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Here's what was written on the Jimmy Bruno website (don't know why...):
11/06/2013: Last Call for the Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno Model Guitar
By mutual agreement, Jimmy and Roger Sadowsky have decided to end production of the Jimmy Bruno Model archtop when the current inventory of guitars is sold out. This will be your last opportunity to acquire a new Bruno Model.
We have nine Brunos left in inventory:
- JB CMB A1083 (Caramel Burst)
- JB CMB A1084 (Caramel Burst)
- JB VIO A1085 (Violin Burst)
- JB VIO A1086 (Violin Burst)
- JB SIE 1089 (Sienna Burst)
- JB SIE 1090 (Sienna Burst)
- JB SIE 1091 (Sienna Burst)
- JB SIE 1092 (Sienna Burst)
- JB SIE 1093 (Sienna Burst)
Contact Roger for more information: Sadowsky Guitars
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11-09-2013 02:50 PM
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I thought the Bruno was a real winner (speaking as the owner of the Sadowsky Jim Hall). I wonder if Jimmy Bruno is hooking up with another builder for a sig?
Or are there just too many Sadowsky archtop models to cover the range? Semi-hollow, SS-15, Bruno, Hall, LS-17...
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There is no such announcement over at Sadowsky's website. It could also mean that the model could reappear without the Jimmy Bruno name or association.
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Hmm. Looking over Jimmy's page this morning, one really gets no idea of how "fresh" this news actually is, since the only other "recent" link there is back from late July ("More Photos!"). This 'split' might actually be old news by this point.
Also, in checking the Sadowsky page, there are no Bruno guitars currently listed for sale (and in fact only one guitar, a Semi-Hollow, that's currently available in stock at all), also leading me to think that this might indeed be, in fact, old news. Yeah, and no mention of discontinuing that model either. Strange...
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It is not old news.
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Robert Conti has his own guitar for sale. Perhaps Jimmy Bruno is thinking about the same thing.
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That would be cool. For instance, the D'Aspiranta line was, AFAIK, a custom-ordered short run MIK for a doctor. No reason Jimmy couldn't commission his own imprinted line as well.
Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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In some of the newer photos in Jimmy's gallery it looks like he's playing a 175.
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Which, ironically, is a lightweight maple laminate with a 24.75" scale and a single humbucker that can be found for considerably less dough than his $4k+ Asian-made signature model. Originally Posted by AlohaJoe
I do love the Sadowsky archtops. I just think they are priced at about twice what they should cost.
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Jimmy has lots of guitars. I've seen him play the following guitars on recent videos: Benedetto, 175, an old 335, even a Tele. But he still plays the JB sadowsky a lot (at least on camera)
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I like them too. I still hope to someday get my hands on one. Originally Posted by rpguitar
Last edited by AlohaJoe; 07-18-2021 at 07:45 PM.
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I'll take my Jim Hall over a new 175 any day, and twice on Sunday. New they are priced about the same. I don't get the price discrepancy -more or less similarly priced ? $4k ? Originally Posted by rpguitar
I sold my 53 175 and kept the Jim Hall. No regrets .Last edited by NSJ; 11-11-2013 at 09:31 PM.
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I really dig my Jim Hall, but I STILL want a late 50's 175
…. AND, my best playing buddy just picked up a black stained Bruno… I think I might need one of those, as well. And, the '61 VOS SG in TV Yellow. Even if the Vibrola sucks. I will MAKE it work. And, …. and...
I'm resigned to my addiction. I don't even want any help, so don't anybody try.
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Regarding pricing, the cost of living in Japan appears to be higher than in the USA ...
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I saw one of those not too long ago and it was stunning! What a nice guitar. Originally Posted by yebdox
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I wonder if your buddy got his on Ebay for a price that started with the number 2? If so, good going!
I visited Sadowsky last year with a black LS-17 reserved for me. It looked so beautiful online, but in person, the finish was dull. Being poly, it had all of those distracting reflections and refractions (whatever) causing the color to diffuse rather than deepen. I ended up trying several guitars and I left with an SS-15. I had that dreaded "did I really do that?" feeling driving all the way back to New Jersey.
The poly finish is a primary reason why I felt them to be overpriced. It just looked too much like the many factory Asian guitars out there. The setup and feel of the guitar otherwise was fantastic. The sound was beautiful at certain moments, but it had a bit of a clinical/flat quality that eventually was responsible for ending the love affair.
