A Question of Scale The Soloin'ay Swan lazzWing and SwanNyA _ HE QUESTION OF THE properstringed-instrument scale lengthhasintrigued players and designers 16A VIXTAGEGUITAR I A since the days of Tony classical guitarist'sposture, The small headstockand long bass horn allou' the guitar to hang nicely from a strap without the imbalancecaused by the lengthy ncck. The Swan lazz Wing acoustic re- sponsc is captivating, Its chambered body and extended string length made each string responsive. Strung with DAddario Excel.0l ls,stringlension is similar to thatwhicha25rl:" scalewould have with a string set startingwith a .012 high E, according to Soloway. Yet, withthe increased string flexibilityand a forgiving action,the fazzWing setup wasquite easy on the left hand. Plugged intoan UltrasoundAG-50D acoustic amp, it's easy to marvel at the mellow tone drawn from the small- bodiedlazzWing Overtones one might expect from a big body were, of course, not present, but the long string length coloredthe sound in a distinctive way. Vibrato and subtlefull-chordal bends were enhanced, and the JW stayed in tune. Walking bass lines and blucsy phrases were fat-soundingwith good articulation, even with theTone control rolled off. Plugged into a Roland 60-watt Cube at typical'audible wallpaper" restaurant volume, the combination of scale, body design,and electronics produceda modern jazz guitar rcund with a natural decay, quite conducive to a pianistic fingertyleapproach. The Swan NYA, wilh its beauti- ful one-piecefigured maple top and along with the frets of his guitars, with a bass-sidescale longer than the trebh side. fim Solowayb Swan Line of guitars usc a 22" scalc. lts primary benefit being greater string tension,it alsoallows for greatcr string flexibil- ity.Andwithout a doubt, Vfnhgcctu$.r.o@ I I I L- honeyburstwithscraped hux binding, are Jrclished to a high gloss.The 16" radius fingerboards, cocobolo on the )azz Wing and flamed-maple on the NYA, are fittcd with expertly dresscd and polished large frets. Both have chambered swamp-ash bodies with gcnerous bellycuts, and are 6tted with Hipshotbridges customized to accom- modate the long xale, Pickupsare by DiMarzio; an EJCustom humbucker in the lazzWing,a neckand middle Area- T, and a bridge Virtual Solo pickup, all hum-cancellingunits, in the NYA. The nreticulouslyrvired electronicsare housed infu llyshielded compartments. Both,shipped inreinforcedfoamKaces with heavy fabric covers,weigh in at just over six pounds. The NYA hardrvare is chrome, and the fazzWing is dressed up a bit with gold 6xtures. Both are built with care that reflects the design put into them. The physicsof scalelength, string tension, and string flexibility might be complex, but the Jazz Wing, Solowayi alternative to the traditional "iazz boxj' presentsa simple app€arance. Whar the Swan Jazz Wing lacks in gaudy ornamentation is more than made up for in the flowing lines of both headstock and body. A one-pie<e 0amed rtdwood top is multi-bound with an understated faux-tortoiseshell outsidelayer.With alongbass-sidehorn and a short treble Venetian cutaway, the offta-waist designallows the fazz Wing to sit comfortably, even in a flamed-maple neck and fin- gertroard, isa difTerent bind. The treble side Florentine cutawaypointsawayfmm the neck, deep enough to take advantageof the entire 22-fret fi ngerboard. The electronics will be familiar to anyonewho hasplayed Fenderl most populardesigovaryingin thattheneckand bridgcpickups are put into combination instead of the expected neck-and-middle pickup arrangemcnt.Separate Tonepotentiometcrs for the neck and bridgepickups, a mastcrVol- ume control, and a five-position blade selector control the works. Plugged into a Fender Blues De Ville 4xl0 with an ancient DOD Preamp/Overdrive pedal, thc NYE's first declaration came in thevoicingoffunkrhythm chords at the l2th fret and beyond; the extended scale allowed clean, close fingerings that would be all but impossible on a LesPaul. Rhythm chordswerebright and sparkly from each pickup and combination sound,with a little extrd sonic zing due to the long scah. Goosing theorandrive pedal or thegain channelallowedtheNYA to burn, with an extra sustainto long tones with finger vibrato. With a brassslide, wedrew pedal steel-like sounds from the NYA, with little significant adjustment necessary to accommodatethe ex- tendedstring length. Riffing through solo licks with a 1.5mm phc- trum requires a bit more , concentration to play I them cleanly, due to the - greater distance between the frets. However,hammer- on/pull-off maneuvers benefi ted from the extra suing flcxibi.litS and the on-the-moneyfretwork and setup help overcome initial limitations on the 27"-scale fingerboard. The Jazz Wng fu 16lls itsprom- is. It would also work nicely as a swingirf blues guitar. The vcrsatile NYA also lives up to its full name, Not Yet Another, and sounds great in roch funk and country applications. Solowry guitars are for playersinterested in techniguc. The c.ttra string lengtlu while greatly enharrcing the instrumcntb performance, does require a little extra hcus on lefr-hand fecility. And arryhing that makes apl4rcr rryork on thcir techn(ueisa goodtbing"becaus€ thanrdr, appliedto finc instru- ments like the Solorray Swan mo&ls, is an important Frt of tlp creation of an idividuelistk sund.-ChipWllwr Fenderusd25'/i for his flagshipguitars. Designers who followed Or- ville Cibson used both 25tlz" and24\1t". /r\