Bill Dutcher reviews his Synergy X7 harp guitar

Bill Dutcher has written an extensive ‘working musician’s review’ of his Synergy X7 Custom Shop harp guitar.

Photo Credit: Mike Smith, MNR Images

Bill Dutcher is an independent recording artist and working musician who performs as a solo-acoustic artist, along with fronting the BD3 (Bill Dutcher Trio). He also plays in several side projects and specialising in 6 and 12-string guitar, Hawaiian guitar, mandolin and harp guitar.

Being a modern acoustic guitarist based in the hot climate of Phoenix, Arizona and playing over 150 shows a year, Bill was looking for an instrument that was ‘tough and durable and would deliver every night’.

He wrote: “I wanted an instrument that could endure the climate of Arizona, was compact enough for airline travel and that would deliver good tone and be comfortable to hold and play. Carbon fiber is much more resilient in dealing with these issues and it makes perfect sense as a building material for stringed instruments.”

Custom Shop

Following discussions with Alistair, Bill went for a Synergy X7 Custom Shop with seven sub bass strings and added string posts near the sub bass tuning machines (which aren’t featured on our standard Synergy X7 harp guitars).

Bill also chose custom Dunlop jumbo fret wire on the finger board as I likes ‘big, tall frets’, a Sunrise S1 magnetic on the guitar side and a Flatpup magnetic made by Elmar Zeilhofer on the sub bass strings with both pickups  run through a LR Baggs iMix preamp.

“Upon receiving the instrument, I was immediately drawn to the clean lines of the body design and cool angles of the harp arm and neck joint. It’s very futuristic looking and the body contours fit perfectly when holding and playing it. The attention to detail in the finish is amazing and it looks as smooth as glass. The weight is surprising light and the strap doesn’t wear into your shoulder after playing for long periods of time.”

In his full review Bill covers everything from his Synergy X7’s sound, playability/action, pickups, to his overall pros and cons. If you would like to read Bill’s full review of his custom Synergy X7 harp guitar click here to visit his blog. For more on our Synergy X7 harp guitar, click here.