New Peerless Martin Taylor model

[kris]

Very interesting artist series guitar.

[Jazzman301]

Looks like a 15" lower bout and 2 3/4" depth for those of us in the US. Both look rather nice. Its to bad they did not keep the clean fretboard look on the lower end model and give you the same inlay at the 12th fret(very Benedetto). I think the dot inlays kind of take away some of the "classy" look they were going after. Even a split block inlay would have looked much classier. I am interested to see what these wil cost and how they will sound.

'Mike

[FrankBlack]

From what I've heard they will be available by special order in April. I don't know the price of the Virtuoso, but the carved-top Maestro will be $2995 (or so I'm told). That puts it in the range of the Cremona. That probably puts the Virtuoso in the range of the Monarch ($1700 to $1900). Don't quote me on that, though.

[kris]

Originally Posted by FrankBlack

From what I've heard they will be available by special order in April. I don't know the price of the Virtuoso, but the carved-top Maestro will be $2995 (or so I'm told). That puts it in the range of the Cremona. That probably puts the Virtuoso in the range of the Monarch ($1700 to $1900). Don't quote me on that, though.

sound ?
similar to other Peerless?

[bananafist]

59mm neck - approx 2.3" (presumably) nut - crumbs - bigger than a classical guitar!
Can't be right, the one pictured doesn't look that wide - more like 45mm
or 1 3/4" (1.75") I'd have thought.
I've played a Vanden MS model and that had 1 3/4" nut.

[FrankBlack]

Originally Posted by kris

sound ?
similar to other Peerless?

That remains to be seen. I will say that with the fierce competition from Chinese archtop makers, it had better sound wonderful for that price. One can get a carved Spruce archtop and only have to replace a few things to make it a good guitar (like putting in a Kent Armstrong pickup, new electronics) and still only pay about half of the cost of the Maestro. The excellent line of Eastman archtops are in that price range as well (some carved are even half that price). It is getting rough out there.

I look forward to a review in the coming weeks.

[jft100]

I've just bought a Peerless Martin Taylor Maestro (the solid wood model) from Foulds Music in Derby UK. It's great. It's very easy to play and hold being a small bodied guitar. The finish on the binding on the back isn't perfect and the case doesn't quite match the body dimensions, but it's an astonishing guitar. I played through everything in Foulds and various guitars in Ivor Mairants in London and this sounds as good as instruments costing almost twice as much. I'll probably buy a new case in time (because it's hideous) but other than a couple of cosmetic blemishes it's great value for money. Foulds in Derby (Dan in particular) are a great jazz guitar retailer.

[clem_gael]

Originally Posted by jft100

I've just bought a Peerless Martin Taylor Maestro (the solid wood model) from Foulds Music in Derby UK. It's great. It's very easy to play and hold being a small bodied guitar. The finish on the binding on the back isn't perfect and the case doesn't quite match the body dimensions, but it's an astonishing guitar. I played through everything in Foulds and various guitars in Ivor Mairants in London and this sounds as good as instruments costing almost twice as much. I'll probably buy a new case in time (because it's hideous) but other than a couple of cosmetic blemishes it's great value for money. Foulds in Derby (Dan in particular) are a great jazz guitar retailer.

PICTURES PLEASE!!!

[Jazzpunk]

Originally Posted by kris

sound ?
similar to other Peerless?

YouTube Video

[ah.clem]

Woof. It's been a long time since I had GAS this bad. That is a beautiful looking/sounding instrument. The small body combined with the short scale Imperial style neck (but with a wider nut) should be just perfect for my chubby fingers. Man, oh man.

Now I understand why some guys actually hide guitars from their wives. My wife would go ballistic if this arrived at the house. Maybe I could keep it at the office... <chuckle> If I sold a few basses and my Portaflex I could probably own this beauty. Man, it must be bad; I have never considered selling *any* instruments to finance another.

I understand that street price for the Maestro is around $2495. I feel like Wayne Campbell - "It will be mine. Oh, yes. It will be mine". Oh, I got it bad, perhaps it will pass...

[kris]

[GVIDEO][/GVIDEO]

Originally Posted by Jazzpunk

Thanks for sending this.
I think guitar sounds very good.

[jft100]

Some pictures as requested.

[PTChristopher]

Smaller archtops are all over the place huh?

