Sadowsky Jim Hall Question w/Follow-Up
Joe Montgomery
and non-sig) have been made. Since I only have access to mine, I ask
the group: if I were to play a newer one would it feel basically the
same. I'm more interested in the 'feel' of the instrument rather than
if they would sound exactly alike with me playing them thru the same
amp, same setting, etc., tho I'm sure the sound would be close...I
have 4 very different archtops and with subtle variations, they all
sound like me recorded electrically/direct. So, have the JHs been
*tweaked* in like the way a best selling model car might be over as
many years (or Strats, for that matter).
The follow up is the broader aspect of cnc guitar making...are current
"handmade/tooled" produced (lets say Martins or Taylor or even Gibson)
guitars, not counting custom shop stuff, if I played one at Elderly
would it basically be like the one at Gruhn or Mandolin Bros?
Thanks,
JM still lovin' the JH!
Bill C
recall any differences in construction or feel. Wonderful guitars imo.
Carl
"Joe Montgomery" <mejoemo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4ad0eafd-895b-40d0...@d9g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
Sadowsky's shop in Brooklyn to see what I thought and to specifically look
at the Jim Halls'. I spent a couple of hours there trying them out.
Let me qualify that, while I have been playing the guitar for a long time, I
am relatively new to jazz and, while I own many guitars, I have never had a
jazz-style, hollow body, archtop guitar. The closest to that description I
came at the time is the '61 ES-330 I have, which is strung with 10's and
feels nothing like an archtop strung with 12's. Therefore, I am no expert.
All the ones on the wall were new. Except for the most minor of differences,
they all were pretty consistent in sound, finish, and feel. As nice as they
all were, I left unsure as to what I wanted and decided to hold off. I came
back a week later and there, to my surprise, was one I recognized as having
not been there before. When I picked it up to play it, it just felt like it
"played" better. I can't really objectively explain the difference. The
action felt lower, though it wasn't. The frets felt slicker, though they
weren't. The tone sounded warmer, though it might not have been. It turned
out that it was a 2005 guitar, not a used one, but what one might call a NOS
guitar. I'm not going to explain anymore about the etiology of that guitar
because I'm not sure it's a story whose details need to be revealed. The
point is that, in my admittedly novice hands, it 'felt' better to me. As the
staff put it, it 'spoke' to me.
Of course, it could be that a 4 year old guitar had 'jelled', or the fact
that it had been played by many people over many years had broken it in, or
however you want to interpret it.
I begged Roger and the staff to sell me that guitar, which I have to
emphasize they resisted pretty much. But I was persistent, taking advantage
of Roger's (and his staff's) very customer-oriented philosophy. To be fair
to Roger as well, I'll admit I offered to pay the same price for that
4-year-old guitar that I would have paid for a new one. In the end, though,
that wasn't what it was about, but an agreement was struck and the guitar
now proudly belongs to me.
I know this was a rather lengthy anecdote, but I think it is relevant to the
OP's question and I hope it provided some insight to him and to others.
Joe Montgomery
> I know this was a rather lengthy anecdote, but I think it is relevant to the
> OP's question and I hope it provided some insight to him and to others.
Hi, OP here...my story goes thus...I was in Manhattan in 2005 looking
at colleges with my daughter. We "sidetripped" to Brooklyn and I
played the one JH the Sadowsky gang had in the shop thru that sweet
Blackface Deluxe Reverb. For an hour. Maybe more. I fell in love, but
getting ready for college and buying new guitars simultaneously is a
rough equation. I trolled and trolled. Six months later I found one
pre-owned.
They are magical creatures, these stringed things!
Thanks for the post.
JM #049, in need of of another fret dress!
tomsalvojazz
> "Joe Montgomery" <mejoemontgom...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hey Carl,
Would love to hear that backstory on that guitar. I am a huge
Sadowsky fan and have had several over the years.
I'll share my interesting story. I had a prototype Jimmy Bruno. It
had two pickups and a maple neck. Jimmy evaluated it when they were
thinking about using two pickups. At some point, it became Rich
Raezer's guitar. Rich loved it. When Rich died, his family asked
Bill Fender to sell his collection. I happened to see it on the
Legato website. Bill said that he was really hoping to sell all the
guitars he had gotten from Rich's family because they could really use
the money. And Rich was such a nice guy and such a dear friend of
Jimmy's that I almost felt compelled to buy this guitar (as I was
gassing for a JB anyway!). Of course, I feel like I totally made out
on the deal, since the guitar happened to be so fantastic. I wound up
getting a production JB model too, and a Semi Hollow.
