Soloway Swan

[osloutah]

I don't usually post stuff like this, but I figured a Soloway would be of interest around here. Big thanks to Marc for the Soloway Swan PSA, and thanks to everyone else for the associated discussion. Extra thanks to Jim for answering another question or two via PM. It arrived a little while ago and I had a chance to plug it into an old Supro that's probably my favorite amp. I can add more later, but my initial impression is: holy shit I'm blown away!!! I've only had this type of visceral reaction with one other instrument (an exceptional Miyazawa).

A couple of instant takeaways

The Swan is so balanced that it feels weightless. This is a big deal for me, and it justifies the gamble I took on a non-fat guitar. As a longtime (lifetime at this point) woodwind player, one of the reasons that guitar is so hard for me is that, ergonomically, the instrument isn't really connected to my person. It either sits on my lap or hangs off of a strap, inert. I've come to feel most comfortable on big fat jazz boxes, where it feels like I'm hugging the instrument, so my skinny guitars have pretty much been collecting dust.

The build quality is outstanding and even artisanal. The guitar looks like it should be a delicate thing (Swan, right?), but it feels indestructible.

The scale really threw me, mostly because I was expecting it to feel longer. I ran some scales up and down the neck, and there wasn't really a huge difference between this Swan and the Seventy Seven I've been practicing on lately. I'll get a better sense later when I sit down with the metronome and go through more of my exercises, but, man, this feels great out of the gate.

It sounds great in all positions, plain and simple. Tried it clean first, and then through the effects I've been using lately. The guitar really sings.

Questions for the audience

Are there any string recommendations? I doubt I'll put flats on this. Since I've been using effects lately, I've been using D'Addario EXL115s, 11-49. They're fine. Beyond flats versus rounds, I never really hear much of a difference in strings. I'm much more interested in a balanced feel and sound.

Tuning? Part of the reason I gambled on the 27" scale was to potentially experiment with baritone tunings...

[marcwhy]

Yes! Congrats on the Swan! That one sure looks pretty (and probably better in person)!

I like Stringjoy's Tension Calculator as a starting point (and watch the video first to get some ideas). On my Novax, with a 25-27" fan, I use Stringjoy's 11-50 set, but then put a 12 on top (a recommendation from Ralph Novak), and it's a nice, even sound/feel.

Send us some pics when you can, and enjoy!

Marc

[Jim Soloway]

Congratulations. That was a very special guitar for us and I always considered it to be one of the best sounding guitars we ever built. And no, our guitars were definitely not delicate. I was a full time working musician when I started the company and I liked guitars that were light weight, well balanced and as close to indestructible as we could possibly get.

[osloutah]

Yes! Congrats on the Swan! That one sure looks pretty (and probably better in person)!

I like Stringjoy's Tension Calculator as a starting point (and watch the video first to get some ideas). On my Novax, with a 25-27" fan, I use Stringjoy's 11-50 set, but then put a 12 on top (a recommendation from Ralph Novak), and it's a nice, even sound/feel.

Send us some pics when you can, and enjoy!

Marc

Thanks for all of this! I'm a bad photographer so I'm only putting up a couple of the pictures I took. If you look closely you'll see that the guitar has actually been played. More on this below.

[osloutah]

Congratulations. That was a very special guitar for us and I always considered it to be one of the best sounding guitars we ever built. And no, our guitars were definitely not delicate. I was a full time working musician when I started the company and I liked guitars that were light weight, well balanced and as close to indestructible as we could possibly get.

It plays great and sounds amazing. I bought it for a pretty specific purpose, but if I ever lost my other electrics I'm not sure that it would matter.

Regarding the build quality, I'm putting this down for the record: I've got a couple of guitars and woodwinds that are ballpark 100 years old. They were all built well and lived multiple lives before coming into my possession, but only one of them was heavily played AND arrived looking like it hadn't lost a few battles: a pre-war Conn 10M. It's a tank that can sing pretty and bark like a big dog, and it'll keep doing so long after I'm gone. Given the amount of travel and play this Soloway has seen, I'm confident that someone will be enjoying it 100 years from now.