Borys Custom Archtop

[TD]

Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!

Don't mind me.

[ott...@hotmail.com]

On Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:15:34 UTC-7, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee! Don't mind me.

Neat, what were the custom specs, any idea of expected delivery time?
Bg

[van]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Congrats! IMHO you're buying a D'Aquisto- at 1/10 the price.
Roger apprenticed with Jimmy for five years, so be prepared to hear a lot of Jimmy stories, if you haven't already.
The last time I spoke to Paul Bollenback, he said he wanted to get a Borys archtop to go with his Borys Jazz Solid body, for quieter things.
The necks on his Jazz solid-bodies are just fuckin' unbelievable.
If things work out, I'm gonna get me one of them.

[TD]

His stories and mine overlap. I knew of Roger from way back. His necks are so hip that before he mounts them with the bodies, they throw a party for each other.

[TD]

6 months. I can do that standing on my 175.

[Steve Freides]

Because this was a new name to me, I googled it - found some horror
stories. I'm sure they're the exception and not the rule but it seemed
prudent to mention it. Everyone seems to love his instruments.

-S-

[Gerry]

He's a master luthier, innovator, and now a living legend. But that
doesn't always mean he's 100% consistent, a nice guy every day of the
week, or as crisp and attentive as the the man who wears the star, the
big bright Texaco star.
--
Music is the best means we have of digesting time. -- W. H. Auden

[TD]

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." --Mark Twain

[Steve Freides]

Gerry wrote:
> On 2013-04-06 18:22:44 +0000, Steve Freides said:
>
>> TD wrote:
>>> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today.
>>> oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>>>
>>> Don't mind me.
>>
>> Because this was a new name to me, I googled it - found some horror
>> stories. I'm sure they're the exception and not the rule but it
>> seemed prudent to mention it. Everyone seems to love his
>> instruments.
>
> He's a master luthier, innovator, and now a living legend. But that
> doesn't always mean he's 100% consistent, a nice guy every day of the
> week, or as crisp and attentive as the the man who wears the star, the
> big bright Texaco star.

The things you read when you Google his name - in addition to raves
about his guitars - are a pretty fair distance from not being a nice guy
every day of the week. The first link has a couple of different folks
saying they got stiffed.

I have no horse in this race, just reporting what I read, and I'll bow
out of this here.

-S-

[TD]

But you just had to come back to expound upon it, nonetheless. No problem. He is one of the nicest people I've ever known. He makes great guitars and if anything, he is greatly understated. He is a superior builder and he vastly undercharges in comparison to so many "artists" out there. He is proud of his work and never sold out. He is not insecure like a few "well known" builders who constantly GIVE AWAY guitars to players in the limelight in order to cop plastic recognition. Such players, for the most part turn around and sell them for profit. He has done numerous repairs for myself and my friends. He has never ripped off any of my friends who have ordered guitars. The internet can be a cruel scene, as you well know. Now THAT is the truth and not that stuff that you just had to bring our attention to; a very old story (or stories) that you simply haven't heard Roger's side. I posted that I am very excited by a guitar he is making for me. That was the thread. But you just had to "report" some negative shit you read and now you 'graciously' bow out. Nice job.

[Gerry]

On 2013-04-06 19:38:51 +0000, Steve Freides said:

>> He's a master luthier, innovator, and now a living legend. But that
>> doesn't always mean he's 100% consistent, a nice guy every day of the
>> week, or as crisp and attentive as the the man who wears the star, the
>> big bright Texaco star.
>
> The things you read when you Google his name - in addition to raves
> about his guitars - are a pretty fair distance from not being a nice
> guy every day of the week. The first link has a couple of different
> folks saying they got stiffed.

Yeah, I read those a couple of years ago. I think that falls more into
my "not being 100% consistent" comment.

> I have no horse in this race, just reporting what I read, and I'll bow
> out of this here.

