Are your new B&H's shown on the Mass Street website? It'd be great to see them.

I don't think they will make the Mass Music Web. Though two are unsold (shaded D-18 and shaded D-28), there is heavy interest; I expect Jim to sell them very quickly.

As I said, I'll post as quickly as I can, but its hard to photograph quality and sound. I will say that there is so little runout in the top center seam, I cannot find it. They are fine looking guitars, but their beauty is inside.

Jim seems to have from time to time a number of B&H's that don't make the website. I spoke to him about an OM-42 he had (in the Larson style), that never made the MSM website, but there were some purdy pix on the B&H website. So those with an interest in picking up a B&H might want to check in with Jim from time to time. He da man (in the States; course you could always go to the source overseas).

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Bill Miller, St. Louis:
They are fine looking guitars, but their beauty is inside.

Bill, I don't think it could be said any better. Well done.

you can't explain these guitars. God knows I've tried, and failed, repeatedly. Most of the B&H guitars never get to the site (if you can call five guitars every three years "most"). the Blazer underground absorbs them within days (except for that OM45 that inexplicably sat there for almost a year at 15K, then went bye bye to Europe, where their money goes 37 percent further than ours. Ouch. But, there'll be another batch along in 2011 or so..... if I had any, and I mean any, disposable income, I'd suck up that D18 immediately. Ain't gonna happen. Doesn't cost much more than a varnish D1A. I'm just sayin'..... tom

Late 2009-early 2010 an Adirondack J35 from Willi & Rudi will with patience, be resting in this quiet corner of the Swiss Alps.

Things are not as bad as all that. About half of B&H production comes to the states, or roughly 10 guitars a year. Jim is their exclusive US agent, so if you try buy a new one direct, they will refer you to Jim. Without speaking for him, I think he may have a separate business for B&H. And yes, if you want one, it's a bit like dealing with Wayne Henderson, call Jim, then call him some more. If you are too particular about style, you casn probably have a B&H within a year or so.

Marc - I own a B&H SJ (still on the Mass Street site), modeled after Willi's 1942 Gibson SJ with Braz and Alpine spruce. The term "monster" gets overused on guitar forums, but if any qualifies, this is it! This guitar has a HUGE voice, loudest guitar I've ever played. More, though, this thing just nails the vintage Gibson tone, honkin', barkin', thumpin' while also rich and full with big, fat trebles.

Mind you, I've never played a rosewood SJ, let alone one from 1942 - hey, who has? I have played a 1937/38 AJ and it remains the best guitar I've ever played (sold a few days later for $55k to one Mark Knopfler). The SJ and AJ are different in many respects, but I got a sense of what these old rosewood guitars sound like. The B&H has the magic, for sure.

I can only imagine what Rudi and Willi will do with a J-35. That will be a lifetime guitar.

Tell you what, I own a 1940 J-35, a great one and then some. Why don't we swap for a time, my Gibson for your B&H. How cool would it be to compare these two!

Well I'll have to wait until it gets here first Freeblues, but if you fancy bringing the original Gibson over & picking on this porch;(www.alpenhof-stechelberg.ch)
that might be a lot of fun.

there is something about some of those old Gibsons. one of the two best guitars I've ever played was a Recording King simplified version of an AJ, kinda of J50-ish mahogany round shouldered dread. all those cliches came to life: bark, honk, dry, huge, punchy, rich. It had been sitting in one my student's grandfather's closet. Had a neck like a baseball bat, but tone straight from heaven. that's why I'm hoping for in the CJ mahogany varnish that will be here in May. No, July. No, August. No, september. Halloween? who knows? A Blazer J-35: the mind boggles. tom

Anyone interested in B&H should click over to UMGF, The Guitar Critic's Corner, and check out the extensive pix of the B&H shop in the thread "New Visit to Blazer & Henkes shop!". You can almost smell the sawdust and glue. Highly recommended. If I am ever within a few hundred miles of the shop, I AM THERE