Belman Guitars of Australia caught my attention from an aesthetic standpoint. I could see from pictures that the fit and finish of their guitars were extraordinary and they boasted that they designed and manufactured their own pickups, which is an extremely big plus for me. So you design your own guitar and use someone else's pickups? A lot of makers do but I prefer that the vision be complete with your own pickups.

Upon ordering the top of the line Albatross Grand I left it to the company to decide the woods and color. This is what they sent.

Honestly I was blown away when I opened the case. The wood, color, the beveling of the arched top, the variant headstock color and the overall attention to detail just screamed quality.

The beveling of the top is very beautiful and makes for an elegant presentation of the top and helps to offset the hardware.

When plugged in the guitar is as sweet as it looks. The Belman pickups are mighty and imbued with a clarity that some pickups don't have.

The 24 and ½" scale length has this guitar feeling very much like a Les Paul, the thickness of the body also adds to this similarity but the nice cutaway makes for a little better access to the upper reaches of the fretboard.

This is one of the best values in a handmade guitar and Belman will be producing for New Millennium Guitar and this is the first example.

Below is text taken from the Belman website.

Belman guitars is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary, but for the complete history of Belman Guitars you'll need to go way back to 1980, when a young Anthony Bell was given a guitar by his cousin Richard Pascale. Anthony's curiosity and desire to understand the workings of the guitar was ignited.

The first incarnation of Belman Guitars was actually formed in the classroom of a Secondary Technical School in 1982, where Anthony decided to build his first electric guitar. Craig Manger also in the same class having already completed his project asked Anthony if he would like some help to finish the project. Thus the seeds were sewn for what would eventually become Belman Guitars. The project was a major success for their grades and confidence. With the help and support of Mr. Hogg (woodworking teacher), and working after normal school hours they proceeded to build their first bass.

The major turning point for the young guitar builders was the realization they did not posses any of the necessary equipment to continue building guitars from home. The bass went up for sale in a local music store. To their delight the bass sold in little over a month, they had now sold their first instrument (circa 1984) and also possessed the funds to buy tools and machinery that allowed them to continue building guitars.

The early years were spent working long hours in Anthony's mothers tiny garage, both men maintained full time employment and would perform all manner of guitar repairs long into the night. Within this small garage was crammed everything that was needed to build guitars, except for the space to stretch your arms. In these confined conditions the pair were able to perform some amazing repairs and produce incredible custom instruments. These hard years honed the skills of both Anthony and Craig into becoming one of the most sorts after repairers in Melbourne.

Finally realizing that they had to make the decision to go full time or scale back the workload, they officially formed Belman Guitars in 1994. The name coming from the abbreviating and joining of the two sir-names Bell and Manger, Bel-Man, Belman.

From this point forward they dedicated every spare minute into understanding all the workings of electric guitars and basses. What timbers to use to achieve certain tones, what color effects could be obtained from different staining methods? From re-winding pickups, to actually creating their own personal pickup models. Putting their instruments into the hands of as many professional players as possible, and more importantly listening to the feedback given by these players to help them achieve better results with the next instrument.

As the workload grew they new it was time to relocate to a factory. Enter Tino Maiorana, having known the guys for a number of years and spent many hours in the garage, initially to have work done and later helping out and performing repairs. Belman Guitars relocated to their first factory in Thomastown, Victoria.

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