No need--I'm just trying to provide some tempering comments. I handled
a few multi-million dollar clients and projects and 98% of my work was
flawless and deserving of high praise. There were a couple that sank
like a stone too. We humans are funny that way.

The real point is this: Is Roger's work best exemplified by a couple of
clients who had a most negative experience and considered it worthy of
'net advertising? Or by the other 98%. Or is it 80%? Or 20%?

With custom work in operations that have a total of one or two workman,
whether it's guitars, flooring, or plumbing, it's just not going to be
100% predictable.

I'm buying a back up hard drive today, because it's on sale and looks
like a great value. I googled it and found a few buyers that were
livid the thing imploded. What percentage of the hard drives they make
had that response? Tough to know.

[Tim]

The old saying ' you can't please everybody' always reigns supreme!.
But if the good far outweighs the bad then what can we say?

[james seaberry]

I just read that he kidnapped the Lindbergh baby.......no wait, that was me....sorry.

[Tim]

"I AM SPARTACUS!!"

[van]

Like Tony said, we're talking about a guy who has basically lived WOOD and Jazz guitar his entire life. Just the list of people that he has been intimately associated with- Bucky, Jimmy D'AQ, Paul Bollenback, Joe Pass, Emily Remler, Jimmy Wyble, Jack Wilkins, Paul Meyers, Barry Galbraith, the list goes on and on- is awe-inspiring. Call any of them (that are still living) and ask them about him. Even a skinflint such as myself, threw in some bucks for the Hurricane Sandy Relief party we held for him, after his shop was flooded with over four feet of water.
The fact that he relies on word-of-mouth, and never advertises, doesn't have a website, doesn't go to guitar shows, etc... leaves him open to whatever people want to say about him publicly, without PR to contradict it.
However, like Gerry said, and as I was just discussing today with a member of the NG, while we loaded his couch into a U-Haul truck ; - ), there are a bunch of good guitar makers out there, and none of them turns out a perfect guitar every time, or hasn't had a negative experience once in a while.
I paid 7K for a guitar by another luthier, who is said to have put 250 hours into some of his builds, and received a POS that I was thankfully able to get a refund on. After that experience, I realized no one is perfect, and it's best to just find an axe you like, and get whatever work done on it that needs to be done, and practice a lot.

[Gerry]

On 2013-04-07 01:12:19 +0000, van said:

> I paid 7K for a guitar by another luthier, who is said to have put 250
> hours into some of his builds, and received a POS that I was thankfully
> able to get a refund on. After that experience, I realized no one is
> perfect, and it's best to just find an axe you like, and get whatever
> work done on it that needs to be done, and practice a lot.

You're right. Still, having Borys build a custom guitar just for you…

[Steve Freides]

TD wrote:

> But you just had to come back to expound upon it, nonetheless. No
> problem. He is one of the nicest people I've ever known. He makes
> great guitars and if anything, he is greatly understated. He is a
> superior builder and he vastly undercharges in comparison to so many
> "artists" out there. He is proud of his work and never sold out. He
> is not insecure like a few "well known" builders who constantly GIVE
> AWAY guitars to players in the limelight in order to cop plastic
> recognition. Such players, for the most part turn around and sell
> them for profit. He has done numerous repairs for myself and my
> friends. He has never ripped off any of my friends who have ordered
> guitars. The internet can be a cruel scene, as you well know. Now
> THAT is the truth and not that stuff that you just had to bring our
> attention to; a very old story (or stories) that you simply haven't
> heard Roger's side. I posted that I am very excited by a guitar he is
> making for me. That was the thread. But you just had to "report" some
> negative shit you read and now you 'graciously' bow out. Nice job.

I posted what I found. I didn't post the other side because I didn't
find it.

If there's another side that you know about, how about if you post it
instead of complaining that I didn't post what I couldn't possibly have
known?

