borys

[matte]

after years of searching fruitlessly for a killer acoustic 7 string, good fortune has smiled upon me. bucky pizzarelli let go of this incredible borys and i had to snag it. the low a has serious ass to it and it is incredibly balanced for both pick and fingerstyle apps.

http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL898/463210/13030305/192730427.jpg
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL898/463210/13030305/192730409.jpg
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL898/463210/13030305/192730374.jpg
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL898/463210/13030305/192730342.jpg

[e-z]

Sweet. For a split second I thought it was a steel string until I saw the tie block. What are the sides, maple, cypress or something else?

[matte]

Sweet. For a split second I thought it was a steel string until I saw the tie block. What are the sides, maple, cypress or something else?
maple back and sides. hannabach for the low a.

[wsaraceni]

nice guitar. that looks vaguely familiar to me :)

that guitar as well as that epiphone sounded great. especially with you playing them

[hemlock]

I'm sure it sounds awesome but that rosette kicks ass, man!

[Vince]

Matte, whassup?

You know, I really like that one shot you always do in your pic posts where the guitar is bottoms up into the sky. I think you should bury all your axes in your backyard, in a row, necks down and bottoms up, at an angle... kinda like this...

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/STK/STK011/AAC4777.jpg

And buy the way, that is surely another beautiful guitar you've acquired.

[drezdin]

I mean this from the bottom of my heart.













DUDE!

Congrats. All those tiny little miter joints on the headstock are just crazy. Hope it sounds as good as it looks.
Is it zero radius like a classical?

[homebrewer99]

Bucky and his son John are some of my favorite jazzers. I wonder how Matte hooked up with the Pizzarellis..?

[matte]

Matte, whassup?

You know, I really like that one shot you always do in your pic posts where the guitar is bottoms up into the sky. I think you should bury all your axes in your backyard, in a row, necks down and bottoms up, at an angle... kinda like this...

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/STK/STK011/AAC4777.jpg

And buy the way, that is surely another beautiful guitar you've acquired.
hey vince,
cliff tells me you're rockin'. can't wait to see what's coming together in your shop.

cadillac ranch?

[matte]

I mean this from the bottom of my heart.













DUDE!

Congrats. All those tiny little miter joints on the headstock are just crazy. Hope it sounds as good as it looks.
Is it zero radius like a classical?
zero radius indeed. sounds/plays even better than it looks.

[matte]

Bucky and his son John are some of my favorite jazzers. I wonder how Matte hooked up with the Pizzarellis..?it's a jersey thing.:)

[rgsss14]

maple back and sides. hannabach for the low a.


Probably an odd question - but I've always had an issue with "gauge separation symmetry" with some 7 strings, esp acoustics. Just eyeballing your guitar, the 7th string seems to be a significantly higher gauge than the 6th... is that the intention...(the low A opposed to B) or do you feel the disconnect...

What I'm trying to say is that playing on 7 strings is not neccessarily an alien thing, but it is when that 7th string has that inherently obvious difference in gauge it just feels weird... if the 6th is, say at .052 then anything greater than .070 for the 7th just feels odd.

Random silly question.

[matte]

Probably an odd question - but I've always had an issue with "gauge separation symmetry" with some 7 strings, esp acoustics. Just eyeballing your guitar, the 7th string seems to be a significantly higher gauge than the 6th... is that the intention...(the low A opposed to B) or do you feel the disconnect...

What I'm trying to say is that playing on 7 strings is not neccessarily an alien thing, but it is when that 7th string has that inherently obvious difference in gauge it just feels weird... if the 6th is, say at .052 then anything greater than .070 for the 7th just feels odd.

Random silly question.been playing 7s since 1989. started with a high a and went to a low a around 1992 and never looked back. i use a 74 for my low a and it's never been a problem for me. the rewards(extended range for lines, counterpoint, voicings etc.) make adaptation a no brainer for me.

[matte]

Well done Matte. That should certainly do the job. I know you've been wanting to scratch that particular itch for a long time.
the high tension hannabach is the shit. great string. this is the first acoustic 7 i've played that was well balanced and actually felt/sounded like a unified voice.

[michaelg]

great looking guitar!!

[rgsss14]

been playing 7s since 1989. started with a high a and went to a low a around 1992 and never looked back. i use a 74 for my low a and it's never been a problem for me. the rewards(extended range for lines, counterpoint, voicings etc.) make adaptation a no brainer for me.

Get an 8-string then, for that high A.... ;-)

[matte]

Get an 8-string then, for that high A.... ;-)thought about it. alot... would have to go with a novax. please start a thread about vince's latest greatest! i'll join in.

[matte]

A good 7-string acoustic is a particularly tough instrument to find. I've talked to Oskar Graf about possibly building me a steel string 7 acoustic. He built both the 7-string and baritone that Don Ross plays. I had a chance to see some of Oskar's work in Montreal this summer and it was just stunning. Now it's just a question of budget.
what do you know about roger borys' work?

