PRODUCT REVIEW
SOLOWAY
Guitars
Swan NYA
B T S Y ADAM HUNT he NYA by Portland, Oregon builder Jim oloway is an unusual guitar to say the least.
Its most noticeable feature is its 27” scale
length neck. Although this scale length has
been used on baritone guitars before, most
baritones are tuned anywhere from a perfect
fifth to an octave lower than standard tuning.
Jim, however, came to this design by way of
playing a seven string guitar tuned to standard A440. Jim has used his tried and true
Swan platform as a launch pad for his Soloway
Swan, Not Yet Another (NYA). That said, the
NYA represents both a refinement of and
departure from his previous efforts. Jim was
dissatisfied with the string tension and muddy
bass response he was getting out of his seven
string guitars. In his quest for a more suitable
instrument Jim contacted fellow Oregon guitar builder Ralph Novak. After several lengthy
conversations with Ralph, Jim decided they
needed to take a new approach. The NYA is
the result of six years of hard work, and it’s
Jim’s personal statement of what he, as a
player, wanted out of a guitar.