I tried to be helpful and I tried to be gracious. I thought my comments
were relevant. My intentions were, and are, honorable. If you'd like
to continue the conversation, I use a real name and email address here,
my telephone number is listed and, if you're in or near NYC, I'll buy
you a cup of coffee and we can talk about it in person.

-S-

[TD]

You must be joking. Your comments are not relevant on this thread at all. You were not honorable at all. You dig up old dirt on a builder I respect and many other players respect and for what reason on this thread? You wanted to be honest and honorable? Why didn't you contact me off line instead of trying to go along with an old program of a few people who did all they could to slander a good man? You don't know Roger. You ever had a problem with him? We don't have to bring Roger's side of the story into **your mix**. The fact that you posted a one sided story is the subject matter. And you wrote: "how about if you post it

instead of complaining that I didn't post what I couldn't possibly have

known?" Oh so now *I* am the old lady gossip spreader here?

I complain about you writing the negativity, period. If you are really that interested, why don't you act like a man and phone Roger yourself to find out the other side. If at that point you don't like his side, then you are most welcome to start your own thread.

[Gerry]

On 2013-04-07 02:53:21 +0000, Steve Freides said:

> I thought my comments were relevant. My intentions were, and are, honorable.

I believe that. Don't worry about it.

[mark cleary]

"van" wrote in message
news:5f2d704c-de8e-4a36...@googlegroups.com...

I would like to know who it was but you can e mall me private. Just curious
since I worked with luthier's in the past and not everyone has the same
experience.


Deacon Mark Cleary
Epiphany Catholic Church

[Steve Freides]

TD wrote:

> You must be joking.

No.

> Your comments are not relevant on this thread at
> all. You were not honorable at all.

You're entitled to your opinion. If your newsreader has a killfile, I
suggest you add me to yours if you don't want to read what I have to
say. That's what killfiles are for.

Your idea of it being somehow bad to change a topic of a Usenet thread
is simply beyond ridiculous - everyone does it, in this newsgroup and
elsewhere, and in ways _lots_ less relevant to the original subject than
what I did here.

> You dig up old dirt on a builder
> I respect and many other players respect and for what reason on this
> thread? You wanted to be honest and honorable? Why didn't you contact
> me off line instead of trying to go along with an old program of a
> few people who did all they could to slander a good man? You don't
> know Roger. You ever had a problem with him? We don't have to bring
> Roger's side of the story into **your mix**. The fact that you posted
> a one sided story is the subject matter. And you wrote: "how about if
> you post it
>
> instead of complaining that I didn't post what I couldn't possibly
> have
>
> known?" Oh so now *I* am the old lady gossip spreader here?

I didn't say that.

And, hey, I didn't "dig up" - I googled the guy's name and posted what
showed up in the very first hit, and I even went to the trouble, since
it was bad stuff, to read a bunch of further postings and say, "I'm sure
the bad things are the exception and not the rule."

> I complain about you writing the negativity, period. If you are
> really that interested, why don't you act like a man and phone Roger
> yourself to find out the other side. If at that point you don't like
> his side, then you are most welcome to start your own thread.

Please lighten up when someone doesn't see things the way you do, or
start your own forum and make yourself the moderator. Clearly I have
rained on your new guitar parade and I'm sorry to have done that. I
hope you get your instrument and it turns out to be everything you're
hoping it will be and more.

I am _so_ done with this thread - the last word here is yours if you
wish it.

Have a nice life.

-S-

[TD]

LOL

[SB]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 7:15:34 PM UTC-7, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Congratulations !!! Excellent choice by far IMO. It is great to know guitar preferences that maestro players like yourself choose. Besides the much envied ES175D. Thank you for sharing Tony.

[Russ Hanchin]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:

> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Congrats! Roger built my B120 twenty years ago and it's still my main axe. I get compliments all the time of how nice that guitar sounds. It's the one I'll never let go of. FYI, back then it took me 18 months to get it. Seemed like forever, but was definitely worth the wait!

