www.premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 165
The Scoop
The Zaffiro (which means sapphire) is made in
the United States by a small-shop company
called Jarrett in Westport Connecticut, whose
motto is “Redefining the American custom
shop instrument one hand-built guitar at a
time …”. The slogan alone makes you want
to stop and at least take a look, right? Even
better, the company sells direct to the consumer in order to keep their prices as low as
possible. In today’s economy, you can’t really
ask for anything better! And it doesn’t seem
to have affected their business at all. Orders
have been steady, and they seem to make
some pretty cool guitars, so that’s why we
decided to take a look. So let’s do that.
The Zaffiro looks sort of like a fatter Les Paul,
and as with any guitar, you either like the
looks or you don’t. Personally, I think it looks
great. The Zaffiro has a mahogany body with
a nicely figured maple cap and a neck crafted
from mahogany. The fingerboard is topped
with macassar ebony then bound with maple
and given a 12" radius. The width of the nut
is 1-11/16". Unlike Gibson, however, Jarrett
uses a 25. 5" scale length, and the body is
larger than a Les Paul. To me, this guitar just
feels more comfortable to hold on to. And
even though it may have a bit more chunk
than a Les Paul, the body is chambered and
weighs in at 8. 8 lbs., which isn’t too bad, and
may even be lighter than most. The Top is
unbound, and on this review model the quilt
figure is quite striking. Overall, the finish work
is good, as is the fretwork. Our review model
came with pickups custom made for Jarrett
by Seymour Duncan, although you can order
it with a set of Bartolini pickups as well. Other
features on the Jarrett Zaffiro XJ include
a Graph Tech Tusq nut, and top-of-the-line
Gotoh 510 Delta tuners, which for my money
are the best damn tuners on the market
today. It also comes in a TKL hardshell case,
which is nice!
Jarrett offers the Zaffiro in several configurations. Our sample is outfitted with a Pigtail
aluminum bridge, but you can also get it with
a wooden tailpiece for more of a jazz-style
guitar look. And, if you want something more,
Jarrett does custom work as well, and will
build out your Zaffiro (or any of their other
models) with your choice of tonewoods, scale
length, finish, neck, etc.
Let’s Pick!
I’ll just start off by telling you that I like this
guitar. I like its looks, and though the neck
shape isn’t quite what I would pick, it just
flat-out feels good. Although our sample
isn’t the “jazz” model, it still feels like a jazz
guitar. The neck is somewhat wide-ish and
fairly thin, but not shredder thin. The ebony
fingerboard is bound and the finish work on
the frets is great, as you might expect from
someone that builds them “one guitar at a
time.” The frets are not super jumbos, and
are in fact fairly low profile which can make
bending a bit of a problem for some. But for
straight head jazzin’, this guitar is simply the
real deal. Low—and I mean loooooooow and
comfy—action that feels like a guitar set at
a way higher price point. Really, I can’t say
enough about the great playability of this guitar except: excellent! Did I mention that the
quilted maple top makes me drool?
Tone-wise, I think this axe could fit in almost
any musical situation. Even though the body
is chambered, the Zaffiro has nice sustain.
The tone from the neck pickup is warm and
clear, and the bridge pickup delivers plenty
of bite. Pickups are, of course, very much a
