Almost as if I just asked for it....

[FretDragon]

Solene on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=3726548250&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)

This appears to be the same Solene that was on eBay and never sold a few months back. Some of you said the pickups looked funky on this one. And I don't recognize whatever wood is on the side of the instrument (doesn't match Rich's website pictures).

Can anyone give me some info? The starting bid is awfully high - just a couple bills shy of a new instrument.

Thanks,
Jeff

[rjgoos]

Yeah, this Solene on eBay has two sets of pickups, and a selector switch, whereas the pictures on Rich's web site only shows instruments with one set of pickups.

There are some faithful Solene players on the board...maybe they can enlighten us.

I also have a question for the Solene-istas...what does this instrument use for bridge and nut pieces?

Thanks,

RJ Goos

[motormind]

I noticed it too. It actually looks like a fun instrument, but the scale is too short for my taste. I would be interested in a longer-scale bass-version of the Solene though... preferably with 8 strings.

[murphy]

Hey guys,

Look out, Goos is a moderator now!... good deal.

The Solene on Ebay is pretty much the standard unit nowadays. I'm not sure people are really aware of the cutaway since the pictures on the Solene site pre-date it. The wood you mention on the side view is actually inside the pipe. Imagine you've got a Solene strapped on. When you place your left hand on the instrument, your thumb is resting on a rounded piece of wood that is mounted underneath the fingerboard, inside the pipe. It has a large openning running along that side to let your thumb inside. The effect is that while your fingers are playing on the radically radiused surface, your thumb enjoys the feeling/geometry of a standard guitar neck. The older models didn't have this cutaway feature and your thumb would just rest on the back of the pipe. Rich still makes non-cutaways by request.

The pickups are the usual but there are two arrays of them and you have a strat-style pickup selector switch.

Jeff, if you're basically wondering if this is a weird old model or something, it's not. I believe this one is a couple of years old but features-wise it's more or less the latest/greatest. I agree he's doing himself no favors with that starting bid. Maybe if he gets no bid action, he might be receptive to an email offer.

Goos, both the nut pieces and the bridge saddle pieces are screws, actually. The slot on the screw head serves as a string guide and you just screw it in or out to adjust height.

Solene-geek signing off.