Soloway Swan progress report...

[Dan Desy]

I've posted a thread like this on Birds and Moons for a little while, and I figured you folks might be interested in this as well.

Jim is building me a Swan with the following specs:

- 7 String
- Trem (!)
- Bubinga top
- Light Ash back

This is the first trem guitar Jim builds, so he's taking his time to make sure everything is just right. I'm extremely excited about the whole process, and would like to post a few pictures, as Jim provides them.

Here's the piece of Bubinga used for the top (Jim's also building 3 more 6-strings using this same piece of wood). It's called Rope and Pomelle Bubinga (pretty wild):


http://www.jimsoloway.com/BubingaRope-Pom-12-08-04.JPG


...

[Dan Desy]

Here is the body, after rough cutting:

http://home.comcast.net/~ddesy/images/DanRawTop-04-24-05.JPG

And the back:

http://home.comcast.net/~ddesy/images/DanRawBack-04-24-05.JPG

...

[Dan Desy]

And finally, after the body was routed:

http://home.comcast.net/~ddesy/images/DesyTop05-10-05.jpg

And back once again:

http://home.comcast.net/~ddesy/images/DesyBack05-10-05.jpg


Next up: binding, neck and then inlay, electronics...

[Dave Orban]

Oy!!! :dude :dude :dude

[Balance]

Very cool. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Shadscbr]

Like I said before Dan....that guitar is going to be totally killer!! You will love the combination of bubinga and ash, it sounds great....I can't put mine down :)

What pickups are you getting?
Shad

[Dan Desy]

Originally posted by Shadscbr
Like I said before Dan....that guitar is going to be totally killer!! You will love the combination of bubinga and ash, it sounds great....I can't put mine down :)

What pickups are you getting?
Shad

Probably the same ones you got (remind me what they were?), but I think I'd like to get a Bluesbucker in the neck, if Jim can get a 7 string one.

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by Shadscbr
Like I said before Dan....that guitar is going to be totally killer!! You will love the combination of bubinga and ash, it sounds great....I can't put mine down :)

What pickups are you getting?
Shad

I'm still have a little hope that DiMarzio can do some 7-string Bluesbuckers. I've been after them since we finished building my new 7-string in January, but they've had trouble coming up with a production version of the magnets. If those aren't available, he'll get the same Air Class/Air Norton combo that's in yours.

[Shadscbr]

Thanks for clarifying the pickups Jim. I thought the standard was the PAF/air norton, but it looks like names changed a little, and I wasn't sure. I would love to hear the 7 string bluesbucker in one of your guitars, it's a very cool concept.

Dan (or Jim), what binding are you getting?
Shad

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by Shadscbr
Thanks for clarifying the pickups Jim. I thought the standard was the PAF/air norton, but it looks like names changed a little, and I wasn't sure. I would love to hear the 7 string bluesbucker in one of your guitars, it's a very cool concept.

Dan (or Jim), what binding are you getting?
Shad

Sorry, my bad. After spending 6 hours working on creating a brochure for guitar show next week, my brain is mush. It's a PAF 7 in the neck position with an Air Norton 7 in the bridge.

We're doing the same 3-ply tortoise as yours. The only really significant differences are gold hardware and the trem. There's also going to be a surprise feature on Dan's that we're not talking about yet. :eek:

[Dan Desy]

Originally posted by Jim Soloway
Sorry, my bad. After spending 6 hours working on creating a brochure for guitar show next week, my brain is mush. It's a PAF 7 in the neck position with an Air Norton 7 in the bridge.

We're doing the same 3-ply tortoise as yours. The only really significant differences are gold hardware and the trem. There's also going to be a surprise feature on Dan's that we're not talking about yet. :eek:

I guess I can't talk about it now :)

[Shadscbr]

HEY!!!....no fair. If it's a feature that would make me play better, I sure hope you can retro-fit it to my Swan :D

Oh yeah, I would love to see the new brochure too.