One day on the outskirts of Nashville, Keith Medley decided that 6 or 12 strings weren’t enough and decided to design and build a 27 string guitar. As a master guitar builder most of his life, and one day decided to make his masterpiece for himself. “Building this guitar turned out to be the easy part,” Keith explains on his site. “The hard part has been learning to play it. Through two years of bittersweet struggle between myself and these 27 strings, I determined it would not defeat me but would play the music I heard in my heart.” The big trick has been mastering the ability to play his creation.
He started in Nashville playing R&B around town and, of course, country, he then quit the road and devoted his career to guitar building, design and repair. He eventually went to work for one of the largest guitar companies in the country building custom guitars, and for a few years also ran his own company—Medley Guitars. The big trick has been mastering the ability to play his creation.
The 27-string was designed and built for me to play, I didn’t build it to sell, or any other ill motive. I am a player. I hear music to play and share as a gift to those who want it. Building is my craft. Playing is my passion.
It is an amazing instrument but I wouldn’t want to tune it too often.
http://www.keithmedleymusic.com/