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Originally Posted by Arnesto
I've always rated Terada as the best hollowbody mass production outfit, anywhere in the world, ever since I played the Epiphone Elitist range.
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05-18-2024 01:42 PM
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Once he gave away the recipe to Japan that insures these guitars will keep getting built. Albeit without the USA setup they once had and perhaps a new brand name
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Would be a good thing to see the same guitar under another brand name for a more realistic price.
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Branding, apart from Yamaha, Tokai and Ibanez, hasn't been a Japanese forte. Just thinking of the variety brands ES-175 clones from Nippon were marketed under. A multiple of the factories that made them.
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Originally Posted by callouscallus
They are very much like other oriental countries in that, they protect and defend their manufacturers and don't seem too bothered by other countries IP, as Gibson have found out.
Fender also found that out when they shipped out there for a couple of years.
I could be wrong but that is the way I've come to understand it.
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Originally Posted by fabiansey
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Originally Posted by Navdeep_Singh
I will say that IMHO, the solid body Sadowsky guitar that Walter Becker played on the Steely Dan "Plush Jazz-Rock Party"TV special on PBS sounded so bad to me that it made me wonder why they featured it on almost every tune they played.
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Originally Posted by Archie
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Originally Posted by sgcim
(Both dudes). I think Emily Remler played one of those other guitars.
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Originally Posted by Navdeep_Singh
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Originally Posted by Navdeep_Singh
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For what it is worth, they speak highly of him on The Gear Page. Here are some examples:
Roger Sadowsky is a gentleman and a scholar...of music. As well as one of the finest luthiers on the planet!
Roger Sadowsky is a super nice guy and if you email him with the tone and feel you're looking for, he could build you a strat to your specs.
Roger Sadowsky is the last person on earth to employ marketing gimmicks or marketing ideas. If anything, IMHO, he shys away from them. When it comes to integrity, his is not to be questioned.
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Originally Posted by Litterick
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I'm a lurker here and feel I'd better chime in, in defence of Sadowsky archtops! Actually I didn't realise they needed defending haha!
I got to learn off Jim Hall in the late 90's, and he was extremely picky about his instruments. This may be a little known fact?! At that time he was playing that beautiful D'Aquisto. Fast forward to 2003 and I saw him play at Iridium in NYC, and we met up between sets. He showed me his new Sadowsky, and his exact words were: "I really, really like it a lot." It was intended to be a touring version of his precious D'Aquisto, but he immediately started playing it exclusively. He let me play it for a minute and I was in love! My feeling is that it was not originally intended to be a production model, but I guess Roger had the idea of making more of them at some point.
As for the Japanese production, Roger tried different laminates from different places (Germany, USA and possibly others IIRC) but he liked the Japanese plates the best. They achieved the thinness that Jim wanted at a consistency Roger needed. There were many prototypes including some with 3 laminated sheets (instead of the 5 that they went with), and there was also a spruce-topped prototype. The final say went with Jim, he kept wanting the top thinner, so all of this R&D may explain the cost of the final production model maybe?
I finally got one in 2017 and it's the only guitar I've ever owned where I feel like the luthier knows more about what I want from a guitar than I do! I can get the classic bop tones, I can play swing guitar, I can even strum on it. Turn it down and the acoustic sound comes thru (I'd swear the pickup is slightly microphonic), turn it up and it just gets fatter and warmer. You can even play with some grit. I had it set up once so I could turn it right down or even off, for the Jim Hall style comping behind bass solos, or turn it up for the classic woody 175 sound, and turn it up some more and even get some Scofield type breakup! All just from the volume knob and my hands. What a machine!!!
I've got an Elitist Broadway, an Eastman 810CE, some nice vintage Ibanez's like a FG100, I've had 175's, an L4 etc etc. IMHO the Sadowsky kills all of the others to the point where I'm going to sell them off. Never thought I'd do that!
Oh and the Jazz Line looks very similar, and is a great guitar, but the laminate plates are not the same, nor is the pickup. I'd call it about half as good as the Sadowsky.
Is the Sadowsky better than a new Borys?... probably not, but it's way, way deep in the same ballpark! And when I got my Jim Hall it was much cheaper than a Borys.
I guess Roger wound up production coz he couldn't make them cheap enough anymore. Cost of living etc etc? He always wanted it to be the quality of a handmade instrument but for the working player.Last edited by Craiguitar; 05-19-2024 at 11:38 PM.
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I was lucky to get my mint used 2005 nitro Jimmy Bruno for less than half the price of a new one today. It's still the most comfy and smooth neck. Much more effortless than the Eastmans I have owned (and I still have two of those.) It seems ironic that there was buzz about the new Bruno model, and now they pull the plug.
- Sadowsky Guitars
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Originally Posted by Craiguitar
I originally sold my Jim Hall too. But that one I regretted. It was much cheaper than. I wound up getting another one, a better one, a blond 2005 or 2006.
It’s literally the only 6 string archtop I own, as of today.
I don’t know what happens to prices but these jumped from 2400 to 3000 to 3200 to 4000. To over 6000. I wouldn’t spend $6k on it. Maybe that[s the reason they closed up shop.
I’ll happily keep my Jim Hall.
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Originally Posted by Craiguitar
The same plate used on the JP20 is the same on the FG100, is the same on the later Greco FA series.
It’s a shame he had to stop having them made. I played one once and thought it to be very well made. I’d love to have one but the price was a barrier.
That’s likely not Rogers fault and I really admire his efforts. I don’t know how thick Bory’s plates are but Sadowsky opened my eyes as to the evolution of them regarding thickness.
I just double checked the Jazzline and it has 5 veneers in the lamination. The top is still about 5mm thick though which is more in line with a standard plate thickness.
It would be interesting to get a measurement off of yours, if you can take one?
The 1st and 5th veneers are decorative so the main bulk of the plate is 3 ply. Looks like basswood on top, perhaps a thin layer of maple in the middle. Not sure what’s on the bottom but appears to be end grain. Very similar to a Gibson style lamination.
Here’s a pic.
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No worries, I just measured the top of my Sadowsky Jim Hall it and it's about 3mm. I tried to get a photo with the ruler but I couldn't hold the ruler in place and the camera steady at the same time haha! But here's a photo just of the top...
But yeah those Jazz Line guitars are great... I've had students that play them, and I could happily play one for the rest of my life and it's not gonna be holding me back in any way! But the Sadowsky is alive and resonant... it's really on a whole different level.
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I have a daquisto jazz line (terada) and I love it
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Originally Posted by Craiguitar
Essentially 3 ply with 2x decorative veneers.
The bottom layer in the main ply looks like Sapele on both models.
So at a guess, top to bottom:
Maple
Basswod
Maple
Sapele
Maple
Does your body have kerfing internally (where else of course)?
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Originally Posted by Craiguitar
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Originally Posted by Navdeep_Singh
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I might add, Benedettos laminates go for much more. I don't hear any whining about that.
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
The Autumn of Solo Guitar 2024
Today, 12:42 PM in Chord-Melody