Sadowsky Ends Archtop Production

[deacon Mark]

I might add, Benedettos laminates go for much more. I don't hear any whining about that.

I would not buy one of them either except a fire sale, but at least his company makes them here not overseas.

[lawson-stone]

I would not buy one of them either except a fire sale, but at least his company makes them here not overseas.

By "here" you mean Belgium? Where this board is based? It's easy to forget this is not a USA board!

[nyc chaz]

The thing that i don't get is if they cost $3.600 in japan,what makes it cost 6K here in the states.It is the same guitar outside of Roger supposedly doing a final setup before selling it Him doing the setup is not worth the $2,400 difference,at least not to me.Borys makes the entire guitar himself,the Sadowsky and the Benedetto's are made by anonymous who knows who.Not saying they aren't good luthiers but for what they charge,at least i know with Borys who made the guitar.

[deacon Mark]

There are Campellone s for sale right now for less. While not the same they would work equally if not better. It is a no brainer.

[yebdox]

The Sadowsky Jim Hall is a fantastic guitar. Great fingerboard, setup, very good pickup. Perfect for jazz. I prefer the sound to the other laminate guitars I owned and sold -got rid of ALL of them. Bought 3 ES-175s. Gone. 2 70s Howard Roberts Oval Holes. Gone. 3 Ibanez GB10s. Gone.

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.

I'm with Navdeep. Great guitar, accurate, plays so precisely, stable, stays in tune. Makes me play differently, which is always a good reason to have a few guitars around for inspiration and a different perspective.

I'm starting to think I'm jinxing things a bit, though. Several of my favorite personal beasts are now out of production - Wesmo, 175 VOS, Sadowsky JH, Martin OMC-28E and Jarrett Zaffiro. I refuse to take the blame if they quit making Teles, Strats and Pauls, though.

[Bflat233]

I have a pair of Sadowsky — a long scale semi-hollow I got used and a FV model I bought new.

I also have owned 7 Eastman’s at various price points and currently still have 2 — a Romeo and a T64.

The T64 and the FV are tied for my #1 spot with the LS Semi a close 2nd and the Romeo a respectable 3rd.

If I want to use a full depth archtop, I have a Comins gcs-16-1 that gets the call.

In 2023, I had the opportunity to A/B test a Sadowsky Frank Vignola side-by-side with an Eastman Romeo. I have been very happy with the Romeo since I bought one new in 2020. By way of comparison, the dimensions are nearly identical. But - the Sadowsky FV is lighter than the Romeo, and the neck was nearly identical to my ES-175. I played the guitars through a Fender Princeton Reverb. The Romeo produced tones that were more akin to a Telecaster (despite the dual humbuckers), and the Sadowsky's tones were in the domain of a traditional archtop (despite the thin line design). It was hard to walk away from that guitar - but I did because of the price point. I just couldn't justify $6K for a guitar ... not as a hobbyist, anyway.

Fast forward to 2024 - I had the opportunity to buy a used Sadowsky FV used at a reasonable price and I didn't look back. With six months playing time gone by, I'm very glad I bought it. In summary, for me the price point of the new model was the blocker - the guitar itself has no shortcomings. It is a delight to play.

Post Script: I did sell the Eastman Romeo because the guitars fulfill the same need in my quiver.

[Jabberwocky]

The Sadowsky branded archtops are great guitars for sale and on sale in Japan. I just noticed Walkin JP has two new Semi-Hollows in its inventory asking for a little under $3250 each. Ditto the Jim Hall models.

?1/26 ????????www.walkin.jp???????????

Caveat: Roger Sadowsky probably disowns these and won't be offering any aftersales service and support for them. But you would have to have some cheek to expect him to after paying Japanese retail price ex- shipping and ex-duty for one.

[JazzPadd]

One of my jam session mates here in Japan, a young up and coming guitarist, walked into our monthly jam with one of these a couple months ago. It’s now his main squeeze. What a beautiful instrument, plays like butter and sounds like a dream!

[jazzgtrl4]

I have 2010 Sadowsky semi that was my main guitar for just about everything, has hundreds of hours on it. i still grab it for jazz, rock whatever gigs..there is no way eastman is close to my Sadowsky, sorry ive picked up many eastmans. Maybe mine being an older one where there was more attention to detail, who knows. plus i payed alot less than what they are now.

[Woody Sound]

The Sadowsky branded archtops are great guitars for sale and on sale in Japan. I just noticed Walkin JP has two new Semi-Hollows in its inventory asking for a little under $3250 each. Ditto the Jim Hall models.

And they have an new LS-17, which RS stopped offering in the US quite a while ago.

17インチ・ボディのロンススケール仕様！

[Navdeep_Singh]

so just to be clear, as I understand it, the Sadowsky arch Tops are still available for sale in Japan because they are factory made in Japan, using Sadowsky specifications. What is missing is the final set up that Sadowsky provides. And they are 40% cheaper in Japan.

[339 in june]

And they have an new LS-17, which RS stopped offering in the US quite a while ago.

17??????????????????

This one is SOLD

[Bach5G]

So, what is my 2006-ish Jim Hall worth now?

[Kevin]

It looks like Walkin just got a few new JH models in stock. Same price as I paid for my Koa finish a couple months ago.

?1/26 ????????www.walkin.jp???????????

[Woody Sound]

It looks like Walkin just got a few new JH models in stock. Same price as I paid for my Koa finish a couple months ago.

?1/26 ????????www.walkin.jp???????????

You have a Koa JH?

[Kevin]

You have a Koa JH?

Yes. Walkin had two available a couple months ago. I bought one and shipped it to the US. The other one just sold. There is a thread about it in the for sale section here.