Cheers,
Russ

www.reverbnation.com/russhanchin
www.russhanchin.com

[ott...@hotmail.com]

On Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:15:34 UTC-7, TD wrote:

> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee! Don't mind me.

I'm still curious about what your custom specs were.
Bigger/smaller than your old 175, one pickup or 2 ,or a floater
I'm assuming a spruce top and ebony board, different scale length?

Bg

[jjt...@gmail.com]

--
You know, I don't post here very often, but I check in (lurk) now and then.

I recently went over to Roger Borys' shop in Hoboken (with a friend some of you may know) because I needed some work done to fix the intonation on my guitar. He offered to notch a couple of places on the wooden bridge, but I told him I'd rather have one of his bridges. (Do a Google image search if you wanna see one.) He said sure, no problem. The only thing he asked me was whether I played the guitar mostly acoustically or electrically. It's an archtop. I said electrically.

He went to a bin and grabbed a piece of ebony and proceeded to carve a new bridge, put it on my guitar and do a quick setup. The whole process took about an hour. The intonation is now perfect, and the sound which was already fantastic is noticeably better.

Roger charged me a very reasonable price, cheap actually, and was a super-nice guy. I don't care what other people are saying about him, he's all right with me.

John

[TD]

e-mail.

[van]

If you went to the D'Angelico ehxibit at the MET, and saw the film of Jimmy D building a guitar, you'd know where Roger got his skill from. He apprenticed and was in business with Jimmy for five years.
I brought my B-120 in for a fret job, and Roger had all the frets off in less than half an hour, while carrying on a conversation with me at the same time.

[TD]

I just spent the afternoon with Roger. He did some minor adjustments on my 175. We had a nice lunch together along with guitarist, Bill Wurtzel. It's always an education concerning guitar construction and the physics involved, along with and study of how wood resonates, for me whenever I am around him. He patiently explains everything, which I find is yet another aspect of his congeniality. He has the body for my new guitar almost finished. I gave it a big hug before I left the shop.

[Gerry]

On 2013-04-11 18:40:39 +0000, TD said:

> I just spent the afternoon with Roger. He did some minor adjustments on
> my 175. We had a nice lunch together along with guitarist, Bill
> Wurtzel. It's always an education concerning guitar construction and
> the physics involved, along with and study of how wood resonates, for
> me whenever I am around him. He patiently explains everything, which I
> find is yet another aspect of his congeniality. He has the body for my
> new guitar almost finished. I gave it a big hug before I left the shop.

Right, right--so what did you have for lunch?

[van]

Yeah, and I hope BW paid!

[TD]

haha! t'was I this go 'round.

[van]

Oh man, how many times have I told you, never pass up a free meal.; -)
On the gig yesterday, the waitress told us our choices of dinners, and because she had a thick accent, I thought she said "lobster", which I ordered.
Turned out she meant roast beef! I'm doing the low carb/high fat thing now, so I scarfed it up, anyway.

[TD]

So, I guess you had no need for a nutcracker.

[van]

No, but she should've taken a crack at my nuts after that screw up; - )

[GuyB]

The late, but still great, Emily Remler on her Roger Borys guitar, from her classic hot licks VHS videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPD3awAooo

I think this is a great sounding guitar.

Guy

[Gerry]

I bet it is, though the audio has lost so much fidelity and gained so
much distortion in its route thorugh life, one might not know it.

[TD]

Yea, Roger and I are now discussing the possibility of an additional axe; a semi solid body, with particular specs, idea I have envisioned. ooooooh-weeeeeeeee.....

[SB]

Wow... I am soooo jealous. I own a couple of Victor Baker hand made guitars and they play hands down better than any axes I've ever played from commercial vendors; store bought guitars; except for old Gibson I've owned. Nothing is like having an axe set up perfectly for the guy playing it. Mine are also like art: beautiful: no plastic and very little metal. Victor uses metal tail pieces but to keep the wood look the tail piece is under an ebony tail piece. One of a kind woods: alpine cello spruce from Slovina, Madagascar mahogany (now rare), Canadian flamed maple. Worth the money IMO. He also makes laminates, carved, and thin line axes. No complaints. Excellent product. I just tend to beat them up on the road is all. I don't see how luthiers make money when solid tuners alone are hundreds of dollars. Geez.

