Up for sale is a guitar you don't see every day. This Teuffel Niwa by renowned luthier Ulrich Teuffel in Germany is an early serial number (ser # 10) At this time the model was built with high-grade Indian Rosewood for the fingerboard, pickup covers, knobs and head plate, instead of Pau Fero . This would now be considered an upgrade. This guitar is in incredible condition and is playing like a dream. Currently set up with 10-46 gauge strings and a nice, low and comfortable action. Besides for a few very minor and tiny finish dings here and there, this Niwa is in mint condition.
The Niwa is a unique bolt on neck solid body with a 25.5" scale. The body features contours that hug and follow the natural lines of your body. It truly feels like an extension of whomever picks it up. The Niwa is also an incredibly well balanced guitar design. This Niwa will actually rest on your knee without any hands and does so without any neck or body dive. Perfect weight distribution. The neck fits into a rounded out cavity that holds it in place so snug that there is virtually no play/movement at all. It is a very stable and brilliantly executed neck joint, that helps the entire guitar to resonate and sustain to its fullest potential.
The fingerboard has 22 frets. Each one being rounded and hand polished. The fret slots themselves end just before the edge of the board, this way they will never protrude during dryer seasons. It also just looks clean and classy aesthetically.
A roller nut from LSR guarantees unsurpassed performance from the vibrato system. Interfering resonances of the string section between the nut and tuners are absorbed / eliminated by the little rubber inlays behind the nut. The Wilkinson VG 300 vibrato on the Niwa provides great sparkle and twang like on a vintage Strat but with the advantage of a knife-edge system, which allows for up-ward bending. If the player wants to stop the guitars vibrato from bending upward, there is a wooden "trem-stop" in the back cavity that can be moved to but-up against the bridges sustain block to prevent upward motion.
Both the body and the neck are made from Red Alder. Only highly selected Alder timber with a high stiffness is chosen to be used for the guitars neck. The wood gets heat treated to increase its strength, both in the neck and headstock areas. As a result the Niwa's neck has much more stability than even a neck made from Honduras Mahogany. The incorporated 2-way truss rod supports the neck in combination with maple inlays.
Ulrich Teuffel- “One of my favorite tone-woods is American Alder. Not only does it produce profound bass response, it's also got this low-midrange attack which is responsible for that very well-known Hendrix sound. The Niwa's body and neck are made of American Red Alder.
All components such as the neck, strap pin, pots, pickups etc, are built in with stainless steel screws. While they are viewable the screws are hand polished. The threads rest in metal thread inserts which are mounted into the body. You will never find a loose strap pin screw.”
There are many fine and well thought out details throughout Ulrich's builds that are easy to miss, but they are what make these instruments so much more than the sum of their parts. For example the Red Alder control cavity also acts as a sound chamber, allowing the guitar to feedback in a musical and controllable way, with an acoustic-like presence to chords and sustained notes.
While beautiful and extremely well built, the Niwa is in the end an electric guitar and the tone of this instrument leaves nothing to be desired. Ulrich has incorporated three of his Split-Coil pickups into this guitar. One hot Split-Coil in the bridge position and two medium wound Split-Coils in the middle and neck positions.
The neck and middle pickups consist of two offset wound bobbins. One bobbin picks up the bass strings while the other picks up the treble strings. Since both bobbins are wound in reverse they are hum cancelling in all positions. The tone of these pickups is very guttural, but much richer than a Strat-type of single coil or similar. The same pickup is placed in the bridge position, however its tone is much hotter and it uses a different winding pattern. Alnico 5 magnets are used in the middle and neck while the bridge utilizes Alnico 8 magnets for a fatter more aggressive tone.
However if you like the more crystalline tone of the neck and middle pickups better than the A8 pickup currently installed in the bridge; the guitar comes with a second bridge pickup that matches the specs of the medium output Split-Coils found in the neck and middle positions. The pickups are sealed against microphonics when using them with high gain or at loud volumes. As a matter of fact, all of the electrotonic compartments are shielded to keep out magnetic and electric field interferences.
Reach out to us with any questions you might have.
Specs:
Scale length: 25.5”
Nut Width: 1 & 11/16”
Nut: LSR Roller nut
Body: American Alder (Red Alder)
Neck: American Alder (Red Alder)
Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood
profile: Asymmetrical Soft V-shape .83” - .93” (Treble side is slightly larger than the bass side. Follows the natural lines of your hand)
Fretboard radius: Compound 13” – 17”
Fret wire: Jim Dunlop #6105, Stainless Steel, 22 frets
Pickups:
Bridge pickup: Split-coil hot output (Comes with a 2ndMedium output bridge pickup as well, for a more Fender-like sound)
Middle: Split-coil medium output
Neck Split-coil: medium output
Rotary 5-way switch: This switch allows these combinaitions:
neck / neck+middle / neck+bridge / middle / middle+bridge
Bridge pickup on: Use Push-Push Tone Control. The bridge pickup gets switched on by the push-push tone control only. This is an easy way to access the bridge pickup for a solo
Guitar weight: 7lbs 5oz
Case: Custom HSC made to Teuffel's specs and form fitted to the Niwas dimensions. Also comes with tools and extra medium-wind bridge pickup.
