Seventy Seven Guitars

[jzucker]

My custom exrubato should be arriving in a few weeks. It's going to be a Jack Zucker Signature model with a lighter weight (~7lbs and slimmer neck), otherwise identical to the other exrubatos in terms of pickups and electronics. Alas - no coil taps...

I'll be posting some clips and links early this year when I receive it.

[Robertkoa]

Do they make these guitars with longer scales? ex. 25 or 25.5

This I asked Eichi Yamamoto and he said no, because they would need to do R&D to do a long scale 25.5" .
However I did not ask for 25.0 " .

EDIT- I have received word recently few months ago from Eichi that it is possible to get 25.5" scale for an upcharge -
BUT - I believe he was referring to the Thin Hawk - ask about Models .

Also the pickup ( neck ) can be moved for an upcharge.

I believe that for warmth and legato styles , ghost notes, there is a slight advantage to Neck PU at 21st fret or 22nd fret - ( not nodes or math just further from bridge = warmer , smoother with less tone rolloff or none ) .

[arielcee]

Was researching the albatross models and it seems some of them are made in the Philipines.
SeventySeven Guitars - Handmade guitar and bass Mugen Tone Works

I'm guessing it is just for the very lowest priced Seventy Sevens and Bacchuses.

[stevus]

Not anymore, Deviser ended the production in the Philippines because of quality issues. Mugen Tone Works is an outdated webpage. The distributor in Bangkok is now Good Taste Music. On YouTube you will find a few videos of the owner playing a Seventy Seven guitar.

[kriyasound]

Thanks to Bob (see "Top of the Arch!" in this thread), I just took delivery of a Jazz Hawk yesterday and am absolutely floored by this instrument.

Workmanship, looks, sound, playability ... a "10" in every category. I stopped noticing the full neck carve in about five minutes. Under no circumstances will I be replacing these pickups.

I'm a 40-year-plus recreational player with a house and two offices full of Fender, Gibson, and PRS guitars, among others. To me, the Jazz Hawk sounds fuller and sweeter than any of them; I can see why there's never a discouraging word about this brand on the Internet.

Highly customizable, and is the price ever right!

Recognition goes to Bob for peerlessly attentive customer service: patient guidance on choosing among the many special-order possibilities, updates every few weeks throughout the build process, and even in-person delivery to my local music store.

Before I stumbled across the Jazz Hawk, I was bracing myself to drop three to four times as much on a Gibson Byrdland, without any of the modification options that Deviser makes possible up front.

I'm SO glad I took a chance on the Jazz Hawk. Thanks, Bob!

Feel free to PM me for details if you like ...

Hi Eric, what custom modifications did you have done to your Jazz Hawk? Did you change the pickup spacing? Eon

[L4CESN]

Does anyone know if the Stafford brand has any connection to Seventy Seven guitars? I’ve spotted this guitar for sale. I’ve never heard of the brand. The seller says it was made in the Terada factory, but the headstock looks similar to the Seventy Seven guitars.

[jim777]

Does anyone know if the Stafford brand has any connection to Seventy Seven guitars? I’ve spotted this guitar for sale. I’ve never heard of the brand. The seller says it was made in the Terada factory, but the headstock looks similar to the Seventy Seven guitars.

Stafford is the house brand of the large Kurasawa guitar chain (T.KUROSAWA & CO.,LTD.) in Japan. As such, they could have farmed out orders to any number of makers who could meet their specs and price point for a model they had in mind, including Deviser or Terrada or much cheaper builders as well.

One more question for the Deviser fans (I have a 6 string STR bass that is the best I've ever played), is the neck on the Momose MES guitars a bit thinner than the standard Seventy Seven Exrubato necks? I'm looking at both at the moment, but buying is still a ways off.

jim

[dreamingJazz]

Has anybody bought a Hawk with P90s?

I've longed for an ES-125 TDC (Thinline, Dual, Cutaway) and they seem to fit the bill, Japanese quality, and look and sound beautiful..

Alternatively, The Archtop Tribute AT105 is so appealing, but I cant see a dual P90 model, and no thinlines too..

if I'm investing between the two, Is seventy-seven a better buy custom-wise instead of Archtop Tribute?

