WHEN MUSICAL VISION
TRANSFORMS THE INSTRUMENT
The Sky Guitar was born from artistic necessity—created when Uli Jon Roth’s musical imagination began to move beyond the natural limits of the conventional electric guitar.
A Musical Idea Without Limits
By the early 1980s, Uli Jon Roth’s compositions were becoming increasingly orchestral. His melodic language demanded a range, clarity and freedom of expression that the traditional electric guitar could no longer provide.
Rather than adapting his music to those limitations, Uli decided to transform the instrument itself.
The idea emerged in 1982, and the first Sky Guitar was built in England in 1983 by master luthier Andreas Demetriou. Its purpose was not innovation for its own sake. Uli wanted an instrument capable of following the full path of a musical idea—from the depth and warmth of a cello register to the highest, most luminous notes of a violin.
“I DESIGNED THE SKY GUITAR IN ORDER TO ENABLE ME TO DO THINGS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE ON TRADITIONAL GUITARS.”
— Uli Jon Roth
From Three and a Half to Almost Six Octaves
A conventional electric guitar covers approximately three and a half octaves. Uli repeatedly found himself reaching the end of its fingerboard while the musical phrase in his imagination still wanted to rise.
The extended fingerboard opened an entirely new upper register. Later seven-string designs expanded the range still further, creating an instrument capable of encompassing almost six octaves and combining aspects of the cello, guitar and violin.
This enabled Uli to perform violin melodies and classical works in their original register rather than transposing them downward. In works such as Transcendental Sky Guitar and Metamorphosis of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the guitar becomes an orchestral voice in its own right.
Designed to Make the Inner Spectrum Audible
The deeper purpose of the Sky Guitar is not simply to produce more notes. Its extended range, distinctive construction, powerful sustain and broad tonal spectrum allow music to unfold in colours that would otherwise remain inaccessible.
In Uli’s hands, the instrument can sing, whisper, soar or assume an almost vocal quality. It can move from the force of an electric guitar to the delicacy of a violin-like phrase without losing its own identity.
This reflects Uli’s synaesthetic understanding of music. He experiences sounds as colours, shapes, movement and emotional qualities. The Sky Guitar was designed to make more of that inner spectrum audible.
Crafted Individually in Germany
Every authentic Sky Guitar begins with one of Uli’s designs and is individually handcrafted in Germany by master luthier Boris Dommenget, who has been the exclusive builder of Uli’s instruments since 2010.
No two Sky Guitars are completely identical. Woods, colours, inlays and individual details give each instrument its own character. They are professional concert instruments, but also lasting works of craftsmanship and visual art.
For Uli, beauty is not an ornamental addition to function. Appearance, balance, sound and responsiveness belong to the same artistic whole. A Sky Guitar should inspire the musician before the first note has even been played.
Aquila, Pegasus and Unicorn
The evolving Sky Guitar family is organized around three distinct characters. Each approaches tone, response and musical purpose from a different direction while remaining true to the same underlying vision.
AQUILA
Descended from the Stratocaster tradition, Aquila instruments combine clarity and versatility with a greatly extended upper register. They are natural all-rounders for players moving between rhythm, lead and highly expressive virtuoso work.
PEGASUS
Pegasus instruments favour warmer woods, facilitated access to the highest frets and a rich, highly flexible tonal palette. They are conceived as powerful tools for adventurous lead players and musical shape-shifters.
UNICORN
The newest family includes fixed-bridge, semi-acoustic and hybrid concepts. Unicorn instruments emphasize stability, resonance and chordal depth—a more restrained, poetic character for players guided by tone and nuance.
More Than a Historical Model
The Sky Guitar is not a single historical model but a continuously evolving family of instruments. Six-, seven- and extended-string versions, acoustic and electric concepts, new pickup systems and individual artistic designs have emerged from the same original vision.
UJR Sky Guitars was founded in 2017 as the natural continuation of that journey. Its purpose is to preserve the authenticity of Uli’s designs while continuing to explore what the electric guitar may yet become.
Each new model represents another stage in an artistic process that began more than four decades ago—and remains open to discovery.
Authentic Instruments, Individually Made
Authentic new Sky Guitars are offered exclusively through UJR Sky Guitars. Each instrument is built to order, carries its own character and can be discussed in relation to the player’s artistic preferences while remaining faithful to Uli’s design philosophy.
They are conceived for the concert stage, studio and home: instruments to be played, works of craftsmanship to be contemplated and lasting objects to be preserved.
GIVING MUSIC NEW WINGS
The Sky Guitar was never intended to replace the traditional electric guitar. It exists because some musical ideas require a different instrument.
It gives composers and performers access to a wider canvas: more register, more colour and more freedom to follow an idea wherever it may lead. In that sense, the Sky Guitar is both an instrument and a philosophy.
It embodies the belief that imagination should not be limited by convention—and that when an existing instrument can no longer express the music one hears within, the artist must create a new one.