Ever pick up a guitar off the rack and dig the tone and feel, but wish you could change some things on the instrument? For instance, you might want to swap out the pickups, change the contours of the neck, the tuners, the bridge or saddles…the list goes on and on. My goal for ‘The Jake’ signature guitars is to have something that’s exactly the way you want it the day it shows up at your doorstep, where you’ll never need to change anything on the guitar, except occasionally the strings!
Jimmy Somma and I have been working together for almost 20 years, and in that time, he’s built me 6 custom guitars, all wonderful, unique instruments. What makes Sommatone guitars stand out from everything else on the market is that each instrument is built by hand in Jimmy’s shop in Austin, TX by the guitar master himself. His incredible attention to detail results in an instrument with exceptional feel, tone and resonance. He really understands the chemistry of putting an amazing instrument together.
Jimmy’s also an amazing player himself, so he draws on that perspective with every guitar he works on. There’s few people I trust with building the guitar I use every day and on my most important projects, and he’s the best in the business in my opinion.
We’re offering two versions, the Modern and the Vintage, which differ only in pickup configuration and headstock styles.
Both guitars feature a premium roasted maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, with jumbo frets and compound radius for buzz-free bending. The neck is a ’54 profile, which is a soft V-shape by the headstock, and transitions to a C-shape further up the neck. It feels great to play.
They also feature Schaller locking tuners and a Wilkinson VGVS tremolo, which is a fantastic bridge that feels silky-smooth and keeps excellent tune even with extreme whammy abuse. Plus the arm is angled to allow the trem to travel much lower than a standard vintage trem.
These guitars will be made to order, and Jimmy will document the process of putting your axe together, sending you photos along the way.
Best of all, if you have any special requests, like switching the wood of the fingerboard or the color of the body, your guitar can be customized to your liking.
These guitars are made for the working musician who wants something that just feels right every time you pick it up. Or for someone who is starting out and wants something versatile that will give them everything they want and will last a lifetime.
Premium roasted maple neck-rosewood fingerboard w/ compound radius
Wilkinson VGVS trem for maximum whammy action and super-stable tuning
Modern model (Pelham Blue) - Lollar Blackface single-coil pickups in the Neck/Mid & Lollar Imperial humbucker in the Bridge
Vintage model (Daphne Blue) - Three DiMarzio single-coil noiseless pickups: Area '61 in the Neck, Area '58 in the Mid and Injector in the Bridge
$1869
For more info, email guitar@jakeezra.com
