During the years we ran the L.A. Guitar Garage repair shop in Echo Park countless players of the Los Angeles music scene became our customers. Taking care of their guitars, which had been exposed to long hard hours of touring, gigging, and studio work taught us about what is needed in a dependable instrument, a platform for creativity and professional musicianship.

This experience has been distilled into the Totem-X concept, where the emphasis lies on the musical instrument aspect. It was conceived as a more production-oriented version of the Totemguitar, each still an individual piece of art in the package of a simple but versatile guitar, while the standardization of the line allowed for a price level that made it a more affordable personal tool for everyday use rather than a luxury item.

39 original series TOTEM-X were made during 2007 - 2008, before our move to Europe in 2009.   

Like the original series, the TOTEM-X.2 puts the emphasis squarely on the musical instrument aspect; it is a solid and straight-forward guitar, without compromises when it comes to the craft and the instrument quality. It fulfills every expectation one might have of a superior sounding instrument. This series will be limited to 10 instruments.

Prime tone wood bodies are topped with Michael’s artistic collages made from reclaimed woods. During the making of any guitar quite a bit of wood remnants are created, which generally find their way into the trash or become firewood. Michael collects these pieces and uses them for his 3-D collages. Different colours and textures combine into unique pieces, each body a canvas for his art.  It would not be Michael if he did not infuse even his most production-oriented instruments with his unique signature art.

TOTEM-X.2 are individually handmade in our workshop Austria; and same as the original series, they also use reclaimed wood for the tops. The Totem-X.2 series has an Alder body with a Maple neck, a 25 ½" scale Indian Rosewood fingerboard and is fitted with a TV Jones Powertron in the neck and a Lindy Fralin HO humbucker (splittable) in the bridge.  Gotoh vintage style tuners, a Hipshot fixed bridge and Dunlop Straplocks complete the package.