SHOJI: New Steel Guitar Brand from Japan

[steinar]

Thanks for the update, Shoji-san, and glad to see that you keep your chin up!
From what I`ve read, the very few( less than one in a million)who are struck by the Fisher`s syndrome, most recover fully within 6 months. As for the main G-B diagnosis, there seems to be consensus that 85% recover from it fully. So, you`ve got medical statistics on your side, Shoji-san, and furthermore, the Japanese health care system appears to me to be very competent with high efficacy. - wish we had your system over here in Norway!
These are trying times for you and doubtless double so in light of your exciting new steel project, but I admire your spirit and "can do" attitude, so dozo gambatte, kudasai!

[Dennis Montgomery]

Hi Toshi,

many years ago, my niece had G-B syndrome and was hospitalized for several weeks. The good news is she made a complete and full recovery as I believe you will too! I think it's wonderful we have a new builder and I'm quite impressed with the specs of your design.

Wishing you a speedy recovery and hope you'll be building your beautiful machines soon

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Thank you for caring about me.

I am still attending rehabilitation sessions.
I feel that my diplopia has been gradually improving over the past few days.
My facial paralysis has not yet improved and I cannot close my eyes.
Symptoms in the extremities are slowly improving.

In preparation for when I recover and can resume steel guitar building, I have restarted the procurement of materials and outsourcing of parts that were interrupted due to my hospitalization.
The CFRP pipes and sockets for the legs have arrived.

[Stew Crookes]

Thanks for the update, Toshi - it’s good news to hear of your progress.
Like many of us here, I’m very much looking forward to sitting behind one of your guitars someday!

[Markus Mayerhofer]

Dear Toshi, good to hear that encouraging news from you! Among all others here, i'd like to wish you a full and speedy recovery!

[Steve Lipsey]

Toshi-
Great news...although it sounds like you still have a way to go, your courage and enthusiasm will get you through!!
-Steve

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I have been causing concern for everyone regarding my health.
The symptoms in my limbs have improved significantly, and in terms of how I feel, my strength has recovered to about 70% of what it was before I got sick.
As for the double vision, although it's still incomplete, my left and right viewpoints align when looking straight ahead.
As for the facial nerve paralysis, I have symptoms in my eye and mouth. Recently, I’ve finally been able to close my eye about halfway. However, I still struggle with moving the muscles in my lips properly, making eating and speaking difficult.
Since I haven't been able to fully resume steel guitar production yet, I'm using this time to find better sources for materials and parts.

I have also launched an online store.
I've set it up so that the currency automatically changes based on the country of access, but if you encounter any issues, please let me know.

https://www.shoji-workshop.com/en/produ ... essory-en/

Thank you.
Toshiyuki

[Jerry Overstreet]

Best wishes for your speedy recovery Toshi.

Your website looks great. Really user friendly. Best to you.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Thank you Jerry!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Thanks so much for all the kind words and support — I really appreciate it.

I saw my neurologist today. Things are definitely improving, but the nerves in my arms and legs haven’t fully recovered yet — reflexes still aren’t back.
My eyes still won’t close properly either, so I’ve asked for a referral and will be seeing a facial nerve specialist as soon as I can.
For now, I’m blinking manually with my hand. Once I can close my eyes on my own, I’ll be able to do a lot more.

Still can’t say when I’ll be fully back, but thank you again for your encouragement — it really helps.

Toshiyuki

[steinar]

I replied to your mail yesterday, but I find no trace of my reply, so I`ll try again. I see that your overall health is improving, but it`s admittedly a slow process. And that you`ll have to blink using your hand, sounds very cumbersome and exhausting. Besides, your eyes must dry out quickly, causing irritation and lots of discomfort. Although your Japanese health care system appears to be excellent with you being in good hands, your predicament still requires stoic patience and a firm grip around your own neck, - I commend you for obviously being able to achieve both!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on pricing your new line of light weight steel guitars, and to me your prices sound very reasonable, - given all the research and innovative ideas that you introduce. And especially for musicians doing some touring, the weight issue is a God`s end! I have to go to Denmark to play at a country festival and a little later to a festival around 500 km. north of Oslo in Norway. Air tickets are available, but with my D10 Zum steel and other steel paraphernalia, I can just forget about flying. So it`s long hours of driving and taking ferries instead. With a light weight Shoji S 10 in your handy carbon fiber(?) case, flying would absolutely be an attractive option. I play with a Buck Owens and the Buckaroos tribute band, and to begin with I used a D11 ZB steel with a JBL equipped Fender Twin Reverb. Carrying 40 kg worth of ZB and 40 kg. of Fender Twin, I just about sank through the asphalt walking to stages where we should play. Not to mention the hernia! Mayumi and I are now in Northern Norway, where winter is slowly retreating, although we had pluss 1 degree Centigrade last night and snow fall in the mountains. We may head back to Nippon later June, and I guess we`re both looking forward to warmth and shedding the winter underwear. Wishing you continued recovery from your unfortunate predicament, so please keep the faith, - you`ll get well!