Eventually, my Sadowsky arsenal consisted of that JB prototype, a
Vintage Amber JB, a Semi Hollow, a green Standard Strat, and a blonde
Vintage Tele. Unfortunately, I had to sell them all off, one at a
time, to liquidate assets in a rather torturous divorce. Those were
some dark days, my friends, and not just guitar- or music-wise... But
all's well that ends well, and I just got me a new Semi Hollow, in
trans black, which is absolutely amazing.
I have the least experience with the JH model, but in a recent visit
to Roger, I played one, as well as the new LS-17 and the new SS-15.
the JH seemed to feel consistent with the others I've picked up over
the years. And the two new models are really great. I'm totally
blown away by the SS-15. With these new models, Roger really has
rounded out the offerings in the archtop world. there's something for
almost everyone, even though Roger has stuck with his original vision
when first designing the JH - an accessibly priced, laminated guitar
that is sturdy, gig-worthy, road-worthy, and produces a great plugged-
in sound.
Add the solid bodies and the nylon string to the inventory, and you
can find everything you could possibly want right in Brooklyn (unless
you're one 'a them flat top steel string acoustic pickers, I
reckon... ;-) )
Carl
Thanks for the post.
I have to ask you this, since your story took place in 2005, the year of my
guitar's build. Was the guitar you tried out in Roger's shop that day an
vintage amber (ie. blonde) one?
Carl
"tomsalvojazz" <toms...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:286de1ff-8c0f-49f5...@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
Hey Carl,
Yours is a more interesting story than mine, believe me. It's just that the
details of my story may be more personal to others than to they actually are
to me, which they're not.
If you want to to know the story behind my JB (which is not actually that
complicated but you might find interesting), email me directly at
NOSPAMc...@NOSPAMoptonline.net. Of course, remove the NOSPAMs first!
;-)
I have developed an interest in the Sadowsky semi-hollow. I played my first
outside 'jazz gig' last week and I took my Gibson ES-336 (a semi-hollow)
because I was fearful of things like feedback, with which I have little
experience with my JH out of the house. The 336 is also a more 'versatile'
guitar. Thus, my new interest in the Sadowsky semi-hollow. By the way,
playing with it out renewed my interest in my 336 too! It sounded great.
Joe Montgomery
> I have to ask you this, since your story took place in 2005, the year of my
> guitar's build. Was the guitar you tried out in Roger's shop that day an
> vintage amber (ie. blonde) one?
It was reddish amber.
jm
Carl
It was reddish amber.
>
>
Ok, there goes that theory. I thought it might have been possible that you
actually played my guitar! Not so then.
oasysco
> "Joe Montgomery" <mejoemontgom...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Hey, if it'll help get a better price on ebay if you ever sell it,
mention that Joe Montogomery... no, make that... "Montgomery (I'm not
sayin' it was Wes and I'm not saying it wasn't) actually played this
guitar prior to my ownership". :)
Carl
selling point there? :-)
Joe Montgomery
> Hey, if it'll help get a better price on ebay if you ever sell it,
> mention that Joe Montogomery... no, make that... "Montgomery (I'm not
> sayin' it was Wes and I'm not saying it wasn't) actually played this
> guitar prior to my ownership". :)
MAN! Talk about irony...Joe Montgomery is my internet name, taken from
"joe" Pass and Wes "montgomery" -
jm
"Only they know who is them!" - from the movie Dead Men Don't Wear
Plaid
pmfan57
I remember in (1998 maybe) chats at Jimmy Bruno's web site,
participants sometimes would use the name of a famous guitar player as
their screen name. One participant was named "Hank Garland." I
remember a shocked reaction of another participant when he realized
that "Hank Garland" was actually THE Hank Garland, who knew Jimmy and
would participate in the chats, with his sister Amy typing in his
answers.
tomsalvojazz
Funny! I remember that too! LOL!