Calling all guitarists

[mhschmieder]

I found on-line demos and the Squier one sounds awful; whereas the bastardized Pawn Shop model sounded more authentic to my ears in spite of a humbucking bridge pickup and non-standard switching, and your MIJ model (which I haven't seen listed for US sale) sounded the best of all.

[mhschmieder]

After 25 years, I once again have an arch-top hollow-body jazz guitar (I sold my ES335 at a huge loss during a period where interest had not yet picked up again in those types of guitars).

I had had my eye on the new Guild reissues from the Newark St. collection when they were announced earlier this year as the specs looked great and the audio samples were astounding.

Before my outdoor music festival jazz gig in San Rafael CA last night, I stopped at Bananas at Large to try a gazillion instruments no one else carries. I had hoped to compare the non-Bigsby Manhattan vs. the DeArmond model, but they had just the Bigsby version of the X-175 and I knew before I even played a note that it was going to be the best jazz guitar I've ever played, which it is (except maybe my friend's vintage L-5).

The neck to body balance is perfect, and it's a nice deep 17" wide and > 3" depth instrument that already sounds like money before you even plug it in. The tonal range is the widest of any guitar I've ever played, covering almost any sound from the 50's through the 80's.

Due to the gig, I had to leave it at the store but will pick it up soon. It had a beautiful blonde wood finish vs. the typical burst finish on jazz guitars. But of course it's way more than a jazz guitar anyway, covering rockabilly, country, punk, blues-rock, singer-songwriter, r&b, etc.

You can get a more typical "dark" jazz tone as well, but it doesn't go wooly and muddy like my ES-335 did.

The only thing I'm wondering at this point is whether I still "need" a Grestch model with Dynasonic pickups to complete my arch-top collection. I think these PUP's (called "frequency tested single-coil", looking like P90 soapbars but being described as WAY lower output than P90's), are probably similar to those. Between five or six Gretsch Dynasonic variants, no one of those has the perfect complement of features I want (the Falcons are too glittery, which is a distraction while playing).

[daniel.sneed]

[...] the Falcons are too glittery, which is a distraction while playing.

You get used to it pretty fast... In fact as soon as you realise it can handle easily what you would need a large bunch of guitars to do. Jazz arched top, Gibson PAF and P90, Telecaster and more...
Of course I'm talking TV Jones Classic models. Sort of one size fits all to me! Won't ever part from this one.

My two cents: just wear a white (or any bright) shirt, and the Falcon will seem less glittery on stage!
BTW lacquer models are *aged white* which is warmer, and much sweeter looking to my eyes.

To make it short: And the winner is Gretsch 6136T LTV

I've had a guitar with Dynasonic. IMHO, great deep tones, but not as *cutting* as TV Jones Classics, and not as easy at crunch tones too.

[bayswater]

After 25 years, I once again have an arch-top hollow-body jazz guitar

This is next on my list. Did you look at Godin or Eastman in your travels?

[mhschmieder]

Yeah, the Godin sounds nothing like a jazz guitar; they're a good value company in general but this one misses the mark by a mile (if indeed jazz guitar was their goal).

Eastman's don't show up often. I like their mandolin family of instruments, and they make some unusual acoustic guitars, but I haven't tried their jazz arch-tops. My techie isn't a big fan of Eastman but they are good value. He likes Loar, but I'm not yet into 20's/30's styled guitars.

[bayswater]

Yeah, the Godin sounds nothing like a jazz guitar; they're a good value company in general but this one misses the mark by a mile (if indeed jazz guitar was their goal).

Eastman's don't show up often. I like their mandolin family of instruments, and they make some unusual acoustic guitars, but I haven't tried their jazz arch-tops. My techie isn't a big fan of Eastman but they are good value. He likes Loar, but I'm not yet into 20's/30's styled guitars.

Ok thanks for that. Being left handed, its difficult to try out anything other than a high volume Fender or Epiphone. There are lots of Eastmans around here, but of course all right handed (or as I like to put it, backwards), so at best I can get a general idea of the sound. I've never see a Godin in the stores here. Interesting that they claim is sounds like a traditional arch top, but plays like a modern electric.

[mhschmieder]

Yeah it doesn't feel like what it is, and sounds like a flattop folk guitar. Might be a good buy for someone looking for that as it's well made and comfortable.

