LS-17
lukejazz
Lukejazz
Carl
> Has anyone here tried or bought the Sadowsky LS-17?
>
> Lukejazz
>
>
concept, buy it. You won't go wrong.
Do realize it is the body size and scale length of a Gibson L-5 but it has a
laminated top, not a solid carved one. It's not supposed to be a copy of the
L-5, but a guitar that has the feel of one.
You can find some helpful commentary on the LS-17 here:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=605889
lukejazz
Thank you Carl
Luke
Carl
the kid who got stars from his teacher! :-)
Carl
NOSPAMc...@NOSPAMoptonline.net. Just, of course, remove the "NOSPAMS".
I actually do own 3 of the 4 archtops and am a fan of the company. I have no
vested interest though, so don't get that wrong idea.
Bg
>
> I actually do own 3 of the 4 archtops and am a fan of the company. I have no
So what's your fave, or do you have one?
What do you see as the differences/similarities among them?
Bg
Carl
character. So that makes me sort of an indiscriminate chooser in a sense,
though I do know what "good" sounds like to me.
Given that qualification, let me try to approach your question as
objectively as possible. I already owned a Jim Hall, which I enjoyed a lot,
when I went to Sadowsky's to get a Semi Hollow, which I thought would add
another sound to my collection. That was correct, but when I got there, I
found an un-promoted guitar called the SS-15 hanging on the wall which
initially strongly attracted me aesthetically.
If you're not familiar with this model (it's not shown on the Sadowsky web
site and is not yet widely available), it's actually very similar to the
Jimmy Bruno model in size and form, but with a narrower body, being
therefore only slightly wider than the Semi, but being a fully hollow
guitar. I'm not sure what Roger perceives as its "niche", but the fact that
it was "different" and aesthetically beautiful attracted me. It came in
sienna burst and had oversprayed binding, a magnificent combination. Then my
wife and I did blind-test A/B comparisons of the SS to the Semi and the SS
won hands down in terms of overall resonance and fullness of tone. It had
the tonal characteristics of a very good acoustic guitar and easily had the
better unplugged, acoustic tone. Of course these 'tests' took place in
Roger's acoustically well-designed tryout room, which may have weighed in
the SS-15's favor. I didn't test the SS-15 against the JH at that time. I
went home with the SS-15 based on that comparison, deciding to forego my
desire for a Semi for awhile.
Shortly afterwards, an opportunity to buy a used 2006 Semi in pristine
condition and at a great price came my way through a series of circular but
fortunate events, and I took the opportunity. So I found myself having all
three.
So, my analysis?
If I was a strict traditional jazz player, I would lean heavily toward the
Jim Hall. It has a warm and balanced tone and excellent playability. I love
the way it sounds plugged in. I will point out that I bought mine as a NOS
instrument directly from Sadowsky and that it's a 2005. Though it was in
brand-new condition, I was attracted to its 4-year old, broken-in aspects.
This same thing comes into play with my Semi, as you'll see in a moment.
If you wanted that traditional jazz tone but preferred a smaller bodied
guitar for portability, or just because you prefer smaller-bodied guitars,
you would be losing very little tone-wise with the SS-15. It is clearly
band-worthy and is not a "travel" guitar by any means, though, put in a gig
bag, you would have much less trouble getting it as a carry-on on an airline
than the JH. I'm told the SS-15 is also more feedback resistant than the Jim
Hall. It is very resonant and leans a little toward the bassy side (balanced
by turning the tone control up a bit more) but it is also toward the warmer
side in the treble, not having any treble harshness. I like that. It is a
rarer guitar and may be currently hard to find, being that only a small
number were made. I understand that a new batch of them is due around April
or May, but they will have design changes: a 1-3/4 nut and 12 frets to the
body. Mine has a 1-11/16 nut and 14 frets-to-body. I don't know what
prompted the changes. I do know I like mine as it is. This one I bought new
though it was available right away and I took it home with me on the spot.
The Semi that I found impresses me a lot. It's definitely a departure from
the 'traditional-toned' jazz guitar and is more of a semi-hollow instrument,
closer to a 335, but with the size of a 336 (if you're familiar with one).
