# Four Gustavsson Bluemaster SHOOTOUT !!!!!



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Hey Gear-Heads......okay here it is THE DEFINITIVE be-all, tell all, expose’ on The Johan Gustavsson 59’ Bluesmaster. 
If you are sick of hearing how great these guitars are....delete this right now, don’t go any further, you will loose your mind. And don’t even look at the pictures
BUT...if enjoy reading about what is perhaps the best made set-neck mahogany/maple/rosewood guitar today, then put your feet up on this warm summer evening and enjoy.....


On a sublime summer day in a post-war suburb of the largest city in Canada, an event of major proportions unfolds in a cool dark cellar.
Three like-minded gear heads freed themselves of kids, wives and commitments to spend four and a half hours having their eardrums massaged by four of the best guitars ever made.
Nigel Lall (V-Verb), Hugh Hardy (Bluehugh2) and myself spent a very entertaining morning and most of the afternoon playing four Johan Gustavsson 59’ Bluesmasters. This little get together was spurred on by a recent post on The Gear Page by Clint on his experiences of going to Jim Pallotta’s place (Tradarama) and being able to test drive the four 59’ Bluesmaster’s he had for sale. So thanks Clint for initiating this meeting of Toronto JG owners. 

We met at my place (Chez Fara-Tone) as it has a small wall of amps to choose from. Although there is always a “magic” combination of a certain guitar through a certain amp, we decided to limit our amp selection to two very different models. 
Nigel brought along a superb example of Komet’s Constellation model as our el84 amp and I offered up my magnificent Teixiera 45 as the el34 amp. So we went with the Komet and the Teixiera as our work horses. I put the Komet into a Marshall 2x12 loaded with Celeston Anniversary H-30’s and the Tex went through a Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion British greenbacks. So if classic tones were not achievable....it was not the amplifiers fault.
On hand was Nigel’s Wildwood 6, 03’ 59’ Bluesmaster (the earliest serial number of the Wildwood 6 and still available for viewing on Johan’s site.....it’s one on the far left of the Bluesmaster page) loaded with it’s original Duncan pickups. Hugh brought along a bit of a local legend in a 05’ loaded with it’s original Pete Florance Voodoo 59’ pickups. This was the first JG into our hands a few years ago and it launched the current Toronto-area mania for these alpha-guitars. I have two 59’ BMs in my possession right now. A 08’ Goldtop that is as big in tone as they get and a extremely vibey 06’ that was a recent acquisition from the aforementioned Jim Pallotta at Tradarama. Both those are loaded with Wolfetone Legends (JG wind). They are both original to the guitars.
Can you believe that the three flametops (the 03’, 05’ and 06’) all weigh the same !!!! All on the nose at 8.2 lbs. The Goldtop was the leanest in weight at 7.9 lbs. All four have differing neck sizes that range from robust (the 05’) to vintage-style chunky. Suffice to say all are a complete hand-full in the neck department. We took these guitars through their paces in many different ways. Pickup by pickup, low volume, med volume and as loud as we could take. As only two of the four guitars have coil splits, we did not even venture to compare those tones.

Since Hugh, Nigel and I are three different musicians with different ears and differing opinions. We thought we’d try to write this as a group. Each of us offering up our thoughts. So we passed this email around before sending out to our TONE BROTHERS.
Here are our three opinions. 
Pete’s are in ,,,RED
Hugh’s are in... BLUE 
Nigel’s are in...PURPLE

The 03’

