Sparrow Guitars Review : Primitive Boss (Semi-hollow)

Rather than just believing my eulogies about Sparrow Guitars, its always good to hear that my faith in them is confirmed by a professional player. 

So it was with great pleasure that a man by the name of Stanley Andrew came into the shop and asked to have a play around on the Sparrow Primitive Boss - a semi-hollow body designed guitar. Stanley Andrew is a seasoned session guitarist and has worked with the likes of George Michael,Aswad, Mary J Blige and is currently touring with none other than the mighty Billy Ocean. 

Sparrow Guitars are trying to build up their reputation in the UK, so its fantastic to hear that a UK based professional is right behind the name, and more importantly the sound and look of the guitar.  We didn't have one in stock to show Stanley but thanks to Music Force (the UK Sparrow Guitar distributor) we were able to get one in, just in time for Stanley to try it out and take on the next part of the Billy Ocean tour in Australia. 

Interestingly he bought his current guitar down to compare - an Epitone with Gibson pickups. So, he plugged the Primitive into a Fender amp and set the sound to be clean i.e. with no reverb or effects. This is a good way to start as you get to hear the guitar in its truest form. 

One of the main reasons Stanley was drawn to the Primitive was from the reviews about the Kent Armstrong pick-ups. I don't profess to be a guitar expert by any stretch of the imagination, so it was fascinating learning exercise to hear about the difference the pick-ups can make. 

The main thing to consider about pick-ups is to do with the magnets and the wire coil around the magnets. For those that no nothing about pick-ups, they are responsible for transferring the electric signal into the sound we hear - so a very important aspect really. The pick-ups vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 

Not to get too technical on you, but professional guitarists are very particular about their pick-ups and for good reason -  they are a huge factor in determining the overall sound of the guitar. So bear with me on this one. Some pick-ups have one large magnet extending under all six strings whereas some will have separate magnets under each string. Added to this some of these magnets will have a single wire coil and others have a double wire coil (like the Sparrow Primitive Boss).  

So when Stanley compared the Sparrow with his current Epitone, there was quite a difference in the sound. His Epitone sounded warmer, but brittle. The Sparrow on the other hand was a lot brighter. This is the thing, when you're professional session guitarist like Stanley, you'll be playing in different bands that require

 different sounds. The Sparrow Primitive Boss gives a sound that will cut through the other competing sounds in a band. 

Anyway, the thing was the Sparrow had come straight from the factory and actually required to be set up properly. In this case the truss rod was slightly concave. This isn't unusual so don't worry. But it just goes to show that you should always play before you buy as the shop you buy from has a responsibility to set it up correctly. Never undertake this, unless you are experienced in this. The DIY method, whilst cheaper in the short term could end up in you permanently ruining your guitar. 

As soon as Stanley is back from his tour with Billy Ocean in Australia, I'll be interviewing him on his tour, the Sparrow Primitive Boss and they'll also be a video so you can hear for yourselves the quality of sound.