vultura embodies this for me. The current trend in the market for hollow bodies is to make the tops more stiff. They make them thicker, or apply heavier bracing, or even glue a center block inside the sound box. The goal is of course to have a hollow body that can stand high gain and loud volume without starting to feedback. Basically it is trying to make a solid body out of it, while looking like a hollow body. I went the opposite direction. I’ve made my tops thin, like way back when. Like in the golden era of Gretsches. I make my tops 3mm thick. They are hot pressed laminated maple veneers. So are the sides. Advantage: a very responsive guitar with lots of nuances to the sound. Disadvantage: it will feedback with high gain. So what? Just use a solid body for that, ok? And also: no trestle braces. Only 2 parallel braces underneath the top. There’s something magical with these light built sound boxes. They resonate. The sound is alive, it’s 3D. You simply cannot get it with a solid body.
A few years ago I have bought several large sheets of sparkle material in 5 different colors. It’s about time to start using them. Sparkle bindings are totally cool. To me at least. I just can’t get enough of them. So Vultura is sparkle bound as far as I’m concerned. I have also bought a bunch of swirly and specked celluloid sheets, that make very nice inlays. I have always liked those full width inlays like on old Höfners. It gives Vultura a distinct retro look. Instead of traditional colors like tobacco burst, white or orange, I prefer to use muscle colors. By that I mean vintage metallic finishes that where used on the muscle cars of the 60’s. Hot rod colors. And for the brave I also offer rat look. Since there are only boring mainstream knobs available from dealers and wholesalers, I make my own. I make knobs and switch tips in a unique color that matches the guitar’s appearance. Finally, Vultura wasn’t complete without a hot rod Vultura logo on the pickguard. 
Interested in tech-talk? I use Schaller vintage step tuners, ABM roller bridge, Bigsby tremolo, Jescar fretwork, CTS pots and a Switchcraft 3 way toggle. The scale is 640mm. I have been using this scale for many years, it’s my favorite scale length. The guitar has a medium thickness neck, a round C shape, it plays like a dream. The nut is unbleached bone, and is pre-intonated. This guitar is very much in tune. As for pickups, there’s a lot possible here. Basically I decide per guitar what pickups to use, depending on the concept for that guitar. I like it when sound and looks match. But wait, before I get lost in technical details, there’s a bigger vision here. Vultura stands for all the coolness that I just described, but it also stands against the spoiled society we live in. It’s rebellious just like rock ’n roll once was. Let me explain.. 
Vultura is a labour intensive guitar. It’s completely handmade. One at a time. I could make 4 basses in the time it takes to build 1 Vultura. This is a special guitar, for those that love attention to detail. It’s a guitar for those that are looking for a very personal voice to their guitar sound. Just like your own voice is unique, and your playing style. It’s for those who appreciate the airy captivating sound of a light built hollow body. And of course, it is for those who have the money to spend, because it is not affordable for everyone. It is in the 7500 to 9000 euro range, depending on the goals and specs of each individual instrument. These days people are waking up from the consumerism that defines western society. All the throw away stuff, the plastic, stuff that is designed to last only so long (or short), the cheap labour stuff, the injustice stuff, the exploitation of the poor stuff. The western problem is so enormous, no single person can solve it. With Vultura I go against this tide of consumerism. Instead of a mass produced cheap no-identity guitar, this is a handmade unique guitar, full of personal identity. It is handmade by a craftsman that has honed his skills for over 25 years. It’s an honest guitar, that took vision, skill and experience to come to be. There is a lot of passion involved in making it. And a LOT of hours. It’s therefore something of real value, as opposed to a mass produced cheapy that is marketed into a high price range. 
This then is the total vision that Vultura stands for. First off, a big, sparkly, muscle color, light built hot rod guitar that plays and sounds awesome. Secondly, it is a statement of identity. It is my hope and expectation that as we recalibrate our western values, we find ourselves attracted to guitars like Vutura.
– Sander de Gier
