The object of The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company is to make high quality, well crafted, solid body guitars that sound great, feel great, play great, for a reasonable price.  But, most importantly, the object is not to make copies of other companies designs. The designs we're  offering are truly alternative, original designs, based upon styles that we admired in the past, but with a look at the future.  

enjoy your visit!

Superchick guitarist Melissa Brock 

"Wings It"  With Her Butterfly

"There's A  DooDad On My Futon!!!"  

Jay Krupka of Cyclonic Guitars writes up the DooDad guitar on bcrichplayers.com

Our resident BC Rich Alumnus, Mal Stich, has this cool day job making guitars at The Alternative Guitar Company.

He works his fingers to the bone building guitars, revamping the website, getting imports out there to be seen, going to NAMM conventions, running into the likes of me and, having to make midnight runs to the "In and Out Burger" just to keep his energy up (Okay, I made the last one up).  

Well, one of his flock of guitars ended up in Nashville and somehow I became fortunate to play "babysitter".  After giving this guitar some fretware, I figured it overdue to give my "take" on his efforts.  And, if all goes well, this baby is gonna stick around.

The guitar is VERY well made!!!  The shape grew on me real quick 'cause I love cars from the 50's and this shape reminds me of a 57 Pontiac tail panel.  The Kahler X-trem plays great and the EMG-HZ reminds me of a Duncan JB model.  You can get vintage vibe or pig squeal out of it.  The bone nut and Grover tuners help the tuning stay on page just nicely.  If you'll notice the cuts on the backside, look how much of a belly cut this guitar has and it just feels "solid" when you play it because it just forms right to you.  It makes for a VERY comfortable guitar to play for long periods sitting or standing.  Also, this guitar has a meaty neck (for those that can appreciate one) so this neck will be stable for years to come. 

So, I thought I would just pass along the knowledge to you all and tell ya to check one out if ya can.

"Cheers" to Mal Stich for puting out a great product!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay Krupka

This is what Jay's friend Mockfrog Jones has to say about the DooDad:

"Yeah this puppy is a screamer.  I have played and mangled this DooDad and it is AWESOME!  Mal, you got something there, Pal.  I am most impressed.  And, I normally don't care for a thick neck, I prefer a thinner neck. But, this is a keeper. I would have this in my collection without a doubt."

Ronny North Test Drives the 34 1/2 
Source: Modern Guitars Magazine

by Ronny North

When I was doing a demo for my sponsor, AMT Pedals, at the Summer NAMM in Nashville this past June, I noticed these cool guitars at a booth a couple spaces down from where I was playing. I was rushing to get to the AMT booth on time to do my demo, so I told the guys at the guitar booth that I would like to come by and check out their guitars after my demo.
As always my demo ran long, so I only had a few minutes before my next demo on the far side of the convention center. I did manage to go to the booth with the guitars and got the low down on them.
The company is called The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company. The founder of the company, Mal Stich, and his son Lothar talked about their guitars while I tried one out acoustically, before plugging it in. Mal worked at BC Rich Guitars during their heyday in the '80s, so he knows a thing or two about guitars. After chatting for a few minutes I had to run to get to my AMT demo.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into Mal and Lothar again at the California World Guitar Show in Pomona,

California. This time I had a chance to sit down and play their guitars. The model that I really liked is called the 34 ½ Guitar. It has a single cutaway body with a flamed maple top on an Agathis body with 25 frets, Kahler trem with a locking nut behind the guitar’s standard nut, and two import EMG HZ passive humbuckers. The body is very comfortable. Even using a Fender amp with no gain, the guitar got great clean sounds and really played well.

Last week the guys from the company were kind enough to send me the 34 ½ guitar to review. After playing the guitar a bit I noticed how well it was built. The frets were great and the finish was well done. The guitar had cool light amber sunburst finish with a mild flame and felt more solid than a lot of budget priced instruments. It’s imported from Korea and setup here in America.

I played the guitar in my studio and ran it both clean and dirty through a tube amp. It really performed great in both situations. I’m really not a fan of EMG pickups, but the passive HZ models on the guitar did a good job and I was able to get very usable sounds. The guitar had great sustain and was relatively light weight. I’m told that the guitar retails for $699.00 which means that the street price will be in the $500.00 range.
My only complaints about the guitar were about the hardware, not the guitar overall. The imported Kahler bridge had a very noticeable rattling when you strummed chords. I do want to note that the guitar did stay in tune when I went nuts with the trem. You could hear the rattling acoustically, although it was barely noticeable through the amp. It was very distracting. My other issue was with the pickups. I felt that the front neck EMG HZ pickup sounded a little boxy when used with distortion. That being said, the pickup got great Strat-like tones when run through a clean amp.

A call to Mal Stich ended up with him telling me that he'd look into both of my concerns with the guitar. He also told me that the company will be offering a stop tail piece option in the near future. The 34 1/2 was a lot of fun to play and would be great for everything from jazz to metal and everything in between. It also has a cool vintage type vibe. If you’re looking to get a cool great playing fun guitar to play that’s also affordable, you really should check these guitars out. I’m thinking about possibly getting one for myself.

 

We’ve attempted to give the designs a vintage or period look incorporating a modern and futuristic touch.  This has taken over four years from their conception to the manufacturing process.

Vermont Band From Jupiter Visits TAGAAC

Chris, Billy, Tom, and Timmy stopped in recently to check out some guitars. They were touring locally for several months in the Ventura area before returning to Vermont to relax and prepare for their spring tour. They lived in Piru for about a month where they became local favs and we were lucky to meet them. Click "Meet Our Friends" for the link to check out their myspace page.

Shep and his new 'Smiling Bull'.

Shep Nelson is one happy guy after taking delivery of his new guitar. As the salesmanager at Nick Alexander MINI in Los Angeles, he's sold more MINI cars in the USA than any other dealer. He chose a Tobacco Sunburst 'Smiling Bull'. Doesn't it make that new MINI look good? When your ready for a new MINI, call Shep. When your ready for a 'Smiling Bull', call us at The Alternative Guitar Company!

We have several guitars in stock and ready to become yours! Contact Mal directly for purchase and payment information click here or use the "buy it now" button in the left menu to view our offers