Pete’s thoughts on the 03’
The 03’......This guitar is almost a prototype compared to the others (I know it’s not THE prototype ....Kingsleyed owns that baby) but, it has a vibe that if you told someone the guitar was made in the 50’s......you might believe them. It just FEEEELS old. It’s like a vintage guitar made in 2003. While this guitar hits the amp hard, it has incredible subtlety too. The nuances in this one are that the mids are very transparent. Allowing a bright-ish tone to be prevalent all through the spectrum. This guitar has a KILLER bridge pickup tone when clean to medium gain ...almost Tele-like. With the snap and percussive quality of the senior Fullerton instrument. Now add the neck pickup and it gets into that later LZ/Page in between territory. Bright spanky and clear. The neck pickup while a little (and I mean a little) cloudy when turned down low, clears up and is that wonderful transparent neck tone that only the best humbucking guitars can achieve. Sounds like a voice !!!!! If I was to compare it to a vintage LP that we are all familiar with, it might land somewhere in the Peter Green ‘burst territory (without the out-of-phase tone in the middle position) or (with a different amp) capable of the Dickie Betts type tone. Singing and effortless.

Hugh's comments on the '03... 
As one of the original 2 JGs that I first heard, I always remember this old gal as being very articulate, with no lack of highs, and a beautiful voice indeed. Juxtaposed with the '05, its delicate clarity was further showcased. The original pickups in this guitar are labelled "SH55" and signed by Seymour W. Duncan and perhaps Seth Lover in blue ink - although the signature looks suspiciously like Duncan's script. So these appear to be a Custom Shop version of the Seth Lover pickup offered in Duncan's regular line. This pickup was never "on the radar" for me, until now! It was always Antiquities, and perhaps the '59s, that caught my attention. but I must say that I love the "Seth's" beautiful upper mid-range singing tone! The neck on the '03 is slightly V-ed. It's a chunky medium with a nice beefy fret. Like most Gustavssons, it plays effortlessly.  

Nigel's comments on the 03’
the 03 to me had the widest tonal range. All the frequencies seemed balanced nicely and were really clear. I love this guitar and have enjoyed it immensely. The top? Wow, vintagey to the extreme. Strong flecks, strong undisciplined flame ( I love this type of flame) This was the gymnast of the group - muscled but agile. Noteworthy were the lack of thumb slicers (the pointers on each knob) and the Gibson like output jack plate. Later JG's have a recessed output jack (cup) receptacle. This has a 2 piece back.
 

The 05’

Pete’s thought’s on the 05’
The 05’.....As I said before, this was the JG that started it all for myself and the others. Here is a quote from a post I made back in 06’..... “There is no reason to own any other traditional humbucking guitar.....period.
The tone, the tone, the tone, oh the humanity !!!!!! Add to that the esthetic and quality of build that Johan brings to the table here. When I opened the case, the immediate thing that came to mind was the old saying,"pictures don't do this justice." BEAUTIFUL !!!! Then the feel of it in my hands and hanging on me...wow!!!! But it is in the tone that the true beauty of this guitar can be appreciated.”
I still stand by those statements. Out of the four......this is THE ROCK guitar. (Actually Hugh called it the ultimate Blues guitar.....if you are Gary Moore) The neck pickup is woody and articulate. Dry and dripping with woody tone. The middle position on this guitar is.....chewy. No other word comes to mind. There is a certain sag and pillowy fatness here. On to the bridge and can you say...Joe Walsh ? Man this is CLASSIC rock tone. Up until recently this one was the JG that hit the amp the hardest (more on that later). So prepare to play classic rock when this is in your hands. You just can’t help it.


Hugh's comments on the '05... 
This is the guitar that I brought to the party (although not the one I left with!. Both Nigel and Pete have owned the '05. I actually bought it from Nigel - doing a "tailgate deal" one hot summer's day about a year ago. The Voodoo pickups most likely have alot to do with the tone of this guitar - although perhaps the big chunky V neck does too! If you've never tried Peter Florance's Voodoo pickups, you will be in for a treat. They are like "big" PAFs. Woolly and fat - yet articulate at the same time. The neck pickup has an apparent clarity, but it's fat tone and "low heat distortion" rule! The bridge pickup is aggressive and fat - yet, again, "articulate". These pickups surely add to the "big legged woman" vibe and tone of this guitar. She has a beautiful top - in vibe, residing somewhere between the very vintage '03 top and the more modern look that I have seen recently in a few JGs. This JG MIGHT just be unique! (after all, I haven't tried them ALL!) 