[jtrox...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 8:15:34 PM UTC-6, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Hi,
I'm curious as to how I can get in touch with Rodger Borys. I'd like to order one of his guitars.

[TD]

e mail me.

[van]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

I've got the worst GAS for this (SBJ) since my pre-colonoscopy period...

[van]

Whoops, forgot the link;
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Borys+Guitar

[thomas]

On Saturday, September 21, 2013 4:40:20 PM UTC-4, van wrote:
>
> Whoops, forgot the link;
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Borys+Guitar

"Hand carved solid body, hollow inside."

Something doesn't add up....

[TD]

On Saturday, September 21, 2013 4:39:27 PM UTC-4, van wrote:

LOL

[van]

I think the guy means it's chambered inside.

[Gerry]

My guess is he meant "hand carved solid top/soundboard", hollow body.
It sounds like whoever is selling it isn't a guitarist anyway.
--
Those who wish to sing always find a song. -- Swedish proverb

[thomas]

I think it's a small archtop with no F-holes, like the old Guild Bluesbird or the Hofner Club 40 from the 1950s and 60. I don't know of a name for this style of construction.

[Pt]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 9:15:34 PM UTC-5, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Are you wealthy or what?
Who in their right mind would blow thousands of dollars on a guitar?

Pt

[thomas]

On Saturday, September 21, 2013 6:05:29 PM UTC-4, Pt wrote:
>
> Are you wealthy or what?
> Who in their right mind would blow thousands of dollars on a guitar?

Someone with no dogs in his house. Or cats, or small children.

[Gerry]

Don't you think your Borys is worth that much?

[rpjazzguitar]

I have blown a lot of money on guitars over the years.

And yet, somehow, my main gigging instrument right now is a Yamaha Pacifica 012. It came new in a kit with an amp, cable etc for $179.

I recently compared it to a new G&L in a store. I was hoping to get a guitar with a meatier upper end for soloing, while retaining the single coil sound for chording. The Yamaha is a little thin and sizzly sounding (if that makes sense) up past the 12th on the E string. The G&L was worse.

I'm still looking, but the very slim neck, perfect intonation (it had gone out, so I replaced the strings for the first time in 6 months or more and the intonation came back spot-on with no adjustment needed) and adequate sound of the Yamaha prevail for the moment.

Go figure.

[TD]

On Saturday, September 21, 2013 6:05:29 PM UTC-4, Pt wrote:

The same mind who would never address such a question.

[Tony Done]

I'm a fan of cheap solidbodies, I just put decent P90s in a damaged
pawnshop Peavey Raptor. All up cost about $220, plus a couple or three
days work. It works very nicely for what I want - slide.

Anyway, back on topic. I assume the pickup configuration is HSS. First
up, are you using the humbucker for solo and a single coil for rhythm?
If so, then have you thought about replacing the humbucker with
something a bit meatier? Not sure what, because I'm sure your tonal
ambitions are different to mine. However, there is plenty of info on the
Seymour Duncan site.

--
Tony Done

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456

http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/

[van]

I've been in Roger's shop, and both played on one of these, and seen him building one of them.
He calls this construction, 'chambered construction'; it looks like the catacombs inside that thing.
When I played it, I begged him to trade my B-120 for it, but he doesn't do trades. The neck on that thing is every bit as good as any D'Angelico or D'Aquisto I've ever played.
Electrically, it's got the most concentrated jazz sound I've ever heard in my life. It's not as good acoustically as my B-120, because it's got no F-holes.
Suffice it to say that one of the best guitar players in the world, Paul Bollenback is using that guitar as his first guitar on his gig with Joey DeFrancesco, and his jazz gigs, so if that doesn't tell you something, nothing will.
I gave Paul a ride after meeting him at Roger's once, and I begged him to trade me that axe for my B-120, but he wouldn't bite.
He said he was going to get a B-120 for his quieter gigs, but I don't know if he ever did. He also had a semi-hollow Borys that he either sold or was selling.
I'm going to give Roger a buzz about this axe.

