I find it hard to believe … we actually did it! The translation of “Physics of the Electric Guitar with its just shy of 1300 pages is complete. The remaining Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 8, as well as the introduction and the prefaces have just been uploaded and are online. As the (main) translator, I have added some remarks in an additional litte preface. 

• Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 admittedly hold some quite serious fundamental hard-core elaborations on the basics of the string vibrations, and of magnetic interaction with the pickup. While to a large extent these chapters will be more of interest to the dyed-in-the-wool scholar, they do include also quite a few easily understandable insights about how and why the basic oscillator – the string – vibrates with such complexity and such a rich sound via the pickup. 
• Chapter 0 (including the prefaces, and a word from the – by now rather worn out – main translator) on the other hand, is for the predominant part light and highly entertaining reading. It will be important to realize that there is a ton of quite bad-ass satire included …
• Chapter 8 (the very last one that was translated) is – in its approach – a kind of mixture of the above two chapter groups. Since it deals more with musical and psychological aspects than with purely technical insights, it feels quite different from the rest of the book, as well. In combination with a lot of ironic remarks, this makes it fun to look through.  

I very much hope that many interested musicians, technicians and scientists can get something out of this now internationally much better accessible work of Manfred Zollner.

Now, on to other projects, some already running, some new. The recordings we did with Wolfgang Hönlein’s „Body-change-Guitar“ are waiting to be put in order and to be discussed. They will (very practically) shed some further light on the discussion how the wood of the body of a solid-body guitar influences the (electrical) tone. Manfred Zollner seems to be clandestinely working on an even deeper understanding of the pickups of the electric guitar – some interesting results can be expected there. Moreover, the organization of the annual meeting of GITEC needs attention – we hope that the Covid-19 pandemic will not flare up too much again, thwarting the meeting, after all.  

Thus: stay tuned for more GITEC-activities!

Have fun, play your guitar, and – most importantly – remain safe and healthy!!