Nigel’s comments on the 05’
This and the 03 are my fave Humbucking guitars ever - well the Les Paul conversions were a micron away. This guitar is muscular - the running back I would say. Even the top is strong in terms of it's flame - Vintage again but no namby pamby delicacy to the flame. Strong tones, capable of delicacy but best suited for rock baby! This has black beauty caps - I think vintage ones. Again, this has a 2 piece back.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

The 06’

The 06’......First off.....this guitar is like Lana Turner/Julie Christie/Charlize Theron ....Gobsmackingly beautiful, but, with a depth that surprises you. I had to mention this guitar’s look because....it’s just hands down sexy. Little wiggling lines of maple and bits of flecking in the top glued to maybe the most beautiful Honduran mahogany body I’ve ever seen. This is no PRS private stock Lawyer guitar....it is made to play !!!! This guitar sounds like Led Zeppelin II to me. There is a certain clucky, percussive tone in the bridge pickup that makes you think of Page’s Moby Dick/Bring It On Home/Heartbreaker tone . Clucky, chalky, percussive and sweet. This is a tone that cannot offend even if you tried. It’s a perfect humbucking bridge tone. Compresses just the right amount. But stays absolutely clear. That alone is worth the price of admission but, add to that a clean neck pickup tone that is hard to get away from. You just want to play beautiful Curtis Mayfield type passages all day. With both pickups on it can be Clapton Bluesbreaker/Fresh Cream-like if you back off the neck pickup just a bit. Or again can get into that chewy territory I was talking about with both pickups turned all the way up.
 

Hugh's comments on the '06:
Just to add a little variety and spice to the party, I brought along my Murphy aged "Pearly Gates". The beautiful "wiggle flame" on the '06 Gustavsson twinned magnificently with the similar figure on ole "Pearly". A beautiful guitar, this '06 is! Pete's right in his assessment! This guitar says: "are you ready to rock?" It's aggressive, but like all Gustavssons that I have auditioned, never harsh or brittle. Pete's '06 is really Nigel (Tuffnel's) type of guitar - a rock machine! But that doesn't mean that you don't get those great clean tones and the whole rainbow of colors that present themselves when you roll back the volume control(and tone control)... did I mention that this guitar is a rock machine? 


Nigel’s thoughts on the 06’
Well Hugh's Gibbons may be the best looking Les Paul I've ever seen. Perhaps Pete will post a pic. The 06 JG was similar in a sense - lots of flame, no BBQ at all, just like a top like out of the Les Paul Bible - "Beauty of the Burst". How did it sound? Halfway between the 03 and 05 I thought. It was muscular but detailed. The mahogany back is striking as well and two piece also. The neck is similar to the 05. Not as beefy but similar. All the JGs are resonant but this one is strikingly so. This has a bumblebee and a black astron cap - not with rings like the other bumblebees. The astron also is .015 instead of the .022s like the rest. This was the middle weight prize fighter. 


The 08’ (goldtop)

Pete’s comments on The 08’.....
The ugly sister of the four with it’s Goldtop finish. But you know what they say about those that are not born with a sunburst spoon in their mouth......they try harder. Well this little golden guitar does try harder and you can hear it. While this guitar was the loudest of the four, it is also the least compressed and the brightest. Making it a MONSTER !!!! You will definitely want to use you tone controls with this one cause it has the ability to be chameleon-like in it’s tone. You can go from clear clean bright tones on all three pickup selections to smoky jazz type neck pickup tones all in a moment. While I have compared other JG’s here to vintage LP’s that you might be familiar with, I can’t really do that here. However, this was my personal fav of the four because....it’s the most like me. While I said it was the brightest, it is not harsh at all. It also has lots of bottom and mid to help balance the tone. Probably the least transparent of the four. But capable of some very pretty sparkling tones also. Because I own this guitar, I am very familiar with how this guitar sits in my band. It has the clarity and balls to cut through a drummer, bass player and a loud B3. So it works well for me. Shit !!!! Works well !!! What am saying !!!! I feel very lucky to own this guitar.

