new Buscarino solidbody

[nnajar]

It's called a "Mira". Strat style body, ebony fingerboard. The idea
was to have a guitar for my sideman gigs that could approximate a fat
jazz sound and also do strat sounds and gainy things too. john said
he knew just what to do and made me this guitar.

http://www.natenajar.com/images/mira1.jpg
http://www.natenajar.com/images/mira2.jpg
http://www.natenajar.com/images/mira3.jpg

so i used it on the r&b gig last weekend and it was awesome. It plays
beautifully- of course john's workmanship would be flawless- and is so
comfortable to hold and play. very lightweight too. It's a swamp ash
body.

Soundwise it did everything i asked from it. it's really fat sounding
too, and it does good strat and excellent back pickup gain stuff. and
it's pretty to look at.

The real kicker was that the saxophone player wanted to go down to sit in on Buster Cooper's gig (straight ahead jazz thing) after our gig on Friday. i wasn't going to go because I didn't want to walk into a real straight ahead gig with a solidbody guitar, so i almost thought about going home and swapping instruments for my archtop or classical and then going back, but it
was late so he talked me into just going. i plugged into Buster's polytone and hit the neck pickup. Damn if it didn't sound absolutely perfect in that setting. I couldn't believe these sounds were coming from a strat body. very fat, full and warm sounding, even on the top strings. So while I won't be grabbing it first for any jazz gigs, at least I know it can handle it!

N

[nnajar]

PS it sounds great with the axefx!

[gerryguitar]

that is a beautiful guitar... congrats... I love swamp ash as a body wood... its light and sounds wonderful..

[xroads]

What are the PUs?
Passive? Active?

[MingusBass]

I think that name is already taken.

[pir8matt]

Neat - there are a few buscarinos (or NOVAs) floating around this area, since John used to have his shop in this area.

Quite a few people I know worked for him at different times.

I still have a bass that a friend of mine custom ordered from him. Its ridiculous looking (green, with a reverse-banana headstock) but sounds and plays great.

[nnajar]

Neat - there are a few buscarinos (or NOVAs) floating around this area, since John used to have his shop in this area.

Quite a few people I know worked for him at different times.

I still have a bass that a friend of mine custom ordered from him. Its ridiculous looking (green, with a reverse-banana headstock) but sounds and plays great.

Are you in Tampa Bay? I'm in St. Pete.

I'm a Buscarino endorser- my main instrument is his Cabaret nylon string model. I also use one of his archtops. He just built this solidbody for me last month. the more I play it the more I'm loving it.

The pickups are passive Kent Armstrong custom wound. Hum cancelling in all positions, with a push/push on the tone knob to get a single coil type sound on the neck. I dind't see anything like them on Armstrong's site, so I'm assuming John has them made to his spec.

John doesn't make a lot of solidbodies now, but he did recently start making them again after years of just making archtops.

NN

[pir8matt]

Work in clearwater, live in St Pete.

I don't play jazz or anything, but he's had great success with those types of guitars so I'm not surprised thats mostly all he builds anymore.

I've had several of his nicer guitars, some under the "NOVA" brand, and a couple others under the "Buscarino" moniker. A co-worker of mine has one of his old super-strats, and one of those semi-hollows that Steve Morse was endorsing or at least posed with in a photo one time.

Stevie from Stevie B's has a few in his private collection as well, I think.

I see he's still using that famous patented contour heel and 2-bolt neck. Cool stuff.

Do you play in St Pete at all?

Are you in Tampa Bay? I'm in St. Pete.

I'm a Buscarino endorser- my main instrument is his Cabaret nylon string model. I also use one of his archtops. He just built this solidbody for me last month. the more I play it the more I'm loving it.

The pickups are passive Kent Armstrong custom wound. Hum cancelling in all positions, with a push/push on the tone knob to get a single coil type sound on the neck. I dind't see anything like them on Armstrong's site, so I'm assuming John has them made to his spec.

John doesn't make a lot of solidbodies now, but he did recently start making them again after years of just making archtops.

NN

[Kalalau Hiker]

The pickups are passive Kent Armstrong custom wound. Hum cancelling in all positions, with a push/push on the tone knob to get a single coil type sound on the neck. I dind't see anything like them on Armstrong's site, so I'm assuming John has them made to his spec.