[rpjazzguitar]

It's HSS. I never use the humbucker. Same for my genuine Fender. The bridge position just sounds harsh to me.

I did try a Lil 59 in the neck position of the Fender. It didn't really solve the problem (plinkiness up high) and I ended up feeling like I lost what I liked about the guitar -- that single coil sound in the middle of the neck. I put the stock pickup back in.

I gigged with the Yamaha last night. I brought the D'A EXDC but never took it out of the case. I put new strings on the Yamaha and I got my son to help me carry the Boogie Mark III ("Dad, this doesn't weigh that much"). With that amp, the Yamaha just sparkled -- of course, whether or not I wanted sparkle. But, notably, the high end was thin, but not as thin, as with my usual amp (the one I can lift), a JC55.

The gig was 4 horns, guitar, bass and drums, so I was mostly comping and reading the occasional horn-type line. The guitar wasn't perfect (maybe a little too bright on the few solos, maybe a little rubbery with the 10-46's) but it was fine. After all the craving for pricier instruments, it feels weird to be gigging with something that costs in the Cheap POS range.

Another thing I found interesting. The intonation was flat on most of the old strings, which had been on the guitar for months. After I put on the new strings I checked the intonation and it was spot on. I didn't have to touch it. That's a pretty stable neck.

[GuyB]

Are there any clips on Youtube of Paul Bollenback playing the small bodied Borys guitar?

[thomas]

Didn't you have one of those Forshage solid bodies? What happened to that?

[GuyB]

I think this is a clip of Paul Bollenback playing the small bodied Borys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3WHtNeo8Q

[Tony Done]

Seems like you've covered a lot of options, so I'm almost out of ideas,
at least for the moment. A little delay might fix the plink when playing
solo by thickening the sound.

I've tried a few Mesa amps, and just love their chimey echoey clean
sound for slide. - But not the kind of thing I would have expected a
jazzer to be looking for.

I'll just jump on one of my hobbyhorses here. The (solid, semihollow)
guitar is just a fancy lump of wood, forget names on headstocks and
price. Go for playability, desired pickup configuration and looks you
can live with, then work on the amplification chain - pickups, FX, amp.

[rpjazzguitar]

I don't have a Forshage. In fact, I'd never heard of it until now. They look interesting on the web. You must be thinking of a different poster.

[rpjazzguitar]

I appreciate the help/discussion.

The Boogie sounds fabulous for jazz, among other things. It really has a very broad range of possible sounds. The main problem with it, other than weight, is that every knob affects every other knob, so that it's kind of a bear to adjust. Set 1, it sounds great, Set 2, the place fills up, you want a little more volume, or a little more treble, or something, be prepared to adjust every knob on the front of the amp, and don't forget the presence knob in the back.

Also, the thing has three volume controls, not counting the effect on volume of the treble control. To that, add two volumes on a two humbucker guitar and a volume pedal and you've got 6 volume controls in your system. It's not just figuring out gain structure, it's trying to keep track of how everything is set so that you can adjust it without screwing anything up.

That said, I think the reason it doesn't have a good reputation among jazzers is that some of them live in 4 floor walkups in NYC and take the subway to gigs. Those guys want a Lunchbox in a custom plastic case filled with helium.

[van]

On Monday, September 23, 2013 4:09:26 PM UTC-4, GuyB wrote:
> I think this is a clip of Paul Bollenback playing the small bodied Borys.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3WHtNeo8Q

Yeah, that's it, smokin'!