Hugh's comments on the '08:
Well, to me, this guitar has all the beauty of the flametops! You get a better "read" on the top carve with the gold top. And it's "that" gold... kinda greeny... kinda beautiful. I was blown away when I first played this guitar - but almost every JG I have played floors me in some way or another! Very articulate, lots of cut... Wolfetone Legends in this one (and in the '06). I sat with my ear in Pete's amp listening to this guitar during one of Pete's "Orbit Room" gigs, and I can attest to it's (and Pete's) brilliance! "What? Pardon? Did someone say something???" 

Nigel on the 08’
This one is great like the rest. I have to be honest and say I'm not a goldtop person. This guitar is bold, brash, the heavyweight prize fighter - a Tyson not an Ali. Power. Brilliance. Combined. Has a pair of bumblebees.


EPILOGUE....

After the tone fest we found ourselves a slight bit peckish. So off to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant to discuss the days events..........
We stayed till almost dinner time talking about the fortunate position we find ourselves in being able to test drive so many truly great guitars through great amps. So I don’t remember who started this but.......lets just say, the wheeling and dealing couldn’t help but raise it’s ugly head (come on.....those who know the three of us would be surprised if it didn’t ..no?). Well......there was some trading to be done and lets just say.......none of us went home with the girl we brought to the ball. We should have just dropped our keys in a bowl on the way in. 
Yes we are ..............Guitar-SWINGERS !!!!
Enjoy the pics !!!!

Hugh's Comments: 
Well you may not remember who "started it", Pete, but I certainly do! My girl was nervous from the start, since before I arrived at the Tone Fest... "you are taking me THERE?! But HE will be there! I don't feel safe around HIM!" I guess when a man takes his first strum on a Gustavsson, he never forgets! That is, he never forgets the FIRST ONE. But somehow, it took a "3-way" to get everything moving. I must say that everyone - ultimately - was a sport about it. Although I was initially hesitant to "spin the wheel" and leave with a different mistress! In hindsight, it actually seems that each of us was slightly mis-matched with his original date... and I can't help but feel that we all ended up with a better fit. So strange. So true. 

Nigel comments:
Well I know it's Pride Day in Toronto, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Pete’s swinger comments. But we did do a 3-way guitar swap. 
To be clear though, if I had a lot of $$ I would have all 4 of the JG's and Hugh's Billy G Les Paul. No joke. These guitars are the cream of the crop. Pete brought out the 56 Les Paul conversion both he and I owned and the JG's were right there with it - not almost there but, on a par. The closest was probably the 03. The Gibbons I thought was the most unlike the vintage Les Paul, ironically. It is killer but WAY more of a rock beast.
Thanks Hugh and Pete for your excellent company, hosting the get together and the wonderful lunch. I'm blessed to know such wonderful guys.



That's it !!!!!
please feel free to forward this to anyone I may have missed.

Cheers,

Hugh (Jr. Mints), Nigel (Spunky Gates) and Pete (Mr. Gusty)
(The 3 Stooges of rock)


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

NICE review and very nice guitars!
Any vids or clips of that evening or eargasms???


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Man they are nice guitars. I remember getting a quote from Cliff at D.A.G. for a JG a few years ago for around $3500 and thinking he was out of his mind. <Homer DOH! icon>

I'd love to get a chance to play one some day. Sadly, I would probably still sound like me.

EDIT: I just found the E mail from Cliff in 2005, it was not $3500, but it still was a great deal at the time. I should have jumped on it back then.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Wonderful review! Which one is 2nd from the left? Nicest top IMO


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Budda said:


> Wonderful review! Which one is 2nd from the left? Nicest top IMO


Do you mean in the first photo against the amps? That's the 05'.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Yes I did, thanks!


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Awww!! Come on Pete!!! STOP IT!!!!!