This one looks like a very serious guitar in this sub-segment. I like the sound of spruce and a floater, and as best I can tell from the Youtube sample - this box really delivers.

Compare to a Bruno for sound: Both are great, one with more acoustic character, one with more smooth fatness.

And one more expensive of course.

Thanks for the pics and this thread.

Man, I like being an archtop nut at this point in history. More fine handbuilt guitars than ever from small builders. More interesting manufactured guitars, in more configurations, at higher overall quality (with the notable exception or two) than ever. Woof.

Chris

[clem_gael]

Natural in the front
Sunburst in the back/sides???
First time I see that combination....

[PTChristopher]

Yeah, unusual finish considering the concept of a sunburst (as a sort of absurd exaggeration of an aged French polish). Why would only the top be un-aged?

Taking this to a more absurd view: I suppose you could note that some instruments can be lacquered overall except for a french polish shellac on the top (based on the feeling that thin shellac made for better sound). So in that case a burst on the top only makes more "sense", such as it is. I love the look of the Eastman burst on the top with their "classic" finish elsewhere.

Wait, how about: You have a guitar and it gets really old and sunburst toned all over. Then you wander into a village populated only by music loving ladies and they keep you captive as a guitarist/love-slave. Then they send out the guitar to have just to top re-finished (spilled wine, you see) while you valiantly maintain your "other duties" (having agreed to not try to escape, not that you were trying much anyway,...). Then the guitar comes back with a new natural-looking top, and you (spent, as it were) head on to the next village.

See, the finish can definitely work.

I wonder if the Peerless MT finish was more the factory idea or the idea of the signatory? And if so, does Mrs. Taylor know about these fantasies he obviously is having.

In any case I am very happy to see another apparently fine guitar in smaller archtop-dom.

Chris

[Bluedawg]

How are the Peerless guitars?

I'm tempted to pickup a Monarch or Manhatton just because of the crazy low prices .. (compared to Gibson and Heritage ... much less Beneddettor or Monteleone)

I also like the Eastman Pageli

[cmajor9]

Here's an interesting lesson demonstrated by MT himself on the new guitar. Aside from the musical ideas, it gives a good chance to hear the instrument.

YouTube Video

[PTChristopher]

And this "Vanden" guitar with the much smaller f-holes, diff' tail, etc. is maybe not the same as the new Peerless?

EDIT: Ah, a very fine builder in Scotland.

http://www.vanden.co.uk/

The MT from Vanden seems to have only some similarity - and possibly provided some inspiration for the Peerless design. It may have gotten Peerless to not use the chunky D'Aquisto type tailpiece.

The partial burst seems to maybe have come from the artist himself, since it is also on this Vanden guitar. I'm sticking with my "village" theory,...

[Pierrot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJcra...eature=related

[ah.clem]

Originally Posted by Bluedawg

How are the Peerless guitars?

I purchased a Peerless Imperial last Thanksgiving and I really like it. I started out looking at the Manhattan which led to looking at the Imperial. I was also considering an Eastman AR905CE. I liked both the Eastman and the Peerless Imperial and went with the Peerless, based on price (I could have gone either way on the guitars). My other jazz guitar is a Godin 5th Avenue acoustic which I played for about a year and a half before purchasing the Peerless, so I'm not a complete noob (I have also played flattop for many years), but I haven't played a lot of the $2K-$4K instruments. To be honest, at that price point they all seem to be very nice to me, just different feeling when I hold/play them. The neck profile on the Peerless feels quite good to me (If it was a bass neck I'd say it felt "fast") and I have no complaints about the fit or finish of the instrument. Just my opinion.

[jft100]

Originally Posted by cmajor9

Here's an interesting lesson demonstrated by MT himself on the new guitar. Aside from the musical ideas, it gives a good chance to hear the instrument.

This is a beautiful guitar but it is Martin Taylor's Mike Vanden guitar and not the Peerless Maestro (just in case anyone hadn't looked carefully at the headstock). It costs nearly four times as much as the Peerless signature model and has a totally different pickup system, which you can read about at Mike Vanden's site in Scotland at Mike Vanden Guitars - Martin Taylor Artistry Archtop Jazz guitar .

[cmajor9]

Originally Posted by jft100

This is a beautiful guitar but it is Martin Taylor's Mike Vanden guitar and not the Peerless Maestro (just in case anyone hadn't looked carefully at the headstock).