[Vince]

An exercise on killing 2 birds with one stone, hijacking a thread, for a moment, then getting (feebly) back on topic.....

Ah, yes, the Borys... wish I had one of those.... ;-)



Hey Raj, I pulled my post because I realized that in my haste to respond to Matte I unintentionally comitted a most egregious thread hijack. Please help cover my trail by pulling your pic and getting this thread back to it's regularly scheduled programming.:o

[rgsss14]

Hey Raj, I pulled my post because I realized that in my haste to respond to Matte I unintentionally comitted a most egregious thread hijack. Please help cover my trail by pulling your pic and getting this thread back to it's regularly scheduled programming.:o

Deletion done... will start a new thread...

[gitman]

i now own 2 Borys archtops and i would buy a third one if it came my way ... the smaller, 16" Jazz Special was a custom order i put in with him back in 1992 and i got it in '94 ( flew to NYC and picked it up ) . it has been my no1 jazz axe ever since and it's still getting better from year to year. so much for plywood-topped guitars .... the 18" B-420 is a recent aquisition , originally built for and owned by Dr. Joseph Jewell , guitarist/educator extraordinaire in Los Angeles. while not really suitable for the normal jazz gig ( fully acoustic, all solid wood, BIG box ) it play just wónderfull, even with rather heavy strings ( 014 down to 060 ) and has the most articulate and sweet tone. it looks absolutely gorgious, too ! so i'm a little biased towards Mr. Borys' work ( i also briefly owned a solidbody Jazz guitar from him, patterned after a design that he and Jimmy D'Aquisto drew up back in the 80's ) - from what i hear and read all customers love his guitars but are going crazy with the long wait and the difficult communication with the man - he has no website, no email ....
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/gitman/Borys/Blondie-1.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/gitman/Borys/Borys3.jpg

[drezdin]

Wow, that's huge. I've never seen an 18" before. It's a beauty.

[HHB]

I'd tried a 7 string w/ a high A back in the early 90's, it broke every single time I'd touch it LOL, whats the secret Matte

[matte]

I'd tried a 7 string w/ a high A back in the early 90's, it broke every single time I'd touch it LOL, whats the secret Mattei started on with a high a. moved to a low a soon after.

[KRosser]

Beautiful guitar Matte...someday if I'm ever out your way I wanna hear you play some of these gorgeous intruments in person...

Didn't Lenny Breau have a high-A nylon seven made by Kirk Sand?

[1after909]

Your are correct. Kirk did make him that 7 string steel. I have a wonderful archtop that he made with Miguel Rodriguez..L5 size with german spruce and flamed to death mape, including the neck,w/floating benedetto pickup. Kirk is such a nice guy and talented luthier...well proven by his client list.And we lost Lenny way too early. Man, that Borys "18 blonde beauty is just... only two words come to mind...Marilyn Monroe...Stunning!! How do the two Borys compare to each other?

[gitman]

they compare to each other simply by coming from the same builder : same design aestetics and features, understated elegance in looks, superb but not flashy wood and a very sensitive nature :-). the plywood-topped 16" is still getting better after 10 years of constant use. i had my battles with it because when i ordered it i had some rather strange ideas about the neck shape - but i fought it out and now i'm comfortable with it. both guitars are rather light, even the big one, despite the size. right now i've set them up with 0.13 and 0.14 Thomastik flatwounds and they both give me a great and very natural blend of acoustic clarity and smokey, warm jazz tones. when i first got the 18" it was strung with medium heavy roundwounds and it could favorably compare with a dreadnought steelstring qua power, sustain and brilliance !
Marilyn Monroe .... good analogy ! this one will hopefully live a longer and happier life though !

[1after909]

Amen! She's a real bombshell though...Dig those curves!!:)

[sgcim]

I also own a Borys B120.
It was first known as the Barry Galbraith Model because it was designed by Barry, D'Aquisto, and Borys.
It's got a Seth Lover/Seymour Duncan pickup.
Larry Koonse, Jimmy Wyble, Emily Remler, and Larry Coryell are some of the guitarists that play Borys guitars.
I'll never find an electric archtop better than this guitar.
Someday, I'd like to pick up a B420, but it has to have a 16' body because I'm a small guy.

[arched_top]

Every time I see a picture of a Borys guitar I am entranced! It would be cool if there was a website dedicated to his work with a little bio + photos of some of the guitars he's built. Info on him and his guitars seems to be in short supply.

[jharpersj]

Ha ha the dreaded hamer 7 with an extra high string, could not play that one to save my life !


been playing 7s since 1989. started with a high a and went to a low a around 1992 and never looked back. i use a 74 for my low a and it's never been a problem for me. the rewards(extended range for lines, counterpoint, voicings etc.) make adaptation a no brainer for me.