www.premierguitar.com PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 157
My first impression of the semi-hollow singlecut away Radio Lane, with its highly figured
tone woods combined with its tasteful color
palette, was that it was downright handsome.
The Western Big Leaf Maple quilt top (5/8"
thick) with its matching quilt maple headstock
inlays and truss rod cover are finished in a
Hazel (green/brown) nitrocellulose lacquer
that highlights the exceptional grain of the
maple without making it garish. The shape of
the 1-3/4"-thick Honduran Mahogany body is
inspired by the Les Paul with some significant
differences to improve the balance and playability of this iconic body shape. The body
has a “slimmer” waist and a broader (less
rounded) carved upper horn that is modeled
after one of Jason’s favorite archtop guitars, a
D’Aquisto Solo.
This particular Radio Lane/Single Cutaway is
Schroeder’s semi-hollowbody version (
solidbody available) and features a Schroeder-designed “S” hole, one of several unique
creative appointments that can be found on
this guitar. The refined body style, combined
with the chambering, provides weight relief,
balance and added resonance to the instrument. The body is bound along the top and
fingerboard with a strip of flawlessly applied
grained ivoroid binding. The body and neck
are each constructed from a single piece of
Honduran mahogany finished in a medium
shade of brown nitrocellouse lacquer. The
control covers and knobs are carved from
rosewood, and fit perfectly into the overall
color scheme of this guitar. Speaking of
rosewood, the 12" radius fingerboard of this
guitar is carved from an awesome, straight-grained piece of Brazilian rosewood, with an
equally elegant, gold pearl art deco inlay at
the 12th fret. No other fret markers obstruct
the stunning grain of the board.
Overall, the grain of the wood used on this
guitar is exemplary. The 24-5/8"-scale neck
is hand shaped with a ’59-style rounded
carve that measures .860" (1st fret) and .970"
(12th fret), and features 22 polished, jumbo
stainless steel frets. The matching finished
headstock features a single classy pearl inlaid
“S”, and the top edge of the headstock is
contoured with the profile of the matching
Schroeder stoptail bridge.
The hardware selection for the Radio Lane
is equally well thought out. The guitar is
voiced with a pair of nickel-covered Duncan
Antiquity humbuckers that feature aged
Alnico II magnets (Duncan’s Seth Lover
pickups are also an option). These PAF-style
pickups are scatterwound by hand and fea-
ture aged bobbins impregnated with fine
dust particles, along with treated wire and
insulation to duplicate the tempering of years
of use. The pickups are wired to a 3-way,
white-tipped selector (Switchcraft) and a pair
of volume and tone controls (CTS pots) wired
as follows: Pos. 1 (Neck Humbucker), Pos. 2
(Both pickups humbucking/parallel), and Pos.
3 (Bridge Humbucker).
The Schroeder-designed aluminum bridge
features fully adjustable stainless steel saddles, clips and screws. The bridge attaches
to the body in traditional twin mounting stud
fashion, and the chrome strap buttons feature
protective bushings that match nicely with
the clever “S” shaped, side-mounted input
jack (talk about brand extension). The set
neck attaches to the body at the 16th fret,
which is consistent with this body style, therefore upper fret access on the lower strings
requires some hand gymnastics. The 1. 73"
wide bone nut is finely cut and polished,
with its edges smoothly honed. The chrome
Sperzel locking tuners are well seated and
add to the guitar’s classy appearance.
Schroeder’s passion for guitars does not
stop at design and aesthetic considerations,
however, as the Radio Lane equally excels in
terms of playability and tone. The guitar is
lightweight, resonant and balanced in both
standing and sitting positions, which can be
a drawback with this type of design. Despite
its semi-hollow design, the Radio Lane was
not at all neck heavy. In fact, I found the neck
very comfortable due to its carve and finish.
This combined with the excellent fretwork
makes this guitar play very easily.
Strummed acoustically, the Radio Lane has a
bold fundamental voice across the frequency
range and a tremendous amount of natural
sustain, which is likely a function of the quality of the overall design and chambered body.
The chambered mahogany body also adds
liveliness to the tone that blends well with the
natural snap of a maple top. The design of
the chamber appears to offer the benefit of
increased resonance without the usually characteristic softness in attack one can encounter
with semi-hollow instruments.
Plugging In
Taking it for a test drive, the tones are similar
to that of a refined Les Paul with the added
bandwidth across all pickup positions. Using
a blackface Fender Bandmaster driving a
2x10 Music Man cab, clean tones exhibited
the characteristic bite of a classic PAF bark
with just the right amount of “airiness.” The
bridge pickup exhibits a strong fundamental
tone across the entire frequency range, with
a slightly compressed voice that responds
well to pick attack. The neck pickup is full
sounding, and as I added drive to the mix the
bass response spiked slightly, which may be a
function of the chambering and design. The
dual pickup combinations were particularly
notable as the character of the guitar offered
very pleasing tones (particularly blues) by
adjusting each pickup volume/tone settings.
In overdrive settings using a TomasZewicz
15W combo, the guitar’s responsiveness and
tones sat well in the mix and served up a
bevy of usable tones. It is worth noting that
the guitar had zero feedback issues when
played at high volumes. In one sitting, we
played a series of classic rock tunes and did
find the need to adjust the settings accordingly on the amp. I adjusted the guitar settings and my pick attack and let the Radio
Lane do the driving!
Jason Schroeder’s offerings have generated
a considerable amount buzz on the online
forums, as well as from professional acts such
as Fleetwood Mac and Gavin Rossdale’s band.
After driving the Radio Lane, I believe the
attention is warranted, and I predict a bright
future for Jason Z. Schroeder Guitars.
Jason Z. Schroeder Guitars
MSRP $4200 (Base); $4950 (as tested)
schroederguitars.com
you’re seeking stellar Les Paul-type
tones with silky playability and
equally stunning looks.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you are not into some of the retro-style appointments.
Rating... 5.0
ONTHEWeb
Click here to hear sound clips of
the Radio Lane in action at
premierguitar.com
