I Helped Design This Guitar! | Losch Guitars feat. Built-In R2R Electric Treble Booster!
A very special guitar makes its channel debut — a co-designed collaboration with Chicago/Highland Park luthier Gabby Losch of Losch Guitars, born from a chance meeting at Fretboard Summit 2024 and debuting at Fretboard Summit 2025. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
This Losch Guitars co-design — semi-hollow, no f-holes, Mastery Bridge and Tremolo, Emerson Custom pots, caps, and Treble Bleeds, Sunbear Humbuckers with a Sunbear Sunbird (Firebird) middle pickup on a blender knob, and a built-in R2R Electric germanium Treble Booster with discreet switch placement — runs into the Cunningham Amps Custom 35 2x12" with Scumback H75-PVC speakers. The R2R Electric Ge Distorter Deluxe and Effectrode Tube Vibe both feature.
Gabby Losch builds by hand in Chicago/Highland Park, Illinois — known for incredible craftsmanship, unique designs, and inspiring tones that blend modern innovation with classic guitar tradition. After meeting at Fretboard Summit 2024, ideas traded over Instagram and text turned into this co-designed instrument, debuting a year later at Fretboard Summit 2025.
The build itself is packed with thoughtful detail: semi-hollow construction without f-holes for a cleaner look and different acoustic character than a traditional f-hole design. Mastery Bridge and Tremolo for tuning stability and intonation accuracy. Emerson Custom pots, caps, and Treble Bleeds throughout — explored in the volume knob cleanup from 08:27.
The pickup configuration is genuinely unusual: Sunbear Humbuckers in neck and bridge, with a Sunbear Sunbird — Sunbear's Firebird-voiced pickup — wired to a blender knob in the middle position, giving single-coil-esque tonal shading blended in on top of the humbucker voicing. Explored from 10:29, with the blend and volume knob interaction from 11:29.
The built-in R2R Electric germanium Treble Booster — with a discreet switch placement built directly into the guitar — gets extensive coverage from 12:44 through 22:36, including direct volume knob cleanup, tone knob interaction, gain reduction, and stacking with the Effectrode Tube Vibe from 20:14.
The R2R Electric Ge Distorter Deluxe closes out the demo from 23:59 — Chris Vincent's take on the same circuit as his Ge Distorter NKT, now with an added external Q2 Bias control and loaded with a set of Philips/Mullard AC107 black glass germanium transistors. Level, Attack, and the external Bias knob for dialing in the exact sweet spot of the Q2 transistor stage. Stacked with the guitar's built-in Treble Booster from 26:59 for a genuinely unique combination only possible with this specific instrument.
🎸 Losch Guitars: https://www.loschguitars.com
🎛️ R2R Electric: https://www.r2relectric.com
🎸 Sunbear Pickups: https://www.sunbearpickups.com
🔊 Cunningham Amps: https://www.cunninghamamps.co.nz
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🎸 Losch Guitars Co-Design | Semi-Hollow (No F-Holes) | Mastery Bridge + Tremolo | Sunbear Humbuckers + Sunbear Sunbird Middle (Blender) | Built-In R2R Electric Treble Booster | Emerson Custom Wiring + Treble Bleeds
🎛️ R2R Electric Ge Distorter Deluxe | Philips/Mullard AC107 Black Glass Ge | External Q2 Bias | Level / Attack / Bias | Effectrode Tube Vibe
🔊 Cunningham Amps Custom 35 2x12" | Scumback H75-PVC
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R121 & R10 | Ableton Live