It can achieve a warm jazz tone, but it also can get some of that spank (or
twang) in its tone that we often associate with a Strat or Tele (though it's
by no means either). I need to repeat that it may be that I prefer the tone
of a 4-year-old, broken-in guitar over that of a new one, or that the
acoustics of my small practice room lend itself more towards the Semi than
did Roger's larger and more acoustically true practice room. I should note
that there are design changes between the older Semi's and the new ones and
perhaps those account for my perceived preference. The older Semis (like
mine) have a raised, floating neck, like the jazz guitars. The new ones have
the neck set into the body so that only the binding is above the body, like
a 335. That may account for the newer ones sounding more like a 335/336,
giving the older ones a tone a little more toward the jazz end. But I am
only speculating here on the relationship of the neck set and tone.
All that said, based on my playing style, and the fact that I'm not yet much
of a true jazz player but an eclectic player of several different styles
mostly rooted in folk, traditional blues, and classic rock, if I had a
forced choice of keeping just one, it would be the Semi.
I hope that helps you.
Bg
>
> I hope that helps you.
Thanks a lot for that Carl, I'm leaning towards the LS17, but i'd like
it to be a Thinlice 17" :-)
Thanks again for your reply,
Bg
Dan Adler
> Has anyone here tried or bought the Sadowsky LS-17?
>
> Lukejazz
I went over to Roger's place today to try out the LS-17. Roger was
very gracious and locked me up in a room with 2 semi-hollows (with and
without the bigsby), a Jim Hall, a Bruno and an LS-17 (plus lots of
other models). Then for amps, 2 fenders, a bunch of other tube amps,
and just about every solid state amp you can imagine (rolands, clarus,
jazzcat, aer, henriksen).
I've played most of the other models before, but it was great to A/B
the same guitar through all the amps, and then the different guitars
through the same amp. Wow! You can't imagine the day and night
differences.
The LS-17 looks visually just like the Jim Hall - it's impossible to
tell them apart from a few feet. But the feel is very different. The
Jim Hall has the ES-175 vibe to it while the LS-17 has the L5 vibe,
complete with that little twang on the high strings, the extra string
tension and low action which makes it so much easier to play fast and
clean, and just a beautiful amplified sound. I could sit there and
just strum one chord all day and have it sound like Wes playing "I've
Grown accustomed to her face". It was really no effort getting a great
sound, especially on the Fender tubes. It also sounded great through
the Clarus, though much flatter on the high end and boomier on the low
end. When I tried the other amps, they all paled in comparison, so I
quickly switched back.
Just playing all these models through all these amps reminded me how
personal and subjective the whole process of choosing a guitar is, and
how silly it is to try and take someone else's word or advice on this.
So, I hope you all find an opportunity to try one out for yourselves,
and don't trust my taste or anyone else's. That said, I'm going to
hear Russell Malone play his at the Jazz Standard over the weekend, so
I may report back with more impressions...
Bg
> hear Russell Malone play his at the Jazz Standard over the weekend, so
> I may report back with more impressions...
>
> -Danhttp://danadler.com
Please do!
Bg
lukejazz
Thanks for the reply Dan - all very interesting. Hope to hear from you
after the Malone gig.
lukejazz
Dan Adler
Russell sounded amazing on the Sadowsky LS-17! He did a really nice
version of "Butch and Butch" which I don't think I've heard anyone do
on guitar, and some super tasty ballads ("Lollypops and roses" and
"More than you know"). He played the verse of the "More than you know"
solo for about 10 minutes and it was spellbinding. I don't know how he
gets those harmonics to sound so clean, but it sounded almost like
vibes. The guitar sounded great. It didn't have as much of the L5
sound as when I played it at Roger's studio (if I hadn't known I would
have guessed it was the Jim Hall model). He was playing through and
old polytone, so it sounded darker and more mellow, but with really
great range that really shined on the ballads. The polytone was
straining on some of the louder moments in the up-tempos, which was a
bit distracting, but on the lower volume pieces the sound was crystal
clear and very rich.