[thomas]

On Monday, September 23, 2013 4:49:02 PM UTC-4, rpjazzguitar wrote:
> I don't have a Forshage. In fact, I'd never heard of it until now. They look interesting on the web. You must be thinking of a different poster.>

I thought you were this guy, who shares your login name:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtK310fJsdc

Sorry, my bad.

[RS]

On Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:54:43 -0700 (PDT), rpjazzguitar
<rpjazz...@gmail.com> wrote:

>It's HSS. I never use the humbucker. Same for my genuine Fender. The
>bridge position just sounds harsh to me.

I've heard some good jazz guys use the bridge with reasonable
success, but that's not easy. Generally needs a very different touch.

>I did try a Lil 59 in the neck position of the Fender. It didn't
> really solve the problem (plinkiness up high) and I ended up feeling
> like I lost what I liked about the guitar -- that single coil sound
> in the middle of the neck. I put the stock pickup back in.

The Lil '59 is probably best-of-breed as buckerish-sounding
strat-sized pickups go. But the narrow magnetic aperture is never
going to sound like a wide bucker. And as you noticed, the magical
sounds that you can get from a single coil are not going to happen at
all.

Here are two ways to go:

Seymour Duncan makes a wide bucker called the "Stag Mag." It's a wide
bucker that's built much like two side-by-side single coils. The
coils in regular buckers are coupled via a common magnet structure, so
even when one of the coils is switched out, there is still a
horseshoe-shaped mag field. And normal buckers will not have as many
turns of wire on an individual coil as a normal strat pickup. The
Stag-Mag does. But the down-sides are that you'd have to rout for it.
And though the double coil mode will sound way more buckerish, it's
not going to sound exactly like a regular bucker. Those are the
tradeoffs.

The other route, which may work better: Keep the stock strat pickup.
Find a foot-switchable EQ pedal, preferably a 'parametric' rather than
'graphic' (Graphic has a bunch of sliders preset to different
frequencies.) Boost the range around 800 Hz, with very gradual
rolloff on both sides (A sharp 'High-Q' peak will sound too wah-ish.
Gradual peak will not) Roll the top off above 5KHz. That will give a
roughly bucker-like response curve. There will be way more body to
the sound, and rich punchy presence to single notes.

You can test-drive this first by hooking up a graphic EQ to verify the
concept, but I recommend going with a parametric once you've
established that it will work for you. Graphic EQ's are typically
heavy with components and have more odd phase shifts. Parametrics
should sound smoother, and you'll be able to fine-tune the frequency
and Q (sharpness) of the boosted range.

Let me know if you decide to do try that. FWIW, in my own amp
designs, I've used 800hz as a mid-boost frequency for doing just that.
So this is not just an arbitrary guess. But you may want to adjust to
your taste and to the amp that you're using. (Again, parametric would
be ideal)

[RS]

On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 02:54:41 -0400, RS <R...@sorrynospam.com> wrote:

>Seymour Duncan makes a wide bucker called the "Stag Mag."

Forgot to post the link:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/high-output/sh3_stag_mag/

Don't let 'high output' throw you. It's not a shredder pickup. The
output is relatively high because it's essentially two strat pickups
in series. Individual alnico II pole pieces for each coil.

[Tony Done]

Had a look. It has vintage stagger poles, so I personally wouldn't
chance it if I was using a plain 3rd string, or unless I knew I could
alter the pole height.

[bob_h...@yahoo.com]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Is he located in Vermont or Hoboken?

[van]

Hoboken.

[David J. Littleboy]

"van" wrote:
>
> Is he located in Vermont or Hoboken?

Hoboken.
<<<<<<<<<<<<

The birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra. Can't be al bad.

-- David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

[Gerry]

On 2013-09-26 22:17:03 +0000, David J. Littleboy said:

> "van" wrote:
>>
>> Is he located in Vermont or Hoboken?
>
> Hoboken.
> <<<<<<<<<<<<
>
> The birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra. Can't be al bad.

