Growing up in Hungary during the Iron Curtain-era in the ’80s left little room for musically inclined youngsters to get their hands on, or even see, a Gibson or Fender guitar. In fact, any electric guitar at that time was outrageously expensive, and good ones were virtually impossible to find. Where there’s a will, there is often a way, and the three brothers from the Benedek family—Attila, Csaba, and Árpád—were determined enough to start building their own instruments so they could create the rock, blues, and jazz they were becoming increasingly interested in playing.
Starting out in classical music on Musima acoustic guitars from the Czech Republic, the brothers never owned an electric instrument before building their own. The ingenuity of the three teenagers quickly became evident with their use of bicycle spokes for fretwire, to components from a record player for making a distortion pedal. As the experimenting became more refined and successful on their self-made guitars, other guitarist friends began playing them, and later, professional guitarists began buying them. The Benedek brothers’ passionate hobby soon became a reputable guitar outfit and Fibenare Guitars was officially established in 1998.
These days, while Attila Benedek mainly works on the business side of Fibenare, the other two brothers and Gabor Goldschmidt (brought on in 2004) handle most of the building. All four luthiers at Fibenare are certainly capable of building an instrument from start-to-finish, but instead, each focuses on their individual specialties and has a hand in the construction of every instrument. Fibenare is also able to choose from an abundant choice of domestic, high-grade woods for their instruments including Hungarian ash, alder, maple, and poplar—from regular to burl to highly figured. And while the crew may occasionally wish for a CNC, every instrument is completely handbuilt—including the hardware and pickups.
Utilizing the latest in build techniques, while still using traditional handbuilding methodology for rough and fine work, Fibenare has quickly made a mark in the high-end, boutique market for both guitars and basses. Based in Budapest in the middle of an old, steel-industry park in Csepel Művek, they’re happy to pour a good cup of coffee and show visitors to the area around the shop.
Globe Bass SC Neckthrough
New for 2012 and recently introduced at the NAMM show, this bass boasts a
single cutaway and neck-through design as evidenced by its name. The 24-fret
neck features a brass nut, double-acting truss rod, and is topped with a rosewood
or padouk fretboard. Other features on this radius-carved, Hungarian poplar
bass include Fibenare’s Twin bridge, Gotoh GB707 tuning machines, and a pair
handwound, wooden-coil pickups in wooden housings called Fibenare Vazuls.
Roadmaster ’56
Also introduced at the 2012 NAMM show, the Roadmaster ’56 is Fibenare’s
tribute to one of the most revolutionary and timeless designs in guitar making.
This Tele-style Roadmaster ’56 has a maple burl top and utilizes bird’seye
maple for both the neck and fretboard. With a Fibenare Roadmaster
bridge and a set of Fibenare’s handwound Roadmaster pickups, this ode to
the Tele is ready to twang.
Basic Jazz Matte Henderson Signature
This signature guitar built for Matte Henderson is styled after Fibenare’s Basic
Jazz model and boasts a fully scalloped, binded fretboard that is constructed from
ironwood. Using white limba for both the neck and back, this guitar has a carved,
highly figured flame-maple top. Outfitted with Fibenare’s floating tremolo, the
Matte Henderson model is loaded up with a set of their Matte pickups in an
H-S-H configuration.
10th Anniversary Basic Jazz
To celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary, Fibenare produced a limited run
of 10 guitars for this Basic Jazz model. The ironwood fretboard is double bound
and a mother-of-pearl “X” inlay commemorating the milestone anniversary
graces the 12th fret. A pair of the company’s ALV-63 wooden-coil humbuckers
rest atop the very highly figured, AAAAA maple-burl top.
Basic Jazz Single Cut—Rosewood
This Basic Jazz model with a single cutaway is a semi-hollowbody with a carved
maple top and the choice of either korina or mahogany for the back. Capping
off the set-in rosewood neck is a rosewood fretboard, adorned with optional
trapezoid inlays carved from mother-of-pearl. This particular model is outfitted
with a pair of Fibenare’s handwound, ALV-63 wooden-coil humbuckers.
10th Anniversary Erotic
Like the anniversary version of the Basic Jazz, Fibenare limited production of
the 10th Anniversary Erotic to just 10 guitars. This model’s back is radius carved
from Hungarian ash, while the top is carved from Hungarian poplar burl and
decorated with maple binding. Also using a dual-humbucker configuration, the
10th Anniversary Erotic is loaded up with Fibenare’s handwound ALV-63s.
Pricing and Availability
Fibenare produces approximately 60-70
instruments a year, depending on the
difficulty level of the instruments on the
schedule. Currently, 70 percent of the company’s
production rests with guitars, and the
remaining 30 percent for basses. Fibenare’s
price range is quite wide, ranging from
$2,550 for a junior-style guitar, all the way
up to $10,000 for a single-cut, neck-through
bass with exclusive wood options. The most
common price point for a Fibenare instrument
is $5,000 to $6,000. While Fibenare
has a dealer network that spans the globe,
the company also takes direct orders.
