Another 52 Guitars, week 6—OD Guitars Venus

I first discovered this week’s entry in the Another 52 guitars series when watching Jinjer videos. I saw Roman—guitarist for Jinjer—playing an unusual looking guitar and needed to know more. Once I discovered he was playing the Venus by OD Guitars, I was in Drooltown.

Drooltown is a fictitious location that has a population of at least one—me.

The design of the Venus is pure beauty. There was something about it that just spoke to me. It took me a while, but I worked it out after learning more about OD Guitars. They’re a combination of build quality and geometric design. Perfect!

If you’ve never heard Jinjer, I won’t make your introduction to that band the same introduction most people get, I’ll instead suggest you watch this play-through that features the Venus by OD Guitars. Partly because it makes sense for this article and also because I’m sure that Googling Jinjer will recommend the one video that most people start with.

If that appeals to you, now you can watch Pisces. I’m sure that’s what Google will recommend for you 😉

The Venus guitar finish is a thing of beauty. I love that the wood grain is allowed to come through the paint finish. I also love that it’s only the guitar front that isn’t displaying an unobstructed view of the wood grain.

It’s worth pointing out however that OD Guitars isn’t in the process of producing factory-built replicas with each guitar it builds. The finishes differ as do many other aspects of the guitar. If I’m not mistaken, Roman has one with a blacker finish. Dark is good.

Looking through the gallery for the Venus, it appears that you can get this guitar as a six, seven or eight string model. I’m barely capable of playing six strings, but I can imagine what a more talented individual could do with an eight string model of this guitar.

The models I’ve seen Roman play look to mostly consist of a single control knob and a three-way pickup selector. The gallery linked above does show some Venus models with dual controls knobs, so the options are obviously there.

There is a list of consistent features for the Venus range however. That list looks like this:

• Hipshot locking tuners-open gear style
• OD’s custom tuner buttons
• OD truss rod cover
• Dual action truss rod
• Bone Nut
• Frets: Fret blind slots

I know it’s a small thing, but that truss rod cover looks awesome. Wood and perfectly suited to the overall design of this guitar. The 12th fret inlays are the same level of design.

I could probably go on for a while with the design aspects I love for this guitar. Obviously the cutout patterns in the body top are amazing. They’re perfectly placed from a design perspective and suit the overall shape of the double cutaway body.

One final option I’d mention—because it’s something I’m yet to experience on a guitar—is the fanned frets. I’ve seen some Venus models with them and some without. I think fanned frets look great on this guitar. If I was going to get a Venus, I’d want to go for all the best this guitar has to offer.

Until then, back to Drooltown. Anybody care to join me?