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I recently discovered,
Martin Taylor & Steve Howe produced an Album called "Masterpiece Guitars"
One of the track, Blue Bossa, is play with 19 Blue Guitars (Scott Chinery Collection)
CD's info listed the order of which guitar is used at which point on this track.
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07-02-2019 02:46 AM
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Wow! That Benedetto was so distinct!
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I Was lucky enough to be able to play all those guitars when I was with Bill Hollenbeck and the collection was unveiled. An experience I will not forget and one that made me understand the various abilities and talents of carved guitar makers. I certainly have some strong opinions but at the risk of public scrutiny I keep them all to myself except to point out the clear jewels.
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This CD has sat near the top of my pile for many years - great illustrations of what top notch guitars can sound like, and - as cream on the cake - played by brilliant musicians
Last edited by Ray175; 06-09-2017 at 03:09 AM.
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I also had an opportunity to play all of the guitars except for the D'Aquisto in 1999 - 2000. I could only play them for a few minutes each and only acoustically. The D'Aquisto's stings were completely slack and the bridge was not in the right location so I passed on that one. At the time I hadn't heard of 3/4 of the luthiers who made the collection but the one that I would have grabbed in I had the dollars was the Monteleone. Acoustically is just rang my bell.
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John is a close friend of mine and I was at his shop during the building of his blue guitar. I played it upon completion and found it to be a fantastic instrument. It was the first guitar with Johns side port.
As with all Monteleone's - they are acoustically magnificent - and sort of a hybrid of a D'Aquisto and D'Angelico but with move power and projection. The note clarity is sparkling with perfect balance and thick/fat highs that sound like a piano. Once you play a Monteleone that will become a benchmark which resides in you brain forever.
I was at Johns last month playing a recent Hot club Model that was one the finest sounding Monteleone's Ive ever played in over 25 years of hanging out at John's shop. He promised to make me one - but no time line. John is currently not taking orders until he clears out a backlog of several years.
As many have said- he is a true gentlemen and visiting his shop is always a real fun experience.Last edited by QAman; 06-08-2017 at 08:52 PM.
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Ever since I saw the Scott Chinery Blue Archtop Project I have wanted a blue one. I have often wondered what became of all those boutique/luthier built guitars. There were 22 of them plus Jimmy D'aquisto's last guitar. I believe it happened around 1998-99 to mark the centennial of the first archtop patent. I am sure the price tag on one of those would be beyond even my own crazy rationalizations.
I see from a quick Google that Guild and Harmony made blue archtop models. The reason I ask is I have an INCOMING blue archtop. It is a Stromberg. And I think maybe it's ironically a really old new one. I am trying to figure out when WD Musical Equipment started making the new Strombergs. Supposedly the new ones started out being built in Korea, but all the hardware, pickups, etc. were shipped to Korea from WD Music, then the guitars were sent back to WD in Florida where their own luthiers would do the final set up such as cutting the slots in the nut for flat wound strings, etc. This is because VP Larry Davis, while admitting you can't recreate the Venus de Milo, felt one should at least not do a total disservice to the Stromberg name, just because he was able to cop the rights to the name. So he wanted to ensure that at least the hardware and set up was top notch.
I wondered if my incoming blue archtop I bought in an online auction was inspired by the Scott Chinery project and maybe dates from around 2000. The earliest dates I can find on the new Strombergs is about 2002 and at one time there was a re-issue Stromberg guitar that was on Reverb dated 2005 with an eight digit S/N 05121424. My incoming Stromberg has S/N 000292, so pretty early - maybe from the first year. From what I can figure it is the Montreux Custom that had a pickup mounted off the pickguard. Someone has removed the original Kent Armstrong pickup and substituted a Benedetto. Anyway I think it is a really old new Stromberg. And I think that is cool in a way since they stopped making Strombergs again at some point.
Does anyone else have a blue archtop (and is it starting to turn green)?