[stevus]

The Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz is a great guitar. I have never seen one with P90s but I thought they can deliver that, at least if I remember well from an earlier post by Jabberwocky. Archtop Tribute is a great brand too. Their price/quality is almost unbeatable, though you will need to order them directly from Japan. I thought they had a thinline model, but I am not sure. I suggest you get in touch with the owner in Tokyo, Masaki Nishimura, to find out. Also, if you can afford it, go for a more expensive Westville guitar. I loved my Hawk Jazz, but after getting a Westville I hardly touched it anymore.

[dreamingJazz]

Thank you so much!

i cannot afford a Westville. I’m mainly a Telecaster addict and I came from a blues background. I dont earn from playing in church, and I’ve always been wanting a higher quality hollowbody than the MiC Casino I had which, although, a fun guitar and a favorite of mine, the quality was disappointing.

i really want something better but the ES-125 TDC shape is just pure love for me and although I can get a cheaper Epiphone Sorrento Korean made, i still want to invest on a better quality one.

thanks, I’ve been in touch with Masaki through his email, and would discuss doing a thinline of their AT105, but also I’m thinking of getting an AT130 too. LOL

[Wildcat]

As one poster said "Amazing value for the money"

[jzucker]

i still love mine. Best 335 style guitar I've ever owned. The neck on mine is very comfortable, the guitar weighs 6.6lbs (try that with a gibson) and has much more hollow quality than the gibson or heritage. Hard to beat the price. I was tempted to buy the used one in the forum even though I own one already. They are that good. (i currently have mine setup with .014-.052 flats.) Sort of a hybrid thomastic set. Killer jazz sound with that setup. I don't think anyone could honestly discern between it and an ibanez pm120 when listening to the amplified sound.

[rhl-ferndale]

Attachment 70570

A crummy iPhoto, but here’s my Albatross Jazz II H (hollow). Only my classical guitars are lighter.

[Zedism]

So I'm currently scrimping to save for a seventy seven, but I'm not sure who would be to contact when I'm ready to shell out being that I'm in Australia. I was also wondering, for those who have been through the custom process- what are the limitations of my options? I'm not after anything super fancy, more like super minimal actually. I'm keen on a hollow Exrubato with a finish like the T184MX-LS in matte black, black hardware, ebony fretboard, no dots and maybe/maybe not binding. Basically a 330 with humbuckers in matte black.

[jzucker]

Eiichi Yamamoto

eastmongo@gmail.com

[Zedism]

aahh of course, perfect, thank you Jack. I'd seen his name pop up on your Modern Guitar group actually but I couldn't recall it and didn't end up tracking it down. Many thanks. While I have you here, I'm aware you'd ordered a thinner neck Exrubato- any particular guitar you could compare the profile to?

[Jabberwocky]

Contact Sho Hara-san of Seventy-seven Guitars directly seeing that you are in Australia. I will PM you Sho Hara-san's email address.

I asked about a custom Fat Hawk and it was not cheap. It came up to JPY298000.00, about JPY50000.00 more than a standard Fat Hawk. That was five to seven years ago.

[kseton]

Hi Folks,

I thought I'd throw this in the mix, just to add my own experience with Seventy Seven guitars.
After hunting around for some time, I finally bought a Seventy Seven Exrubato Jazz in red from Eiichi.

I had wanted a custom build version, more ES-330-like with the same E-jazz' materials but 25.0" scale and floating mini-humbuckers.
The answer came back after several attempts... as no.

It's such a shame, because truth be told, the build and finish quality of the Seventy Sevens is unreal!
They are simply gorgeous, with the smoothest neck feel and finish that I've ever touched in almost 40 years of playing.... and even comparing to my $$$$$ Gibson L5 Double Cut.

I'm still shopping around for ~someone~, some builder in Japan to make what I've been after... Seventy Seven, Archtop Tribute, Kingsnake.... etc...
But in the end after lots of mods, I ended selling the Exrubato Jazz...
Seventy Seven Exrubato Jazz 2016 "Red" | Ken's | Reverb

Also went down the same road with my '72 ES-325...
Gibson ES-325TD 1972 - 1979 | Reverb

Still... in the final analysis... Seventy Seven guitars are just INCREDIBLE guitars!
I added Eiichi and SS on my Facebook and follow them constantly... great stuff!!

