Koll Junior Glide

I bought this guitar used from Koll, its a 1995 Jr. Glide model, hand made in Portland, Oregon by Saul Koll. Awesome guitar, Gold metallic finish with a TV Jones prototype Electroflux PU in bridge position and a lipstick PU on the neck. One volume one tone and 3 way PU selector. Solid Alder body with a flame maple neck and Rosewood board. Flawless construction and quality through out. This is a simple no frills guitar, yet the quality and sound of this guitar are superb.

If I had to boil my impressions down to a short sentence, I would say that playing this guitar is like running into a good old friend and picking up right where you left off. It feels great right off the start. The TV Jones is darker sounding than I thought it would be, a cross between a vintage tele bridge PU and a P90. this guitar is rocker, a mix between and an old Gibson Special and a Tele without the bright shrilly sound, you can get a variety of sound out of it, but it shines when you cranck it up and R'n'R.
This guitar is simple yet the attention to detail and overall quality are evident, I can only imagine how awesome one the more high-end guitars would be,

Top ten all the way, in my opinion Saul Koll is making some of the best electric guitars out there right now. These things are way better then most of the stuff put out by the big guitar manufacturers out there, and the price is reasonable, jeezz, in fact it's a deal for the quality instrument you get. Any guitar player with descent talent would pick up on this fact right away. The way I see it, if you play one of these guitars, you are probably going to be sold on Koll guitars right away.

This model I have is from 1995, its been played, but it is solid all the way, no problems. I've only had the guitar a short time, but I don't expect any problems.

This is one of the perks of buying a Koll, you get to deal with the person who builds the instrument, a friendly, approachable and honest guy, what else could you ask for?

I've been playing for 17 years, I've owned my share of guitars, my current rig is boiled down to the bear and best minimum, my new Koll is among my favourite guitars, and it was love on the first strum. With the state of the current vintage market with sky high prices and the over blown $$$ Historics and Relics blah, blah, blah, this guitar is a fresh perspective on how you can get an amazing instrument withou buying into the system. Rock On!!! Saul, I'm saving some cash to get another one from you.

This review is LONG overdue but here goes.

This puppy was made by Saul Koll (I had never heard of him before I bought this guitar either) and is from what I understand 1 of a kind, but who knows im sure he'll make more. The body and neck are made of Limba (Korena) a rare african wood and the fretboard is BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD (what a party!!!). Its probably one of the most unique guitars ive seen as far as the body/headstock goes, but very very tasteful.
Basically its set up like a Les Paul with string-through body construction which makes it sustain like GOD! 3 on a side kluson deluxe style tuners and Tom Holmes PAF's. Did I mention its light weight and has a big neck:)

OH MY GOD!!!!!

Ok I paid $900 for this from a local guitar shop who said they bought it from the original owner (aparently he paid 3x what I paid which is understandable since its a bunch of rare wood). Its loud, its punchy (because of the wood), but the second you hit the neck pickup the tone changes.

The story....

Saul Koll bought a shipment of limba one day but it was all too heavy to make guitars out of, all of it except for 2 pieces. 1 became my guitar and one became some kinda of thinline tele or so the story goes. The rest of the limba was used to make Thunderbird basses.

ill letcha know in 10 years

never had a problem, but the guy I bought the guitar from emailed the company a few times about the guitar and said that he talked to SK everytime. Needless to say it was smooth sailing

I work in a vintage guitar shop that has had everything imaginable hanging on the wall....

I didnt even plug this guitar in before I bought it, its a solid body guitar but it was so loud acoustically that I figured if the pickups sucked I could just play it unplugged;)

This is a solid body electric guitar reminiscent of a Les Paul Jr. It was hand crafted by Saul Koll in Portland Oregon. The Mahogony body is in a double cutaway shape; overall, the guitar is very lightweight, similar to many 50's Les Paul Jr's I have picked up. It has a one piece wrap-around bridge that is modernized to allow some compensation. The tuners are vintage looking, but better at keeping tune. The neck is relatively fat (by my choice) and has Gibson medium jumbo style frets on a rosewood fretboard.
The guitar has a wonderful transluscent nitro (I believe) finish that looks just like an aged Limed Mahogony; it is almost more green than yellow and it really looks awesome. It has one Seymour Duncan vintage P-90 pickup in the bridge position. It comes with a case (extra cost) that seems rugged and is attractive as well.
The rating reflects that it is a purposefully no-frills rock and roll machine. No negative message is intended by it.

I play raw rock n roll: 60's punk, rhythm and blues, rockabilly (think Charlie Feathers, not Stray Cats) and Punk Rock. This guitar certainly works well for all of those styles. I play thru Fender amps: a Vibro King with the extention cab and a 66' Tremolux piggyback. Effects are those on the amps, plus occasional analog delay and distortion/fuzz.
The guitar does not seem overly noisy to me, but I've never owned a guitar with humbuckers, so I may not be the best judge. Besides noise is a part of rock and roll. This guitar sounds great! It is definitely the best sounding guitar I've ever had. I own a Fender reissue Stratocaster and have owned a reissue Gibson Les Paul Jr. (late 80's) which didn't sound half as good as this.
Despite its simple features, this guitar has a wide range of sound. It sounds good from full tilt distortion to twangy and cleaned up. You can really use the volume knob to tweak the sound. It is very warm and full sounding, but not generic; there is a fair amount of complexity in the sound. I'm sure the Duncan pickup contributes here as it features alnico magnets which tend to sound warm. I can hear some good Exile on Main Street sound in this guitar; low-down, warm rock and roll tone.

