Rare Guitars: Tyler Bryant’s Meloduende, aka “The Big Fish”

Tyler Bryant has had a guitar slung around him since the tender age of six. Now 29, the Texan musician has toured with greats such as Joe Bonamassa and Lynyrd Skynyrd, received a signature pedal from Rodenberg, and released several albums and EPs with his band The Shakedown. Unsurprisingly, he has a guitar collection to swoon over.

We recently spoke to Bryant in his Nashville home about his collection – but before we publish the full interview, here’s a little teaser: his Meloduende, lovingly christened “The Big Fish”.

The Big Fish

This 335-sized custom electric was made by Meloduende in France. “I’d seen the one that Scott [Holiday] had, but I never knew who made it,” Tyler explains. “Bertrand from Meloduende reached out to me through Instagram and said ‘Hey, I’d love for you to try a guitar,’ and he sent me this and it just sounds unbelievable.”

Oversized custom control knobs are a feature of Meloduende instruments. “I wanna get some of these knobs for other guitars,” he enthuses. “They are so sick! If the light hits it right, you can see that it has gold paint on the neck, it’s very cool. Yeah this thing sounds unreal. It’s got these really crazy harmonic overtones.

“I was hesitant to pull the trigger because I’m such a Strat guy, but it’s cool to have different colours in the colouring box, you know, different tools. Especially when you are going into the studio. That’s kind of how I got into D’Angelico stuff, too. It’s the same thing with the old Nationals and stuff… I just love guitars!”

Stay tuned for more guitars in his collection.