Daniel Slaman Sisterhood Series #2

The Sisterhood Series guitars came about through a collaboration between Daniel Slaman and Pat Metheny, both of whom share a passion for early to mid 20th century Gibson archtops. Check out Slaman’s website for the story:

http://www.newvintageguitars.com/guitar-for-pat-metheny-1.html

The guitar we have in the shop is “Sisterhood Series #2” and is the third one Slaman made. Pat Metheny’s guitar is the first, which Daniel considers the parent guitar; further builds of the model are the children, making them sisters (thus the Sisterhood Series!) I am pleased that we will be getting a small number of Sisterhood Series guitars each year, but this particular one—in addition to being a remarkable instrument—has special significance because it was made right after Pat Metheny’s guitar.

This guitar is a true player’s instrument, and as soon as you put it in your hands it feels like a guitar that you have been making music with for years. Daniel really nailed the vibe of the old archtop instruments with this guitar, and the full, soft V neck feels fantastic in your hands, very much like the great '50s Gibson necks we love so much.

The top is beautiful straight grained Sitka spruce. Slaman’s tops are thinner than most other archtops and he feels this is an essential component to the responsiveness of his guitars. And indeed this guitar is very responsive, and balanced across the neck, all the way from the low E to the high D at the 22nd fret. Another wonderfully surprising thing is how the trebles ring true, without harshness, all the way up the fretboard. The acoustic tone is not overly loud, though it is very satisfying.

But the guitar really shines when you plug it in. The electric tone is almost pianistic, with a spirited full bodied sound that is rich in overtones. The pickups are single coil Charlie Christian style, but Slaman developed the brilliant innovation of using individual pole pieces, allowing the pickup and guitar to be electrically balanced in a way not possible with other such pickups.

This is simply a marvelous instrument that captures the spirit of a great vintage guitar with perfect playability, a stellar neck and outstanding electronics.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.

ABOUT DANIEL SLAMAN GUITARS
Daniel Slaman has been making guitars since 1978. Born in 1957, the first guitar was made with help from his father and the book ‘Classical Guitar Making’ by the late Irving Sloane. After spending much time with the classical and flamenco guitars, since 1995 Daniel has been making archtop jazz guitars exclusively. To Slaman, guitar making is an expression of creative freedom; every choice that is made for a particular guitar is made to achieve a unity in design. The result may not be to everybody's taste, that's a different matter, but the unity of design should always shine through in choices of wood, size, decoration and finish colour of the guitar. The result is always a unique one-of-a-kind instrument, made by one mind and set of hands. Slaman players connect to their guitar(s) in a unique way. To these owners, the guitar has a meaning beyond physical aspects; there's always a bond or connection between the player and the guitar. The guitars transcend the status of mere physical objects; they almost become a part of the family, an irreplaceable item of value both material and immaterial.