While he was studying as a furniture maker, James Yarde (the ‘e’ is silent), found it was necessary to learn 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design).
“With a great technical team around me, I learnt how to harmonise modern CAM [Computer Aided Manufacturing] processes and traditional techniques to produce accurate products with character,” he tells us. It’s not the traditional lutherie route, granted, but one that informs James’s thoroughly modern guitar craft.
“I was initially inspired by the pillars of the industry, but I wanted to do something a bit different. This is when I focused on the headless/multi-scale electric guitar.” And after some years of prototyping, the Tamar is the result.
Yes, it’s a bolt-on and uses proper bolts (not screws), but the Tamar is a multi-scale instrument, moving from classic Fender at the top E and extending to 673mm (26.5 inches) at the low E, creating the fanned-fret spread of the perfectly installed stainless-steel frets.
The neck is African wenge with a perfectly inlaid zebrano fingerboard – another illustration of James’s mastery of modern machining – and the quite full-depth neck has a pretty classic deep C profile and feels a lot more conventional than the style might suggest.
The detail of the body’s machining is almost sculptural and is quite complex, from the deep cutout under the base-placed tuners, to the gently curved top face (from treble to bass side), the light chamfering in the cutaways, a lightly chamfered heel platform and some quite deep ribcage contouring. The work is extremely detailed, and the teal blue finish shows off the ash’s striped grain perfectly.
Overall, the design means that the guitar itself is almost travel-style compact, measuring 850mm (33.5 inches) from top to bottom. At just 2.48kg (5.46lb), it’s super light, too, and very comfortable played seated; it virtually disappears on a strap.
With a lively unplugged acoustic-y response, there’s plenty of heat here in terms of output but also excellent note separation and clarity sitting on the more ‘hot Tele’ side of the tracks. There’s good character to the midrange bite, which is steelier at the bridge and has excellent depth at the neck.
You’ll find considerable versatility, too, from beautiful, almost ethereal single-coil splits paired with delay and reverb, to a gainier raunch from the full humbuckers, which retain good clarity even under some pretty juicy amp sounds.
Multi-scale fan-fret guitars certainly aren’t for everyone, but be prepared to be surprised – you’ll barely notice the difference after a few minutes of playing. Everything just feels right under your fingers. It’s an expansive and beautiful-sounding guitar that’s been flawlessly executed. One to watch!
Builder Profile
- NAME: Yarde Guitars
- FOUNDER: James Yarde
- LOCATION: Saltash, Cornwall
- STATUS: Founded 2024; prototyping from 2020
- EMPLOYEES: 1
- FIRST GUITAR SHIPPED: First batch from 2024, previous custom builds from 2015
- CURRENT OUTPUT: Aiming for 3 per month
- STYLE: Headless, multi‑scale, bolt-on electrics
- CAD/CNC: Yes
- PICKUPS/HARDWARE: In-house designed/Grainger Guitar Parts and Anomaly
- FINISHING: In-house, stain and oil
- REPAIRS: No
- CUSTOM ORDERS: Yes, so long as it’s headless!
- DEPOSIT/BUILD TIME: Once spec determined, 50% deposit, balance on completion/2-3 months depending on complexity
- WAITING LIST: N/A
- DEALERS: Sound Unlimited 01752 261 993
- PRICE RANGE: From approx. £2,000 upwards depending on spec
