Acoustic Guitar Magazine | 8 years ago
The Michael Kelly Guitars Triad 10E is an odd guitar. Not only does it come with features not commonly found on guitars under $400, it has ten strings. Much like a 12-string guitar, the Triad 10E features courses of doubled strings, except on the low strings, which do away with the 12’s typical octave strings.
Why?
The company says this format offers players a guitar that has much of a 12-string’s special charm, but with more clarity, better articulation, and enhanced playing range. I also suspect that an unusual guitar like this will appeal to players who admire tradition and also like to find new sounds, and perhaps, new ways to play.
Of course, you can take off two strings from a 12-string to achieve the same effect, but the results won’t be the same. One reason is the Triad’s smaller headstock, which is the same size as a normal six-string, but with five tuners on each side. Besides being more compact than the larger, fraternity-paddle-sized headstocks on many 12s, the Triad’s normal sized headstock is far less likely to dive—or require extra work from your left hand to keep it balanced. And, as I found, the Triad will fit in a gigbag that fits a six-string.
MORE INFO: http://acousticguitar.com/review-michael-kellys-new-10-string-triad-sparks-the-imagination-video/