Best wishes from,

Mayumi and Steinar

[John McClung]

Are the screws for splits easier to access than on Excel? A friend has a fairly new Excel, and the difficulty of accessing the split screws is his only complaint. Thanks!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

The support and expectations I receive from you and everyone else are a great source of encouragement for me. I truly appreciate it.
I’ve always hoped to visit Norway someday.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I'm sorry to say that I cannot meet your expectations in this regard.
Unfortunately, the position of the split tuning adjustment screws on SHOJI guitars must be the same as on recent Excel and Superb models.
Due to the structure of the changer mechanism—where the finger moves toward the head when lowering the pitch—we have no choice but to place the adjustment screws in that location.
I'm not entirely sure of the correct term, but I believe this type of changer is what one might call a "pivot-style" mechanism.

[Markus Mayerhofer]

Accessing the split screws with a ball ended hex screw, which was included with my guitar is not a big deal.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I’m truly glad to hear you say that.

[Steve Lipsey]

On my Williams, I have an additional split rod instead of using the split screw, ..then it just is another nylon tuner, no other tools needed...raise rod to get G#->A (B pedal), lower to get G#->G, (RKL and B-pedal.) and a "touch-up" raise rod on RKL to fine tune the G#->F# note (which I do with RKL+LKR for a V chord)...this tuner is colored black in the picture

Williams switched some years back from the touch-up rod to using the split screw, but I had my most recent build done with the split rod instead...

I'm hoping that this will be possible on the Shoji also...

IMG_0057.jpeg

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

SHOJI guitars support split tuning using pull rods.
In one of the setups I handled in the past, the player had a very complex copedent, and their configuration required two separate split tuning adjustments for a single string.
To accommodate this, I added an extra pull rod specifically for split tuning, in addition to the standard split tuning screw.

The changers used in Excel and SHOJI guitars have a large number of holes, offering a high degree of adjustability.

[Steve Lipsey]

Is there any advantage to using the split screw over the extra pull rod? Does it somehow make the tone better, by having the finger coming to rest against the chassis?

[John Hyland]

Is there any advantage to using the split screw over the extra pull rod? Does it somehow make the tone better, by having the finger coming to rest against the chassis?

My view and happy to be corrected; The finger is already effectively connected to the chassis via the bridge and seems unlikely to effect the tone. Using a rod complicates an already crowded pull train and uses up a rod slot.

[Steve Lipsey]

Just thinking that the push-pull legend says that the stop agains chassis is part of the tone....but I don't actually know anything about that...
And the rod complicates installation a tiny bit and then hugely simplifies adjustment forever....

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Of course, not every steel player is well-versed in the mechanics of changer systems, and I believe that for beginners especially, the standard split tuning method is likely easier to understand than using a pull rod system.
While I can’t say for sure, I suspect there is very little, if any, noticeable difference in tone between the two.

[Stew Crookes]

I've tweaked the split screws on my Excel once and I've owned it for around 18 months - it's not too hard to get to with the ball end wrench but even if it was a pain to adjust it would be fairly minor

[Markus Mayerhofer]

I've tweaked the split screws on my Excel once and I've owned it for around 18 months - it's not too hard to get to with the ball end wrench but even if it was a pain to adjust it would be fairly minor

That's true. I can remember, my first ExStar came with rather short split screws, which were wobbling around when they came half way through the thread. So the whole split-tuning process was quite imprecise since the screws did not provide a solid stop...So i went to the next local hardware store and bought some longer hex-screws. With the gracious help of J.D. Sauser i came over this issues and since then it works.

[Steve Lipsey]

Help me conquer my ignorance here...

I use spilt rods because my first Williams came with them, and thought that they are easier to adjust so I stuck with them...but I do have to touch them up frequently as part of normal tuning, the three rods on string 6 seem to interact a bit...maybe that's why Williams has switched to screws?

So, you are saying that a split screw mostly never needs adjustment?
Which note does the split screw control? How do you tune the G#->F#, G#->G, and G#->A?

Thanks!