My bad!

I was looking through several videos of Martin, and because I thought the material on that one would interest forum members (and because the guitars look similar), I didn't check closely enough. Thanks for pointing it out.

Here is a video of Martin Taylor playing the Peerless MT at NAMM. I bit noisy, but you can still hear fairly well:

YouTube Video

[Bluedawg]

Originally Posted by ah.clem

I purchased a Peerless Imperial last Thanksgiving and I really like it. I started out looking at the Manhattan which led to looking at the Imperial. I was also considering an Eastman AR905CE. I liked both the Eastman and the Peerless Imperial and went with the Peerless, based on price (I could have gone either way on the guitars). My other jazz guitar is a Godin 5th Avenue acoustic which I played for about a year and a half before purchasing the Peerless, so I'm not a complete noob (I have also played flattop for many years), but I haven't played a lot of the $2K-$4K instruments. To be honest, at that price point they all seem to be very nice to me, just different feeling when I hold/play them. The neck profile on the Peerless feels quite good to me (If it was a bass neck I'd say it felt "fast") and I have no complaints about the fit or finish of the instrument. Just my opinion.

Thanks

The Manhattan looks like the $10K and $20K guitars that I dream of ... and the price that would get me interested in a Chinese archtop.

Is the only Peerless dealer GuitarsnJazz or is there someone else .. maybe even in AZ or southern Cal?

Any one deal with these guys?
Peerless Guitars - Fine Archtop Jazz Guitars & Archtop Guitars

[ah.clem]

Originally Posted by Bluedawg

Is the only Peerless dealer GuitarsnJazz or is there someone else .. maybe even in AZ or southern Cal?

Sorry, I didn't see your link before I replied. That's Doc Dosco, referenced in original post below.

I didn't mention it in my post as no one asked, but I had an excellent transaction with Doc Dosco in CA. You can search for him in these forums and I believe that you will find other very favorable reviews of dealings with Doc. He responded quickly to every e-mail I sent and was very helpful on the phone when I had many questions (multiple calls) and fears about dropping a couple of grand to try an instrument. He sent me 20-25 photos of the instrument I requested so there would be no doubt when I opened the case. It was very much like dealing over the counter with the shop owner, many years ago. The guitar arrived a few days after purchase; excellent packing, excellent shape. I played it right out of the case; Doc did a setup for me (no charge) and it was like butter. I could have taken it to a gig that night.

I can't assure you that your experience will be the same as mine, but mine was very similar to many others I have read about in dealing with Doc. I've already e-mailed him about the Maestro. I can't do the deal at the moment but when I can I will have no hesitation sending Doc the e-mail and my CC number.

[tcrowe-bot]

Originally Posted by Bluedawg

Thanks

The Manhattan looks like the $10K and $20K guitars that I dream of ... and the price that would get me interested in a Chinese archtop.

Is the only Peerless dealer GuitarsnJazz or is there someone else .. maybe even in AZ or southern Cal?

Any one deal with these guys?
Peerless Guitars - Fine Archtop Jazz Guitars & Archtop Guitars

The video in post#9 above mentioned Red Zone Guitar Works in Pasadena, CA.
Boutique for new, used, vintage, and unusual guitars | RedZone Guitar Works | RedZone Guitar Works 626-325-8210

[mangotango]

Originally Posted by cmajor9

My bad!

I was looking through several videos of Martin, and because I thought the material on that one would interest forum members (and because the guitars look similar), I didn't check closely enough. Thanks for pointing it out.

Here is a video of Martin Taylor playing the Peerless MT at NAMM. I bit noisy, but you can still hear fairly well:

Yeh not bad I suppose.

When I first moved down to Essex I saw a very young Martin Taylor guesting on a Jazz night at Barking College (Al Grey and Eddie Davis headliners). He just sat in after a few numbers....and I had to pick up my jaw off the floor, he was so good.

Later on, when I started having jazz guitar lessons, my then teacher, the late Len Argent, referred to Martin as "the guv'nor". For that kind of respect from a guy who was 3 times his age at the time, and had had a long career in jazz guitar, tells you of the esteem in which Dr. Martin Taylor MBE is held amongst his peers over here. (Even though his guitar is Peer-less! )