Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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natthu
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Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:23 pm

Has anyone here had any experience with either Quarter tone guitars or the brand Revelation*?

I was thinking of buying one of these Revelation Marrakesh guitars (they have extra frets to access tones not usually found in Western music).
I can source one pretty easily from interstate, but I don't have the opportunity to try one locally first.
I know it's not really the same thing, but I have the EHX Ravish Sitar effect pedal and quite enjoy trying to sound a bit "Eastern" at times.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

*Revelation make what looks to be a pretty decent budget Bass VI (as well as other Offsets, including a twelve string JM), which is what drew my attention to them in the first place.

(Picture stolen from a finished Reverb sale - my apologies to the original owner):Image

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natthu
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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:28 pm

I should probably mention, I have previously owned a de-fretted telecaster neck which achieved a similar Eastern sound, but it was very difficult to play well (and I'm a fretless bass player)...

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Hilarion Lefuneste
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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Hilarion Lefuneste » Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:24 pm

I think Eastwood makes a microtonal guitar too.

Yes, they do: https://eastwoodguitars.com/blogs/news/ ... nal-guitar.


But if you're interested in that kind of sound, why not just play an electric saz?

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:03 pm

Hilarion Lefuneste wrote:
Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:24 pm
I think Eastwood makes a microtonal guitar too.

Yes, they do: https://eastwoodguitars.com/blogs/news/ ... nal-guitar.
That looks very cool. I love it.... however, it's more than twice the price of the Revelation Marrakesh and looks to be pretty rare/hard to source (especially since I'm not in the US). I can get the Revelation brand new from a shop here in Australia (no import tax) delivered to my door for a nominal fee.
Hilarion Lefuneste wrote:
Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:24 pm
But if you're interested in that kind of sound, why not just play an electric saz?
I guess the quarter tone guitar option provides familiarity - plus it can actually just be played like a normal guitar, for normal western guitar sounds. Since I'm no musical virtuoso, that makes it a bit more versatile. I did go to the bother of looking up electric sazs, and it would be cool to have one, but I fear it's probably a bit too niche of an instrument for my purposes.

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by kimson » Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:34 pm

Great, now I want one... :whistle:

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Zork » Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:08 am

kimson wrote:
Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:34 pm
Great, now I want one... :whistle:
Story of my life... :fp:

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Zork » Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:21 am

Quick idea: the frets on a Saz Baglama and similar instruments are actually made from a nylon fishing line. So I thought "why not take a guitar, get some fishing line and put in the additional frets the traditional way?" :w00t: I will try this asap! Now I need to find someone in the turkish community who shows me how to do it.

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by kimson » Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:42 am

Zork wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:21 am
Quick idea: the frets on a Saz Baglama and similar instruments are actually made from a nylon fishing line. So I thought "why not take a guitar, get some fishing line and put in the additional frets the traditional way?" :w00t: I will try this asap! Now I need to find someone in the turkish community who shows me how to do it.
I verily approve of this idea.

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Sun Nov 03, 2019 10:48 am

Zork wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:21 am
Quick idea...
What a great idea! I am very interested to see how this pans out.

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by antisymmetric » Sun Nov 03, 2019 10:53 am

This is all getting interesting! 8) Subscribed.
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Zork » Sun Nov 03, 2019 1:34 pm

Fishing line ordered. You'll need 0.35 or 0.4mm monofilament nylon line if anyone else wants to try this. Here's how you tie the frets: https://youtu.be/TuN821QQ6S4 (I don't understand turkish either but it's pretty clearly shown).
@natthu: let me know if I hijack your thread too much.

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natthu
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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Sun Nov 03, 2019 9:56 pm

Zork wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2019 1:34 pm
@natthu: let me know if I hijack your thread too much.
Not at all !

Please continue - you're contributing good stuff :)

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Zork » Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:40 am

Ok thank you! Can you tell me some more about your fretless guitar? I'm about to finish a fretless neck for my strat, too, and I'm really curious about it. Did you use open tunings? What kind of strings? I plan to get the heaviest flats I can possibly find and experiment with open tunings with a lot of tension. Can you share some experience?

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Mon Nov 04, 2019 4:14 am

Hi, I’ve no experience of microtonal guitars (all sounds fascinating though!).

However, I have a bit of Revelation guitars. I had a Jazzmaster-esque 12 string which I sold in advance of getting an Electric XII, and still have their take on a Bass VI.

Both are good guitars. Well finished, pretty solid hardware, and play well. Both are pretty heavy, but then they are large instruments.

If the price is right, my experience is that Revelation is worth a go.
All the cheeses....

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Re: Revelation Marrakesh (Quartertone Offset)

Post by natthu » Mon Nov 04, 2019 5:07 am

Bradley-Jazz wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2019 4:14 am
...If the price is right, my experience is that Revelation is worth a go.
Thanks for that. I have suspected that they fill a similar market space to high end Squiers or maybe low end Fenders (ie decent quality, but still somewhat affordable). All the reviews I've read, plus your opinion, seem to confirm this.

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