Custom orders are welcome both through
the shop or one of their dealers.
fibenare-guitars.com
Hotone Wong Press
Cory Wong Signature Volume/Wah/Expression Pedal
Renowned international funk guitar maestro and 63rd Grammy nominee Cory Wong is celebrated for his unique playing style and unmistakable crisp tone. Known for his expressive technique, he’s been acclaimed across the globe by all audiences for his unique blend of energy and soul. In 2022, Cory discovered the multi-functional Soul Press II pedal from Hotone and instantly fell in love. Since then, it has become his go-to pedal for live performances.
Now, two years later, the Hotone team has meticulously crafted the Wong Press, a pedal tailored specifically for Cory Wong. Building on the multi-functional design philosophy of the Soul Press series, this new pedal includes Cory’s custom requests: a signature blue and white color scheme, a customized volume pedal curve, an adjustable wah Q value range, and travel lights that indicate both pedal position and working mode.
Cory’s near-perfect pursuit of tone and pedal feel presented a significant challenge for our development team. After countless adjustments to the Q value range, Hotone engineers achieved the precise WAH tone Cory desired while minimizing the risk of accidental Q value changes affecting the sound. Additionally, based on Cory’s feedback, the volume control was fine-tuned for a smoother, more musical transition, enhancing the overall feel of volume swells. The team also upgraded the iconic travel lights of the Soul Press II to dual-color travel lights—blue for Wah mode and green for Volume mode—making live performances more intuitive and visually striking!
In line with the Hotone Design Inspiration philosophy, the Wong Press represents the perfect blend of design and inspiration. Now, musicians can channel their inner Cory Wong and enjoy the freedom and joy of playing with the Wong Press!
Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Series Electric Guitar - Shaman
Silos features six presets, tap tempo, one full second of delay time, and three voices—two of which are styled after bucket-brigade and tape-delay sounds. In the $150 price category, it’s not unusual for a digital delay to leave some number of those functions out. And spending the same money on a true-analog alternative usually means warm, enveloping sounds but limited functionality and delay time. Silos, improbably perhaps, offers a very elegant solution to this can’t-have-it-all dilemma in a U.S.-made effect.
A More Complete Cobbling Together
Silos’ utility is bolstered by a very unintimidating control set, which is streamlined and approachable. Three of those controls are dedicated to the same mix, time, and repeats controls you see on any delay. But saving a preset to one of the six spots on the rotary preset dial is as easy as holding the green/red illuminated button just below the mix and preset knobs. And you certainly won’t get lost in the weeds if you move to the 3-position toggle, which switches between a clear “digital” voice, darker “analog” voice, and a “tape” voice which is darker still.
“The three voices offer discernibly different response to gain devices.”
One might suspect that a tone control for the repeats offers similar functionality as the voice toggle switch. But while it’s true that the most obvious audible differences between digital, BBD, and tape delays are apparent in the relative fidelity and darkness of their echoes, the Silos’ three voices behave differently in ways that are more complex than lighter or duskier tonality. For instance, the digital voice will never exhibit runaway oscillation, even at maximum mix and repeat settings. Instead, repeats fade out after about six seconds (at the fastest time settings) or create sleepy layers of slow-decaying repeats that enhance detail in complex, sprawling, loop-like melodic phrases. The analog voice and tape voice, on the other hand, will happily feed back to psychotic extremes. Both also offer satisfying sensitivity to real-time, on-the-fly adjustments. For example, I was tickled with how I could generate Apocalypse Now helicopter-chop effects and fade them in and out of prominence as if they were approaching or receding in proximity—an effect made easier still if you assign an expression pedal to the mix control. This kind of interactivity is what makes analog machines like the Echoplex, Space Echo, and Memory Man transcend mere delay status, and the sensitivity and just-right resistance make the process of manipulating repeats endlessly engaging.
Doesn't Flinch at Filth
EarthQuaker makes a point of highlighting the Silos’ affinity for dirty and distorted sounds. I did not notice that it behaved light-years better than other delays in this regard. But the three voices most definitely offer discernibly different responses to gain devices. The super-clear first repeat in the digital mode lends clarity and melodic focus, even to hectic, unpredictable, fractured fuzzes. The analog voice, which EQD says is inspired by the tone makeup of a 1980s-vintage, Japan-made KMD bucket brigade echo, handles fuzz forgivingly inasmuch as its repeats fade warmly and evenly, but the strong midrange also keeps many overtones present as the echoes fade. The tape voice, which uses aMaestro Echoplex as its sonic inspiration, is distinctly dirtier and creates more nebulous undercurrents in the repeats. If you want to retain clarity in more melodic settings, it will create a warm glow around repeats at conservative levels. Push it, and it will summon thick, sometimes droning haze that makes a great backdrop for slower, simpler, and hooky psychedelic riffs.
In clean applications, this decay and tone profile lend the tape setting a spooky, foggy aura that suggests the cold vastness of outer space. The analog voice often displays an authentic BBD clickiness in clean repeats that’s sweet for underscoring rhythmic patterns, while the digital voice’s pronounced regularity adds a clockwork quality that supports more up-tempo, driving, electronic rhythms.
The Verdict
Silos’ combination of features seems like a very obvious and appealing one. But bringing it all together at just less than 150 bucks represents a smart, adept threading of the cost/feature needle.
EarthQuaker Devices Silos Multi-generational Time Reflection Delay Pedal
