Guitar virtuoso Ben Lechuga is willing to push the boundaries of what we know as amazing guitar playing to a whole new level. A new level that doesn’t require any frets (or wood).
Yes, Ben is trying to change the world on board a revolutionary vessel, one that is made of high-tech material and oozes enough futuristic mojo to make Steven Spielberg jealous.
Ben and Aristides Guitars teamed up to give us a taste of the future and to tell us that, if you’re good enough, you can sing without auto-tune, which is the same as saying, you can play without frets.
Can a single “Fretless Warrior” generate a seismic movement in guitar playing (like a guy named Jaco did for bass guitar?) We’ll find out, but, as the guitarist says on his social media, “Let the fretless era begin!”
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Aristides Guitars, Born for Revolutions
This Dutch guitar brand was founded in 2007, but their story goes back further than that. It all began in 1995 when a group of scientists set out to create the perfect resonant material. They wanted to create a substance that had perfect acoustic properties. This means that resonance flows equally in all directions.
Also, they wanted to make something that could outdo all woods and generate the musical timbre of the best tonewoods combined.
Enter Arium
Once they arrived at the perfect material, named Arium, they took another dozen years of research to begin using it on guitars. The idea was to create instruments that would have a protective shell filled with this highly resonant, lightweight material.
The luthiers at Aristides guitars carefully add layers of carbon and glass fiber to create the shell where they carefully pour the Arium to make the guitar.
Developing this unique building process took two extra years and the result was unveiled at NAMM 2010 with the help of guitarist Adrian Vandenberg.
Since then, the company continued to grow adding more artists, models, and designs to their line. All models have a single goal: To take guitar building further into the future.
Ben Lechuga, The Warrior
Ben Lechuga’s Instagram reads “Fretless warrior” in his description. This isn’t entirely inaccurate since he’s (perhaps) the only virtuoso metal player fighting for fretless guitar relevance.
Indeed, his latest release “Fret Not” is a very powerful statement about what a fretless guitar can do. In it, he plays it in uncanny ways making use of seamless slides that find no resistance from the guitar neck.
This kind of song can only be played with an instrument such as the one Aristides created for him. A guitar with a brushed stainless-steel (almost mirror-like) fretboard, the aforementioned Arium body, and a pair of high-output humbuckers with a five-way switch for added tonal options.
A Glimpse at the Future
Although we do have a fretless representative for bass guitar who became legendary, the late and great Jaco Pastorius, fretless guitar playing is less than popular; it’s non-existent.
Moreover, the virtuoso players whose names are in marquees, charts, and tours might be playing multi-scale 8-string guitars but no one got rid of their frets.
What’s the tonal difference between regular and fretless guitars? Well, there are no limits to what you can play on a fretless instrument. Yes, the microtones between the notes can be used easily.
As a result, we might be witnessing the birth of an entirely new music style, one that overrides traditional note structures and pushes the boundaries of the instrument further than ever.
Are Frets the Auto-Tune Equivalent for Guitars?
Electric guitars are still made using the tonal division invented by Pythagoras. Moreover, we all learned how to play thinking of the intervals frets give us. It was revolutionary in Ancient Greece to think about scales and music theory, but aren’t we over that yet?
Well, in a way, frets limit something that flows naturally; you can ask any slide player about it.
In this regard, much has been said (and not at all pretty things) about the way singers use Auto-Tune to pitch-correct the notes they sing. Regardless if you’re a singer or not, you know there’s no way to find exact notes on your throat other than your ear.
So, how come we guitar players talk about singers using tools to divide their flow into perfect notes but continue to use fretted instruments ourselves? Are we afraid to go on stage without a safety net? To take a jump into the void?
Well, that’s what’s utterly revolutionary about the approach Ben Lechuga and Aristides guitars are promoting with this instrument. Their attempt is to set us free from the boundaries of fretted music and hence gain the freedom and expressiveness vocal interpreters have.
To Frets or not to Frets?
Have you ever played a fretless instrument? I know, it feels intimidating before you start. Once you start, your ears have to become your compass, and muscle memory becomes more important than seeing what you’re doing.
But that’s just the initial shock, the truth is that it can unlock a whole new sonic pathway for your playing.
What Comes Close in the Market?
Are Aristides Ben Lechuga signature guitars the only stainless-steel fretboard fretless guitars? Well, no, they aren’t. There’s a French company that took this jump into the void with no safety net before.
They coupled with guitar virtuoso Guthrie Govan to showcase the instrument’s capabilities.
That said, the big difference between that guitar and the Aristides model is that the Vigier is a regular wooden guitar with an “exotic” and “intriguing” look. The Aristides is the beginning of a new era. Moreover, Guthrie presents the instrument as something you might want to try for being unusual, bizarre, or mysterious but the Aristides is a statement, a glimpse at the future.
The Bottom End
Every decade since the electric guitar took over the music world, we’re presented with innovations that claim to change the world as we know it. Sometimes those claims are true and innovations such as the solid-body guitars, the humbuckers, and the floating tremolo changed generations of players forever.
It’s always a group of people working together to expand our horizons. Whether it is Eddie Van Halen, Leo Fender, or Seth Lover, there’s always a dose of boldness in breaking barriers.
Moreover, there’s always faith in the new roads that will carry our sonic adventures further.
We might be on the verge of such a moment, we might be about to break free from tonal divisions and enter a new sonic highway that will lead to a bright new music future.
Time will tell, but until then, do you dare to play fretless? Perhaps it’s time you give it a try.
Happy playing!