John doesn't make a lot of solidbodies now, but he did recently start making them again after years of just making archtops.
NN

That's a stunner NNajar - congrats and thanks for posting.
You ought to take some more close ups and post on my Buscarino Love Land thread I started for Buscarino owners! (or post em here. we love the close up porn! )

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=313666&highlight=buscarino


I LOVE my Buscarino solid body
http://www.deanguitars.tv/userpics/lib9/IMG_1386res33.jpg (http://www.deanguitars.tv/userpics/lib9/IMG_1386res33.jpg)
http://www.deanguitars.tv/userpics/lib9/IMG_1416res33.jpg

I call it my Jeff Beck on steroids go to guitar. The neck is fatter than I usually like (small hands and like Jimi style wrap around /thumbing), but it is SO well made - that I totally love it. It TRULY plays like butter. I can't do some of my Jimi tricks on it... but don't care. You just play faster and with more quality just by feeling the neck - it's THAT good. It's a TOTAL work of art - probably the best neck on any guitar I have or have seen. Tone wise I can get spanky country tele sounds, jazzy vintage P90 sounds, position 2 and 4 strat funk sounds, and RIPPING S Duncan trem bucker bridge solo sounds out of this baby... and the Wilky trem is SO responsive - makes you want to tremelo ALMOST as much as Jeff does. ( I think every other note is too much ... even for a master like Jeff! LOL)

I have some questions. I've been wanting a "does all" strat for some time and bought a real nice HH-S-HH Melancon from Raj here on TGP.
It has Gerard's custom ordered Dimarzio pups that I find don't sound that great split. I also have a Melancon Koa T style that has Fralin Unbuckers that I DO really like the split sounds on. The splitting on that is switch derived. I also know S duncan has some model he makes especially to split, as does Rio Grande.
Have you played any of these pups? and if so how do they compare to the Kent Armstrongs? Are you getting really good 60's strat sounds out of it? is the splitting via pull up on knobs or switch. I have also heard switch splitting sounds better than knob pullup.
What is John's opinion on the best way to do it?

I have some Kent Armstrong lipsticks on a Warmoth surf strat I bought that the "stratiness" blew the mind of a friend who is a TRUE vintage strat pup tone connoisseur - so I know Kent "knows strat"!

Thanks ahead of time for any good info!

congrats again!

[Marty s Horne]

Beautiful guitars guys. I'm in Treasure Island and play the Tampa Bay area. Speaking of Buster Cooper, I played opposite him at the St Pete Pier about 5 years ago on New Years Eve.

[nnajar]

I have some questions. I've been wanting a "does all" strat for some time and bought a real nice HH-S-HH Melancon from Raj here on TGP.
It has Gerard's custom ordered Dimarzio pups that I find don't sound that great split. I also have a Melancon Koa T style that has Fralin Unbuckers that I DO really like the split sounds on. The splitting on that is switch derived. I also know S duncan has some model he makes especially to split, as does Rio Grande.
Have you played any of these pups? and if so how do they compare to the Kent Armstrongs? Are you getting really good 60's strat sounds out of it? is the splitting via pull up on knobs or switch. I have also heard switch splitting sounds better than knob pullup.
What is John's opinion on the best way to do it?
!

I haven't played any of those pickups, sorry. My suhr strat has suhr's pickups in it and my other strat has emg's. The emg strat I've had since I was a kid and have used it for most of my sideman work- the Suhr i bought last year because I heard so much about them, but it's too stratty for me and I can't get the fat jazz sounds. so that's why i asked buscarino for this guitar. he really hooked me up too.

I am getting real good strat sounds out of these pickups but they also get fat as hell too. The neck pickup splits with the push/push switch on the tone pot.

NN

[Ramblin390]

I love my 80's nova

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb49/ramblin390/IMG_5522.jpg
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb49/ramblin390/IMG_5521.jpg

[nnajar]

Do you play in St Pete at all?

With my trio I can be found doing an occasional concert at the Palladium Theatre on 5th Ave. Also, John Lamb and I do a duo once or twice a month at various locales. Schedule is at www.natenajar.com

Also play electric guitar (that's where this new one comes in) with Shawn Brown's band. That's mostly an r&b outfit. We were at that new place on Ulmerton the last few weeks- "the venue"- and this week and next we're in ybor at "the blue shark". www.shawnbrownband.com

i also work with Eric Darius occasionally and have done a bunch of sideman things for some other "smooth jazz" touring artists.

NN

[pir8matt]

My work (www.tampabayrealtor.com) has had Eric Darius play a couple fundraising events for us. Great stuff!

Hows that new 'venue' place? It looks nice.

With my trio I can be found doing an occasional concert at the Palladium Theatre on 5th Ave. Also, John Lamb and I do a duo once or twice a month at various locales. Schedule is at www.natenajar.com

Also play electric guitar (that's where this new one comes in) with Shawn Brown's band. That's mostly an r&b outfit. We were at that new place on Ulmerton the last few weeks- "the venue"- and this week and next we're in ybor at "the blue shark". www.shawnbrownband.com

i also work with Eric Darius occasionally and have done a bunch of sideman things for some other "smooth jazz" touring artists.

NN

[nnajar]

My work (www.tampabayrealtor.com) has had Eric Darius play a couple fundraising events for us. Great stuff!

Hows that new 'venue' place? It looks nice.


it's absolutely gorgeous. lots of eye candy too but most of it is surgically enhanced :drool

the nice thing about that gig is that it's over at 10pm. we were at Dan Marino's place for 7 years and were spoiled because that gig was hour on hour off hour on go home at 11. so the Venue's nice like that too, although that one's still 4 hours. The 3am shit we've been doing in tampa is starting to get to me.

N