The newest Journeyman, the Gryphon High-Unison 12-string, has already made waves as a fascinating new style of guitar with a wide range of applications. This 18.5" scale guitar, which is tuned almost one octave higher than a regular guitar, is strung with mandolin-like unison pairs. These doubled strings provide incredible punch and “cut”, with amazing and complex high overtones that bring to mind instruments like the tres, cuatro, and bouzouki. Joe Gore’s December 2002 review in Guitar Player raved about the Gryphon’s “beautiful solo voice” and “huge, ultra-present sound”.

The Gryphon uses custom LaBella GR-12 strings (available from any LaBella dealer).

Scale length 18.5"
Length 30.5"
Width 11"
Depth 2"
Weight 5-6.5 lbs.

Veillette Gryphon Mark IV Hi-tuned 12-string
by Joe Gore, Guitar Player, December 2002

It's funny how many electric guitarists who have stretched their range downward via 7-string and baritone guitars have been less eager to explore the soprano register. But that may change once a few players get their mitts on the gorgeous Gryphon Mark IV Hi-tuned 12-String ($2,025). The brainchild of Woodstock luthier Joe Veillette, the Gryphon is tuned to D above standard E. Fitted with all unison strings (as opposed to the mixed unisons and octaves of regular 12-strings), this guitar overlaps with a standard mandolin's range, adding an extra fourth below the mando's low-G string. It's important to note, however, that any guitarist can play the Gryphon without having to learn a new tuning.

Less is More

One of the few precedents for Veillette's petite, 18 1/2"-scale design is the 1960s Vox Phantom 12 (resurrected a few years back as the Vox Mini XII). But while the Vox featured magnetic pickups, the Gryphon relies on an Alvarez under-saddle piezo system -- a detail that contributes to the guitar's knockout appearance. Dig how the dark wenge-wood of the 21-fret fingerboard and immaculately carved bridge frame the body's gorgeously figured maple top. Equally handsome is the asymetrical headstock with its 12 mini-Gotoh tuners.

Flying High

Crafty players will discover dozens of uses for the Gryphon. Its strings are spaced widely enough for fingerstyle playing, and the all-unison tuning makes the Gryphon more suitable for full-range, single-note work than regular

12-strings. With its huge, ultra-present sound, the Gryphon excels as a doubling instrument. Duplicating standard rhythm guitar parts offers an exciting variation on Nashville high-stringing, while doubling single-note melodies at the octave gives them piano-like authority.

But the Gryphon also has a beautiful solo voice -- one that can easily mimic the mandolin, bouzouki, tres, cuatro, and other doublecourse instruments. In other words, the Gryphon excels as an all-purpose "ethno" ax. Bottom line: Anyone hungering for a taste of something different will find a lot to dig about the Gryphon. You definitely won't find a better legal way of getting high!