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Mine plays the blues. Admittedly not very well. Does that count? ;-)
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2017 Gretsch Masterbuilt Steven Stern '59 Falcon Relic | Reverb
Glorious 2018 Gretsch G6136T-59 Limited Edition Falcon in | Reverb
both suffer from the unforgivable sin of horizontal logos on a split headstock, so i'm going to pass. the whole $5000 thing is a bit of a stumbing block, too
personally, i don't think most of the chinery models worked; i just wasn't feeling most of them, from the blue perspective. i don't know; its been a while since i've seen them. but it requires a rethink and a different approach, as seen above. guild and godin have put a few out that look pretty nice, too.
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A fine find! And almost vintage already.
The OP says the Korean production ceased after a few years. Am I totally in the woods in believing Strombergs are alive again, coming from the Czech Republic? At least I saw them at NAMM. Are there two Popes claiming the rights to the brand? To add to the fuzz, several luthiers have made their more or less exact replicas of "The Venus of Milo". I have held a gorgeous 18" sample, made by AJL Guitars in Finland.
My personal, modest entry to the Blue Archtop category is a Jet Blue Ibanez AFJ 91, vintage 2014, with MOP pickguard and a more reliable tailpiece, pictured a couple of times in other connections. Nowadays, my gigs are few and far between, but this one takes care of the most.Last edited by Gitterbug; 04-27-2020 at 04:06 AM. Reason: Photo added
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I was going to say the Jet Blue Ibanzes AFJ 91 too. A good buddy of mine had one and tended to play it more that his two ES-175 and L-5.
My favorite "blue" archtop, however, is a 1955 National model 1125. Just looks way too cool and isn't trying to be retro -- it is retro!
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I've posted pics of my Heritage H575 Custom Blue Burst before on this forum, but since you've asked I am happy to show her off again.
This is a one-off custom order with many unique features. Since it's production date is 2007 and I am not the original owner I can't say if its build was due to the Chinery "Blue Guitar" influence. However, after reading the book I definitely was influenced to grab this beauty when it became available.
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Wow I am blown away by these beauties including the Jet Blue Ibanez AFJ 91 I googled, except the Gretsches and their sparkly Disney princess stuff on the headstock.
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as much as i love nodded nylon under pants, plastic tee shirts, polyester socks, and a rayon thong medallion, rubber flip-flops i would leave the Blue Guitar to Elvis.
When Wes Montgomery asked Gibson please give me a Blue L5, they all laughed and said oh that Wes is just so funny, he cracks me up me.
They gave him what he wanted natural SB
i grew up in a land where all the trees were blue
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Looks like it took 50 years for Gibson to deliver on what Wes asked for.
Originally Posted by Durban
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In my recent research on the re-issue Strombergs (for lack of a better term), I did find indications that the factory was moved to the Czech Republic at some point. The www.Strombergguitars.com website has European contact information and the hardware like the tailpiece and pickups have changed. WD musical instrument supply does not sell them anymore, so I guess the brand name was sold again? Maybe I'll write the book, because Tom Wheeler probably won't. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
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Another D'A... EXS-1DH
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I don’t know how they sound or play, but Gretch’s two new blues, especially the darker one with grey hints, are absolutely gorgeous.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Yeah, I really dig Gretsch's Fairlane Blue on the 5420: (the guitar sounds great too)
[not me]
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Made this a few years back.
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Here’s the True Blue made by luthier Tad R. Brown for Sean McGowan. The blue tint comes from lapis lazuli mineral pigment added to the lacquer.
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Beautiful! And an interesting, banjo-like bridge. There's probably never been as many fine luthiers active all over the world as today. An apparent paradox in view of the deluge of cheap, yet passable, mass-produced instruments from the Far East. Without Internet and the social media, such artisans would never get the exposure necessary for survival.
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You could have ALL the Blue Guitars. Originally Posted by Easy2grasp
My understanding is that they are being sold as a group by the Chinery family. No doubt Rudy will do just fine as well:Last edited by Hammertone; 04-28-2020 at 06:08 PM.
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Hammertone, Is this current? I couldn't find anything on Rudy's or the web regarding this auction.
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