Saul is known for his excellent set-ups and this guitar is no exception. It played really well right out of the shipping box. Construction is great. The finish, as noted above, is beautiful. The frets seem perfect. You can really tell that this is a craftsman made piece from top to bottom.

There may be some aspects of the guitar that are not durable; the finish is undoubtedly thin, but that makes for better aesthetic appearance and tone. I like guitars to get worn in anyways. I'm very hard on my gear in gigs, so I expect it. Otherwise, I'm sure that it will be very durable and reliable. It definitely holds up well live.
One of the positve aspects of such a simple design as this is that there isn't much to break. There are very few moving pieces on the guitar, no toggle switch, no bridge pieces.
I haven't used a backup guitar in my 8 years of gigging, so I don't really worry about that.

Haven't had any problems with the guitar yet, but Saul is a great guy. He is an extremely nice, patient person and very enjoyable to talk to on the phone. The ordering process was fun and easy. I have no doubt he stands behind his work; his pride in the guitars is evident in his demeanor and work.

I'm very happy with this purchase, possibly more so than with any other piece of gear I own. I have been playing for about 12 years and have owned mostly Fender guitars, old and new. I like this guitar because it has the warmth and vibe of a vintage guitar without the usual associated collectability and repair issues. It is also unique; lots of guitar players ask me about it at gigs. It is nice to stand out a little in the ultra conservative world of guitar playing. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if lost. Check out his web site (www.kollguitars.com, I think). You'll drool over the cool guitars he's got pictured there. Saul is really cool, much better than dealing with some guitar shop idiot.

The guitar I bought was a JR Glide that had a pickup added like a Duo Glide. 2 P-90's from Lindy Fralin which had alnico polls instead of screw polls. They sound great. The guitar is all Mahogany with dot inlays and a Brazilian rosewood fret board. It has a wrap around tail piece that has great intonation and Kluson type tuners. The hardware is nickle. The guitar has all of the essential features.

The Koll guitar works well in many styles of music. It has a nice twang for a mahogany guitar and plenty of girth for playing single note lines. Sounds great with all of my amps but it really likes an EL 84 based amp like a Vox AC30 or Matchless DC 30. The guitar is very quiet. The Jr. is nice and light with a very bouncy tone.

The guitar came set-up to perfection. It played better than any new guitar I have bought.

This guitar was finished in nitro so it is a little less durable than some new guitar finishes but it sounds and feels better with a nitro finish. It works great for a gigging guitar. The hardware is top quality...sould last forever. The finish is thin for tone but not wimpy. Strap buttons are solid as a rock. I would definately use this guitar and have without a backup.

As good as it gets! Saul Koll is a great guy and very helpful. He gets guitars finished when he says they will be done. Warranty is solid. No problems after three years.

I own a lot of new and vintage instruments. Many of them are very collectable and worth a lot of money. Koll makes guitars that are comparable to any guitar. They are top quality craftsmanship and tone. Koll is making me another guitar which I'm sure will be as good or better than my first Koll guitar. I have many friends that own Koll's and they are totally satisfied. There is not a better value available. The quality and price are unbeatable. My new Historic custom shop Les Paul did not compare in the finish department. Koll's finish, frets, wood and hardware are the best quality. I would put a Koll up to any guitar manufactured today.

The guitar is a Junior Glide model made by Koll guitars out of Portland, Oregon. You can see a picture of it at http://www.kollguitars.com/product/glide/junior/junior1.html. It has a gold finish, pearloid pickguard, alder body, flame maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and a wilkenson wrap around tailpiece. The bridge pickup is a Electroflux pickup made by TV Jones guitars out of LA. It combines Fender style pole pieces with a P-90 wind so it's pretty chunky but still has lots of chime to it. The neck pickup is a WD lipstick tube.

I really like the way this guitar sounds. Enough Fender style bite without being shrill, enough output without making the sound muddy. The lipstick in the neck sounds great as well, very useful.

I've owned tons of guitars, vintage and new, and the contruction, fit and set up on this one was as good as I've seen.

Been my main live guitar for two years now and I've had only one small problem. One of the screws holding the low E string tuning peg sheared off. Saul Koll replaced it free of charge.

Koll guitars is essentially one guy, Saul Koll. He's very friendly and more than willing to accomodate custom requests.

I've been playing 14 years and as I said above have owned numerous Fender, Gibson, and other custom made guitars. I know every one on Harmony Central tends to rave about their guitar but I've owned 'em all and I think the Koll kicks major booty. Plus, it looks extra cool. I don't work for Koll and don't stand to gain anything through my review. The web site is at http://www.kollguitars.com.