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## six-string (Oct 7, 2009)

very nice review. sounds like you gents had a fine time.
i've heard about and read up on these guitars over the past few years, but never actually seen one "in the flesh" so to speak. obviously holding and playing an instrument is a whole different experience to reading technical specs and subjective superlatives about "feel" and "tone" etc.

i suppose my biggest curiousity is about relative value.
i don't dispute these guitars look great and seem to use highest quality wood and components.
what i'm not convinced about is that the current asking price of roughly $10 to 12K is reasonable?
okay i get that some "signature" model Custom shop Gibson LPs go for that. but that is as much about the Gibson branding and some endorsement from celebrity guitarists.
there are certainly some excellent hand made custom shop electric guitars by folks like Bill Collings, Scott Heatley PRS and others that are considerably less than $10 to $12K, that use many of the same fine quality wood and electronics and attention to detail in the fit and finish. 
i guess after a point, its not so much about any big differences but more whatever subtle flavour turns you on?


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

those are some very nice looking gtrs....my fave is the bottom right in the last pic, I like the woodgrain poking thru the flame


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

six-string said:


> i suppose my biggest curiousity is about relative value.
> i don't dispute these guitars look great and seem to use highest quality wood and components.
> what i'm not convinced about is that the current asking price of roughly $10 to 12K is reasonable?
> okay i get that some "signature" model Custom shop Gibson LPs go for that. but that is as much about the Gibson branding and some endorsement from celebrity guitarists.
> ...



The price is, no doubt, a bitter pill to swallow. Before I ever had touched one, I had the same thoughts as you. Although a couple of highly respected guitarists had phoned me from across the continent to tell me I had to get one. And when I bought my first one they were not as expensive as they are now.
Add to that is the fact that not everyone likes the same thing. Not everyone likes vanilla ice cream but, some do and would travel far and wide to get the best vanilla they could.
Lets face it, guitars (and amps) are my cat-nip. I LOVE them and they drive me crazy. 

Let me just say this....I am 55 years old. When I started buying good electric guitars (early 70's), the best sounding and playing guitars (IMHO) were "vintage" examples. Not ALL vintage Gibson's and Fender's were good but it seemed that a fair number were. They played/felt better and sounded better. Again this is my own experience. And I am generalizing. There was no vintage market really (except for 58-60 'bursts) and the reason the prices started to escalate had nothing to do with collectors or condition. It had to do with tone......the best players of the day, with few exceptions, played guitars from the 50's and early 60's. Then fast forward to the later 80's..... Gibson and Fender pulled up their socks and started to produce really good guitars again. Along with a little company called PRS. They all got better and better as the years have gone by. But.....there is still something to the tone of certain vintage 50's Les Paul's that no Historic Les Paul I've played has. Or select pre-CBS Strats compared to their Custom Shop prodigy that has that magic. I owned new Collings/ Heatly/PRS (A lot of them and still have them.....I was the Canadian rep back in the early 90's)/ Baker and many other EXCELLENT new guitars. I love some of them and own a number of the aforementioned builders guitars. But for my money Johan has broken the code and makes new guitars now that are the equal of the best of the best. I'm talking tone and playability here......not beauty (although they do look good eh?). 

As far as price.....The prices you have quoted are accurate enough not to dispute. But those are retail prices through a distributor, I'm not sure what his deal is but he is likely seeing about half of the selling price. Then he ships to the distributor, maintains his shop, machines his own parts, and of course buys the wood (this is where I think some of the mojo comes from...his wood selection) and does all finishing in his shop. I think Johan makes two Bluesmaster's a month. About 20-24 guitars year. I think the man is underpaid personally. I don't know anyone that builds an electric guitar like him.
Going back to value....until recently, JG's on the used market went for several thousand MORE than new ones. that has changed somewhat now because of the economic recession/depression we are in. BUT now you can still get what you paid for the guitar or damn close when you sell. Try doing that with a PRS or an R9.

Cheers
pete


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

bolero said:


> those are some very nice looking gtrs....my fave is the bottom right in the last pic, I like the woodgrain poking thru the flame


That's the 05'........KILLER guitar.


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