Anyone have a Batson #5 yet

[Jarvis]

I did have a chance to play and to work on a Batson 5 Cedar/ Rosewood. I was very amazed at the tone it produce ...simple responsive piece which could be attributed to the cedar top..and it sounded sweet too..

Here is a You Tube Video Review I did on that guitar..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR-1d...e_gdata_player

Enjoy and cheers Jarvis

[mikealpine]

The difference in price between the No. 5 and a custom is huge!! I just ran through the calculations, and easily can find myself building an $11,000 guitar, LOL!! I realize that the custom I chose would be substantially different than a $3K No. 5, but it shows the range they can go for. There are a few No. 5s available for the mid-high $2K and it would seem they are worth the dollars in comparison to the major manufacturers in that price range.

[Funkstarfish]

Originally Posted by robimagine

I'm a friend of Cory and Grant's. That said, I was highly suspicious of their ability to build a better guitar than my Taylor 814CE, which I adore. You know how it is, I mean, I hang out and drink beer with these guys. I was asking myself, "Can THESE GUYS make a truly awesome guitar? Really?"

Anyway, Grant offered to let me borrow one of their guitars for a St. Patrick's Day gig this year. I had picked up their guitars casually, never to the point where I was really able to evaluate them. They SEEMED nice, but I'm not into first impressions. I was actually a bit reluctant to gig with it, but I didn't want to hurt Grant's feelings, so I said okay.

So that was Cory's personal guitar. After A/B-ing it for an hour with my Taylor, I was kind of pissed. I was mad because, up to that point, there had been NOTHING WRONG WITH MY TAYLOR! Dammit. How dare they make such an amazing guitar. Seriously.

So, I'm a somewhat struggling musician, living in Nashville. I can't afford $5500 for a guitar. I paid around $2800 for the Taylor, and that was a business investment. They were just rolling out the new No. 5s, which had me, the struggling guitarist, in mind. They are stripped down from the monsters they make in the custom shop, but not in any way that effects the playability. The rosewood/sitka combo is a time honored tone tradition, and the 5s make it sing.

I'm hoping to sell enough of my new CDs to be able to afford one, but fortunately I was asked by the Batsons to use the 5 to make a few cuts on the album, so I got the chance to record a variety of styles with it.

It's the easiest guitar I've ever recorded with. The top sound hole keeps the undesirable bass up and away from the sweet spots on the front soundboard. The guitar is unbelievably resonant. I was telling my friend Trace, who helped me record, that 'these things sustain so long it's a problem.' We were waiting for a last note to ring out, and it seemed like it hung on for two minutes.

You can hear a few cuts on my website:

www.robhigginbotham.com

Hewlett and cicada summer were both recorded with the No.5.

Here's one that's not published yet, but that I wrote specifically for the No. 5. It's played on the non-cutaway, going all the way from drop D to the highest fret on the guitar. It starts off with a stereo mic-ed fingerpicked pattern, overlaid with single mic-ed harmonics and a lead, then moves on to full throttle, heavy pick strumming. I felt like I was taking a crotch rocket motorcycle out for a test drive through the San Juan Skyway in Southern Colorado. Fun.

Have a listen here:

open air #5

Hope you enjoy!


Rob Higginbotham

open air #5 is a great track, very cool to listen to. While I find the Aesthetics very displeasing, its hard to argue with the tone.