Premier Guitar, December

, r t r r' l l l l r l , l i 0 l f l S t R2 l l 8 e O - ]
SOTOWAY
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PflOIU[T
RIVI[t/]i
When talking about the NYA,Jim proudly
states,"lt was the first chancel've had to
build somethingI reallywanted ratherthan
guessingwhat our customerswanted." Jim
alsowanted to add that the NYA heraos
a radicaldeparturefrom how his previous
guitarswere made. lt also shedslight on the
future of Solowayguitafs.
"l've just sold all of my swampash blanks
that were under 13" and l've just bought
about 300 board feet o{ new lumber and
now, if possible,all newerguitarswill use
singlepiece backsand tops."
Guitqrs
Swan NfA
Revealingyet anotherunexpectedtwisr,Jrm
had wired the traditionalneck/middlecombinationto selecta neck/ bridge selection
with the five way toggle. "l personalyfind
that to be a reallyusefuland more Tele-like
sound," said Jirn.
Jim's carvingof the top of body for the
NYA model is a masterbuilder'stour oe
force. Playingthe NYA after an even good
Strat style guitarwili makeyou realizehow
muddy and ;ndistinctyour gujtar is. The
NYA may not be for everyone,but for those
who are willingto take a chance,the NYA
is a wonderfulinstrument.At one time Jim
lent his considerableguitar playingskillsto
Playingthe SolowayNYAthroughmy
orrncelorReverbwas a oeaLTlul eyperience. JazzKatamps,but even he is surprisedby
The soundwas lush,butteryand organicwith the stylisticdirectionsother people have
taken his creations.For playerswho can
a hint of a big box'sopennessbut withouta
lot of the boom associated
with largebodied think outsidethe box chord and who are
willingto take a chance,the SolowayNYA
guitars.With the five positiontoggle and
is a beautifulguitarthat will open up new
three Strat configured pickups,you may find
channelsfor your playing.Unconventional?
yoursel{boldlygoing whereno Strathas
Yes,but in all the right ways. @
gone before.Yourjazzand bebop lineswill
haveneversoundedso funky.While scrolling
throughthe NYAspickupoptions,the middle pickup I mentio'redearlierreallycaughr
my ear Not only did it not exhibitany of
the nasallike qualitythat so manyStratm dpickupshaveit was so open and spacious
that it almostsoJndedlike playng a dreadnoughtwith a high qualitypiezothroughan
a-o. Al.houghrne NYA may nor replacear
acousticauitarfor a gig, you rnayjust want
to give it a try- Overall,playingthe NYA back
to backwith a more conventional
Stratis like
the differencebetweenplayinga spinetand
a concertgrand.
flean
isasflean
Does
Not only is the neck slighty out of the
ordinary,the body shapeis alsosomewhat
unusual.Althoughthe body is a "double
cut" visually,you can see hintsof Fenoer,
PRS,Rickenbacker,
ano ea' ly B.C. R ch in
its design.Tu.nrngthe NvA ovar exposes
a deep heel carvearoundthe neck'sback
plate and offersexcelenr Lpper fret access.
Whetherplayingseatedor standing,the
NYA is an extremelywell-balancedgujtar
and is light and easyto play,with minimum
need of adjustmentfor your playingstyle.
ln fact, lfound that with the added neck
length,arpeggiatedrunswere far easierto
play on the NYA than they ever were on a
24.75" neck. One of the thingsthat Jim
guaranteesis that his guitarswill neverbe
neck heavy-an astonishingclaim,given the
llottinn
flirtv
fact that the NYA is crownedwith six Hip
Oh, the Mesa ReverbRocket,you nasty
Shot Grip-Loc(tuners. The NYA arsouses
junkyarddog of distortion...let me hear
an unusuall6" fretboardradius.Jim points
you barkl
oul that c asscal gu;tarsuse flatterfretboard radii than manyelectrics.Overall,the
Pluggingthe NYA throughthe Mesa Reverb
feel o{ tl'e neck 's simi ar lo a late eighries
Jacksonthan to that of a more conventional Rocket'sLeadand Contourchannelswas a
wild r'de. A lot ol se-i.l-ollow body guitars
jazz box. Some of that "{eel" is due to the
l've piayedthroughthe Mesa'sparticularly
Jllra-thinlitro firish on the rec< and fret
nastybrand of distoirioneither are able to
boa.d. lwas convircedthat Jim was using
make it acrossthe junkyardunscathedor are
an oil finishbecausethe finishwas so thin,
mauledby its jagged teeth. I am happyto
but he said that wasn'tthe caseat all.
saythat the NYA escapedw:thout a scratcl,
a l i l l e s w e a t ya n d o u r o f o . e a . h. n a y o e ,
Poweringthe NYA was a trio ol D.Mar/io
but aliveand well. The NYA soundedhuge
Tele-stylepickupswith an Area-Tin the
lh'ough the Nlesaard absolutelymenaci,rg
neck and middle, and a VirtualSolo in the
when
tuned to dropped D.
bridge.Jim took yet anotherunexpected
approachto setting up hjs pickupsin that
the mid-pickupisn't wired through any tone
controls.Jim statedthat it lent to a more
usablepickup and didn't muddy its tone.
ThpIinrll1rlnin
Perhapsl'm ookingfor a differentrating scalefor a guitar that'sso different.
l i t l l I f l l r A i l 0 t t t M 0 r l ? 0 0a[o g