Zerberus Chimaira (2012) - New

You are wrong - this Zerberus-Guitars Chimaira is not just a guitar as much as a Lamborghini Diablo is not just a car.
The Chimaira we are talking about was made mostly in handycraft in a small batch of only 40 pcs. worldwide.
This guitar might become a very valuable collector´s item one day.
I really do my best to make the Zerberus-Guitars a Legend :)
But even if it doesn’t become a collector´s item - it is an amazing guitar with an incredible versatile sound and it is more than just
a musical instrument - it is a sculpture and a piece of art.
You must see that with your own eyes to believe it.
But it is not only the wonderful tops that make the Chimaira so extraordinary.
It´s the design, the concept, the excellent hardware and selected tonewoods and many more things to explore.

But the story of the Chimaira hardly can be told without telling a little bit about the person who brought this guitar into being.
My name is Frank.
I was born in 1965 and I started playing guitar when I was 10 years old.
When I was 15, I built my first custom guitar with the help and assistance of a very old carpenter.
Over the years I have been playing in several bands, on stages in studios in pubs and mostly in rehearsal rooms and I built some more guitars just for fun.
Playing in different bands forced me to use several guitars.
Being tired of changing my guitars for every gig, I often wished to have one guitar that really could be a jack of all trades.
With this requirement in mind, in 2002 I launched the Zerberus-Guitars company in Germany.
The Chimaira, I am talking about began its live as a custom guitar.
The custom Chimaira prototype was sold to a customer in the USA at the Summer NAMM 2012.
The Chimaira guitar that was built as a small limited edition of only 40 guitars worldwide
Developing this guitar I aimed to combine the versatility of our Hydra II with a slightly more unusual design and a more user-friendly circuit.
Of course I did not make any compromise on sound hardware or tonewood.
The body is made of solid Korina-Wood with an also solid 18 mm thick Maple top and an amazing selected flamed maple veneer.
Then neck is made of hard Maple and is glued deep into the body of the Chimaira.
The neck-joint was designed to create a very stable and secure compound.
Therefore the neck-heel reaches underneath the neck humbucker.
We know about the problematic of accessing the highest frets in most guitars, and we attached great importance on an elegant and ergonomic
neck-body-transition that allows soloing in the highest frets without breaking your fingers.                                                        
The neck has a 25.5 inch scale and 24 medium jumbo frets that are perfectly polished and dressed.
The Black Ebony fretboard has block inlays made of mother of pearl and abalone.
Even unplugged, thanks to its selected tonewoods and the masterly workmanship, the Chimaira surprises with an exceptional volumeand a very distinct sound.

With the aim to transform the very harmonic character and the unplugged sound potential perfectly into electrical oscillations we use the
Kammerstein Quadrail humbucker that already sparkled on the Hydra II.           

Designing the circuit of the Chimaira I have, as already established in the electronics of the Hydra and Morpheus, put big emphasis on versatility.
Whether in the studio, on stage, in the rehearsal room or at home in the living room: The Chimaira always delivers the perfect sound, and thanks to the Kammerstein QuadRail Humbuckers, even in split mode always two parallel coils are working.
That makes the Chimaira very unsusceptible against interference and hum.
The Chimaira has one volume and one tone-knob.
For both pots push-pull-pots are used which can be used to split the neck and bridge humbucker into single-coils.
Thus, the Chimera is again a perfect working tool for all kinds of styles from jazz to heavy metal.
Thanks to the two push-pull-pots, the Chimera provides fat powerful humbucker sounds as well as crisp percussive single-coil-sounds

A special highlight of the Chimaira is the well-engineered concept that stands behind the tremolo system.
Even the best guitar becomes unusable if the tremolo system does not work properly.
Again Zerberus-Guitars relies on the best hardware that was perfectly matched to the Chimaira.
The tremolo is a Wilkinson VS100 made by the well known high quality manufacturer Gotoh.

To guarantee smooth flow of the strings over the nut we have assembled the Chimaira with a roller nut.          
To avoid frictional loss, the headstock especially was designed to assure that the strings run parallel straight from the nut to the tuning machines.

If we would use standard tuning machines the guitar could become out of tune as soon as you work with the tremolo bar.
To guarantee the guitar to stay in tune we have used locking machines made by Wilkinson.

Even by the choice of the strings we attached great importance to provide best tuning performance and stability.
The Chimaira is equipped with strings made by the US manufacturer SIT (Stay In Tune) -strings from Ohio.
The result of all that endeavors is a well designed and composed tremolo system that works very precise, smooth and stays in tune no matter how hard you attack the whammy bar.
Of course such a rare and valuable instrument has to be protected against damage by dropping it.
Therefore we have equipped the Chimaira with a great working Marvel straplock system.

The Chimaira includes a Zerberus hardcase that fits the guitar perfect and a certificate.        

From the first contact you can see, hear and feel that the Chimaira is no ordinary guitar.
This guitar inspires and motivates its user to boost his skills and playing style.
We take personal responsibility for the quality of all Zerberus Guitar products.
Our motto is: "Quality starts with the design process and includes the incorporation of the highest quality, cured tone woods and the
best hardware and best componentry available on the market.
Whilst quality inspection can be useful in some situations, it is our aim to circumvent, as much as possible, its need by ensuring
that we build our products 'right first time'.

When you purchase a Zerberus guitar, you will own a unique, organic product that has been loved and cared for from its inception and which is designed to last a lifetime."
All Zerberus guitars are individually set up and tested prior to shipment, a process which we take great pride in overseeing.

Before I ship a guitar, I always make a very detailed setup.
Adjusting the neck, string spacing, pickup height, adjusting the tremolo and so on.
After the setup I seal the fretboard using some very good German plain hard wax oil with all natural ingrediences like linseed oil, colophony and other herbal resins.
After that procedure I play some notes over the amplifier to make sure that the guitar sounds and plays as I expect it to.
Then I hand polish the guitar to high gloss and put it into the Zerberus hardcase, add some soft cleaning and polishing cloth and pack the case into a stable cardboard box.
And this all to make sure that you will not give the guitar out of your hands anymore.