It's changed since then...

[bob_h...@yahoo.com]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Any contact info for Roger Borys?

[Jonathan]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

I'm curious what scale length you prefer.

[esteba...@gmavt.net]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!

---

sadly selling my Borys 120 [1982] [prototype]
the very first one Roger built

he put it in my hands in 1985
i have it on consignment, locally
here in Vermont at musicstorelive
[it's up on E-bay, also]

and Van, when you speak to Roger next,
please say hello from me and pass on my regrets
as he practically [seriously] gave me this beautiful guitar - i'm sorry i >have< to sell it,
to my eternal chagrin
knowing Roger, he'll just shake his head and shrug

all the best, to you all
esteban folsom
[steven]

[TD]

25.1

[rpagn...@gmail.com]

Il giorno venerdì 5 aprile 2013 04:15:34 UTC+2, TD ha scritto:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
>
>
> Don't mind me.

Hi,

how did order it? I cannot get hold of him...can you give me his address?
Thanks,
Ciao,
Roberto

[Mark Guest]

On Monday, September 23, 2013 3:54:43 PM UTC-4, rpjazzguitar wrote:

But, notably, the high end was thin, but not as thin, as with my usual amp (the one I can lift), a JC55.

Thin, plinky high end makes me think fret noise. Especially with spiderman strings.... I wonder if it might sound less "plinky" if the action was raised.

[rpagn...@gmail.com]

Il giorno lunedì 30 settembre 2013 14:51:44 UTC+2, bob_h...@yahoo.com ha scritto:
> On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
>
> > Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
> >
>

> > Hi can you give me his address or phone?
Thanks,
Regards,
Roberto

[TD]

I do not give such information out on an open forum. You can e mail me and also tell me more about you first. That OK?

[jeffrey....@uvm.edu]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>

> Don't mind me.

I knew Roger when had his shop in Shelburne, Vt. He set up my Heritage Eagle a few times. He was always nice to me; had good stories, encouraged me -- not at first, but after about the third trip to the shop, over a few years -- to try out his guitars with a dusty old Polytone he had on the shop floor. That was when I got hooked on his instruments; beautiful tone, incredible playability. Now that he's impossible to get a hold of or find, I'd like to buy one of his guitars. A long wait is fine. How does one go about that?

[jeffrey....@uvm.edu]

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:15:34 PM UTC-4, TD wrote:
> Ordered my archtop with custom specs from Roger Borys today. oooooooooooooh-weeeeeeeeeeee!
>
> Don't mind me.

I knew Roger when had his shop in Shelburne, Vt. He set up my Heritage Eagle a few times. He was always pleasant and funny, told great stories, encouraged me to try out his guitars. Now that he's impossible to find or contact, I'd like to order one of his instruments. How do you go about that?

[jeffrey....@uvm.edu]

[Tim]

Jeffrey, according to this thread it's thought that his shop was taken out by Hurricane Sandy. No further info given. For shame...

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/32982-new-roger-borys-archtop-price.html

[van]

On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 11:39:06 AM UTC-5, Tim wrote:
> Jeffrey, according to this thread it's thought that his shop was taken out by Hurricane Sandy. No further info given. For shame...
>
> http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/32982-new-roger-borys-archtop-price.html

While Roger's shop was completely flooded by Sandy, he saved everything except for some machine that was too heavy to lift, and we held a benefit party for him shortly after that raised enough bread to buy a new machine.

In the last year, Roger's made guitars for such well-known guitarists as Tony DeCaprio and Vic Juris, so his shop was only out of commission for a very short time.
I don't know why that guy that lives on the West Coast felt compelled to blurt that out.

[van]

Change that last sentence to Florida.

[Tim]

Van, that was great that you could raise a benefit for him and that he's building again. Do you have any contact info? Seems the ' net is pretty vague unless I'm missing it...

[Tim]

Huh- I did find a facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/roger.borys