THE GRAPH TECH STORY

Two decades ago, Dave Dunwoodie, Graph Tech President, was mid-performance at a gig in his home town of Vancouver, Canada. Hitting the tremolo bar on his first Fender Strat (he was a Gibson man) during a guitar solo, he was immediately introduced to the problem of string binding on traditional guitar nuts. "I went to do my first big 'wang' and went totally out of tune" Dave says. "I couldn't use the guitar for stage work at all".

Spurred by the resurgence in popularity of tremolo guitars, the need for pencil lead in the nut slots, and his own frustration, Dave began experimenting with a variety of composite guitar nuts designed to eliminate string binding before engineering the worlds first self-lubricating nut, a formula that is 500% slipperier than graphite. Dave has been "nuts" ever since, and more than twenty years later Graph Tech Guitar Labs has become an institution, producing some of the industry's most innovative and reliable nuts, saddles, bridge pins and pickup systems.

Through patented methods and proprietary techniques, Graph Tech has designed specific tone and performance enhancements that were once impossible to achieve. The result is an outstanding reputation for quality and rapid acceptance by guitar players. Dave's commitment has never wavered: "I envisioned a people- and service-oriented company that can turn on a dime and can respond to our customers' needs." The successful introduction of totally new concepts (as opposed to "me too" products) into the guitar market have led to Graph Tech's booming success.

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Graph Tech's business is steadily increasing. Housing the entire operation in a state-of-the-art facility, Dave takes a hands-on approach from product design and manufacturing to marketing and shipping. Graph Tech distributes their products world wide through select distributors such as: All Parts, St. Louis Music, Harris Teller, Stewart MacDonald, Aria UK, Moridaira (Japan), Coast Music (Canada) and many others. What is the reaction from the players around the world? Week after week, customers write us unsolicited letters and emails letting us know that this is the first product that they've ever bought that actually does what it says it would do (imagine that!).

For over twenty years Graph Tech Guitar Labs has pioneered the development of innovative products designed to improve the guitar-playing experience by solving common problems and improving sound quality. Starting with the original "graphite nut", our product line has burgeoned to five recognized brands that address everything from string breakage to tuning problems to MIDI compatibility. Underscoring it all is a committment to tonal fidelity. The following is a summary of our product line:

String Saver Saddles(tm): Virtually eliminates string breakage and increases sustain utilizing new, breakthrough technology in polymer engineering. Available in Classics or Steel.

TUSQ nuts, saddles and bridge pins: Used by many leading guitar manufacturers such as Taylor, Gibson, Larrivee, Tacoma, Rainsong and Ovation, TUSQ man made ivory enables the consistent transfer of vibrations to the guitar top, resulting in big open lows and clear, bell-like highs.

Black TUSQ XL™is used by some of the world's leading manufacturers (including Carvin, Parker Guitars, Brian Moore Custom Guitars, Steinberger, and the Fender Custom Shop) for good reason. It contains advanced lubricants and works better than graphite, bone, plastic or synthetic nuts at keeping your guitar in tune and providing superior resonance and tone.

GHOST modular pickup system, comprised of three key components: 1: The Ghost Saddle pickups featuring String Saver saddles and a piezo crystal custom-engineered designed specifically for Graph Tech to work around with the frequency range of the guitar. 2: The Acousti-Phonic pre-amp, which renders a warm, realistic studio-quality acoustic sound that cannot come from a metal saddle. 3: The Hexpander pre-amp, which plugs directly onto the Acousti-Phonic pre-amp, (or can be used stand-alone) with a 13-pin output, turning your guitar into the perfect controller for the Roland virtual guitar processors or as a very accurate input source for the many different midi converters available today.

The ResoMax™ Bridge with String Saver™ Saddles is specifically designed to enhance harmonics, reduce string breakage, increase sustain, and improve tuning performance for your electric guitar.

The base of the ResoMax™ Bridge is made from a high strength, light weight alloy designed to maximize harmonic content. More harmonics means more richness and sizzle in every note you pick or strum. The patented String Saver™ material increases sustain by up to 25% over brass and 15% over steel and will greatly reduce or eliminate string breakage. The ResoMax™ Bridge is an unbeatable combination of materials that will improve your guitar’s tone and performance and, ultimately, your guitar playing experience.

The tone and sustain of your guitar directly influences the way you play. Whether the notes ring out or die quickly or if each note is rich in harmonic content or flat and lifeless, the sound of each note effects how you pick, strum, and phrase your playing.
Graph Tech shows no signs of slowing down. Dave observes that in this industry, "the bar keeps going up on quality and innovation and I don't see it stopping for us, our competitors or our customers." The goal for the future? "Staying focused. We are guitar nuts, saddles, bridge pins and pickup systems and have a vast depth of knowledge in guitar tone and vibration. We've only scratched the surface on innovative products that we can develop."

Dave Dunwoodie - President