Cheers!
Ken

[jzucker]

aahh of course, perfect, thank you Jack. I'd seen his name pop up on your Modern Guitar group actually but I couldn't recall it and didn't end up tracking it down. Many thanks. While I have you here, I'm aware you'd ordered a thinner neck Exrubato- any particular guitar you could compare the profile to?

Sorry for the late reply. I'd say it's between the 339 30/60 and 59 neck.

[wzpgsr]

Has anybody bought a Hawk with P90s?

After determining not to spend $4,000 on a 50s ES-175, I recently bought a natural Hawk Deep Standard with a mahogany neck and just a single humbucker in the neck position from the US distributor, Eichii Y. Pretty sure this was the same guitar Jack Z. demo’d in his videos a few years back. I also ordered a BG Pure90 to replace the (also excellent) stock humbucker. This should get me awfully close to the sound I am looking for. With the stock humbucker, which has a slightly compressed sound, this guitar is not quite as open-sounding as my 1954 ES-125.

[Archie]

What is going on with Seventy Seven's pricing?

I just went to buy a second hand Hawk STD for the same price as a new 'deep' one from Japan. Shops seem to sell the Hawk STD for about £2000 ($2000) and claim they are "hand made in Japan" yet if you go to a Japanese website, they are selling them for $1150 and that's for the deep one in colour not black.

Surely Seventy Seven aren't producing hand made ES-175 type guitars for $1150 retail?

I suspect but cannot find any evidence that these 77 models are made outside of Japan or at least the parts are because there seems to be two different levels of pricing. The ones we would expect to be hand made in Japan usually sell for $2500-$3000 plus.
77 have started a new series called the 'Tune Up' series which contains these very low priced Hawks etc.. but I don't know where they are made.

I've been in negotiations with someone over a Hawk STD (not the one listed here) and have found the new prices are less than what he wants second hand.
No doubt he bought the guitar from a shop in the UK called 'The Guitar Den', who have the Hawk STD (black) at £2000!!

Can someone who knows what's going on, please advise. Are importers putting a 50% mark up on Seventy Seven Std's?
Are they made in Japan?
Are they hand made as is being claimed by UK and US importers?

Thanks

[Archie]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25508141134...8AAOSwpqVhDfQ4

[rhl-ferndale]

Former Albatross Jazz owner. When I was researching Seventy Seven, I noticed this; it appeared that the lower priced versions were assembled in the Philippines.

[wzpgsr]

Yes, look for the the JT moniker. Means “Japan Tune-Up”, I believe—built elsewhere, maybe a final setup in Japan?

For what it’s worth, there’s a Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz Deep for sale on this forum for a great price. I have the single neck pickup, one-piece mahogany neck Standard Deep (maple top vs spruce top on the Jazz variant) and it’s a really nice guitar. I installed a hb-sized P-90–basically the same idea as a mid-50s ES-175. I have an Exrubato Jazz with the spruce top and that is also a very nice guitar.

I can’t speak to the quality of the JT models but I love my made-in-Japan Seventy Sevens.

[Archie]

Former Albatross Jazz owner. When I was researching Seventy Seven, I noticed this; it appeared that the lower priced versions were assembled in the Philippines.

I still can't make much headway here (see what I did there).

Look at this page: Seventy Seven

The first two guitars are the Cheaper $1200 new ones, that you would think are MIP but the site says they are MIJ. Is this a mistake or do they claim the AIP ones, are MIJ but just assembled in the Philippines?

I can clearly see that this (below) is MIJ, with a £2600 price tag to match (and it looks well worth it).



But is this (below) MIJ or AIP (Assembled in the Philippines)? The UK price tag is £2000 new but if I go on reverb I can find the same model, with the same nomenclature 'Hawk STD', The similarities: Lack of binding purfling around body, neck, headstock, same knobs etc.. for £850 (£1100 after taxes).



Seventy Seven Guitars HAWK-STD/DEEP-JT Black w/ free | Reverb



If these two guitars are AIP, the Japanese sites or resellers certainly don't mention country of manufacturer on the cheaper models.