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Kiesel is back with an all-new guitar shape, which is set to serve as the spiritual sibling to its flagship Aries range.
The Kiesel Antares takes its name from Ancient Greek, and essentially means “rival to Ares”, the god of war. That, then, should tell you what you need to know about this guitar: it’s a weaponized metal guitar ready to step into battle.
It continues the ongoing movement to keep the electric guitar fresh, which in recent years has been spearheaded by brands such as Eastman, Abasi Concepts, Ernie Ball Music Man, Powers Electric and more.
The push to release new body shapes seems to be gathering serious momentum. More variety in metal guitars, especially when it comes to the S-type-dominated extended range market, is always welcome.
Visually, the Antares has a chiseled offset body akin to other popular modern metal guitars, while its scythe-like headstock is taken from the Kiesel Kyber.
This being a Keisel, its specs are extremely customizable, with seven different body woods on offer including alder, mahogany, walnut, and regular or roasted swamp ash. There are also 15 top and fingerboard woods to choose from.
It’s available in 25.5” and 26.5” scale lengths for six-string variants, 25.5” and 27” for seven-string, and 27” for eight-string, with multi-scale options available for all three string counts.
As standard, there are 24 frets, but Kiesel is also debuting its first-ever 27 fret fingerboards here, because more is most certainly more.
There are four bridge options: an Ever-Tune, Floyd Rose, Hipshot trem, and Hipshot fixed. For electronics, choose from active Fishman Fluence humbuckers or passive Kiesel Lithium, Thorium, and Vantium ‘buckers.
Kiesel also believes the new body shape, via a purposeful bevel, is as comfy as it gets, which isn’t always something that guitars with such wild silhouettes can say.
“In 2015, the Aries marked a notable turning point for the Kiesel brand, shifting from classic, soft shapes to an aggressive, metal-leaning design,” says Kiesel. “Now, with over a decade cemented in the scene and partnerships with industry legends, Kiesel Guitars takes the next step.”
“It’s got a more aggressive, totally ground-up styling,” adds founder Jeff Kiesel. “It’s more angular, and I’m excited about this guitar”
The Antares’ wildly varying specs mean prices vary, but the starting price is $1,699 with a deposit of $340 deposit.
See Kiesel for more.