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I believe he did say he was watching it on eBay, so that must have been it. We had a few "Sadowsky moments" a couple of weekends ago, it was very nice, but he likes a little lighter gauge string than me, so I couldn't get a strong feel for it, but I will get my hands on it again sometime soon
I have had my Jim Hall for nearly 2 years and have struggled with the tone a bit… I thought it sounded a bit too much like you describe and have tried to find the value that all the "modern" players express in round wounds… I think they are fine up to 11 or so on a solid or semi hollow, but didn't like them on my L5 or GB-10 and really didn't like them on my Jim Hall. I finally switched back to flats on the Jim Hall and there is all the tone I've been looking for - more like an L5 without as much bottom end. Go figure.
I love Kreisberg's tone, which I think is do-able, as well as Peter Bernstein's (which I think is impossible to duplicate at this point). But I couldn't get very close to either of those with round wounds. Flats get me closer, but I'm not either of those guys. Anyway, the Jim Hall stays!
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I always find the poly/nitro argument to be interesting. We used both over the first several years we were building. We charged the same price regardless of finish. I ultimately settled on poly because it was a better production process and did a vastly better job of protecting the guitar when it was new. Now there is a huge surcharge for nitro, not because it is better but because it has been designated a hazardous material making the shipping cost extremely high. It is also becoming very hard to get and faces environmental restrictions in many areas. We're already seeing other alternatives to nitro and I expect that it's use will become much more limited over the next few years. There will be a growing surcharge for it's use but it will really have little or nothing to do with its quality and everything to do with scarcity and tradition.
Last edited by Jim Soloway; 11-12-2013 at 02:12 PM.
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Interesting Jim. Thanks for the insight. I actually thought my sadowsky JH was a nitro finish. Not that it really matters to me since it is a great instrument either way. I own a few nice guitars that are definitely nitro (l5ces). Maybe I just have an untrained eye, but i can't tell the difference between poly and nitro.
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The Sadowskys were nitro until a certain year - Google places like TGP for that detail. They had to switch to poly, I presume for environmental reasons.
Please know that I'm not criticizing poly vs. nitro on tonal qualities. I'm being quite superficial and I admit that: I simply think that poly looks/feels cheaper and more like a factory product. Ironically, Gibson is a big factory but their guitars are nitro. For more than $4,000 USD I was put off by the Sadowsky poly finish, practical and bulletproof though it might be.
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It's about how thick the finish is, not the finish material.
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My 2008 Jim Hall is a nitro. It pretty much looks like the ones that they have, now, in terms of glossy finish (i.e., the Poly). They did change over. Chris the guitar luthier who no longer posts here mentioned that in a thread a couple years ago. I then called Sadowsky to ask about mine, and they confirmed it was a nitro.
I think again the issue is how thin they apply each finish.
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If you're trying to predict what a guitar is going to sound like before you plug it in, then the thickness of the finish may be a useful consideration but for a guitar that you have in your hands, predictors are no longer meaningful. The only thing that really matters is what it sounds like. If it sounds good, then it sounds good regardless of the type or thickness of the finish (or any other theoretical predictor). Originally Posted by NSJ
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
Agreed. I'm sure the new guitars sound pretty much like mine, more or less. Or, in other words, both types of Jim Halls sound more or less like a Sadowsky Jim Hall.
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I didn't realize they switched over. Thanks for the news. Originally Posted by rpguitar
I've got a Jim Hall, and always assumed it was poly because, well, it is sorta glossy and plastic looking. I like the guitar a lot, but it's a little newer and shinier looking than I would prefer. It's not a big issue with me, though.
My SJH is a pretty early one--from 2004, I think. So maybe it is nitro after all?
I googled around and found a couple references to a switch to poly, but nothing definitive. The most prominent reference was Roger saying he didn't want poly, but wanted nitro for these guitars, part of the reason he went to Japan to have them built. But that article was many years old.
If anybody happens to know when this change took place, please clue me in. I'm curious now.
On edit: Oops, I started typing then took a phone call. By the time I finished, NSJ had pretty much answered my question. Thanks!Last edited by Flat; 11-12-2013 at 03:47 PM.
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