Left-handed is a problem. Some companies cater better than others, such as Eastwood (not to be confused with Eastman), who mostly make oddball models.

Gretsch does a pretty good job of making their models in LH versions.

[Tritonemusic]

After 25 years, I once again have an arch-top hollow-body jazz guitar (I sold my ES335 at a huge loss during a period where interest had not yet picked up again in those types of guitars).

The 335 is a semi-hollow body guitar, right? There's not an actual hollow-body version, is there? I'm just trying to understand what you're actually referring to.

[mhschmieder]

The 335 is semi-hollow in the sense that there is a block running down the middle inside and the side are glued on. It's semantics, really. It is rare that people refer to almost entirely hollow guitars as semi-hollows just due to the construction process; only those of us who are guitar geeks do that. More commonly the term is reserved for instruments where there is a single hole and a small cavity for resonance but otherwise the instrument is as "solid" as the chambered body designs that are generally referred to as solid body guitars.

Another distinction though is that guitars like the 335 usually aren't as deep as the fully hollow arch top models. Except probably the Ibanez range, which is too voluminous for me to go through. I forget which type the Guild is; my ears are all that really matter in these cases. I might use the construction as a judge in whether I'm heading down a path of redundancy, is all. I usually find center-block semi-hollows to not sound that good acoustically though (335 being an example); whereas the Guild Manhattan sounds great acoustically even if not as loud as a folk guitar.

[mhschmieder]

I finally took the time to try to de-obfuscate the very confusing model differentiation criteria for the ES series, and figured out that it was an ES-175 that I owned, not an ES-335. Mine was 3" thick or so, fully hollow inside, had a trapeze tailpiece, was single cutaway, and had blocks not dots.

I had seen info a few years ago that indicated the ES-150 and various 300-series ES models had gone through a lot of mutations over the years and weren't so clearly distinguished. But the Wiki pages clear it all up for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_ES-150

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_ES-175

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_ES-335

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/F ... -2011.aspx

My ES-175 was from 1966 or 1967 and had been returned to its original specs by my guitar instructor at the time, who was the first person in the northeast to really start building a business of restoring vintage guitars for resale. Mine had two pickups and four knobs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_ES-330

There's an extremely mild possibility it might have been an ES-330, but those were thin like the ES-335 and also had a brighter sunburst finish. Nor does that picture look like what I remember. But I was green at the time and didn't take good notes on what I owned; that would only come in the past decade when I started getting really serious about recording.

Anyway, sorry for all the confusion this may have caused; especially in comparisons. I have never liked any thin body semi-hollow body guitar that I have ever tried. The one I own is in my mind a chambered solid body with a hole; the ESP X-Tone PS-1. It's not that thin either, and besides which I'll probably sell it soon as a redundant guitar in my expanded collection.

[daniel.sneed]

AFAICR, Gibson ES225 has a small block under the bridge. Not joining up and back.
It is sometimes referred to as the *pre-335* model.
A friend of mine own one of these jewels. Two P90s, long trapeze tail-piece, built in 1958.
ES225 is a not so much sought after guitar, but one of the most expressive I ever put my fingers on.
Neither hollow, nor solid body. Best of both worlds?

[Tritonemusic]

I finally took the time to try to de-obfuscate the very confusing model differentiation criteria for the ES series, and figured out that it was an ES-175 that I owned, not an ES-335. Mine was 3" thick or so, fully hollow inside

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Now it makes total sense.

[Gravity Jim]

I have a Godin 5th Avenue, and I don't think "jazz guitar" (whatever that may be... somewhere between a Johnny Smith and a Telecaster, I guess) was the goal: it is more like that small, cheap archtop that David Rawlings plays... lots of mids and a sort of choked, old-timey sound. I doesn't sound anything like a flattop, and works best in Americana styles, where a backwoods sounds is called for. I got mine used with the TRIC case for 4 bills, and it's been a great bridge between a flattop and and electric, and also doubles a flattop in a really pleasing way. And I've gotten a passable Pat Metheny tone from the single P-90 and some chorus. It's more about the amp, anyway.

Latest guitar toy at Gravity is this radically upgraded MIM fretless Jazz Bass, which I bought from a friend who barely played it so it didn't have any play wear to speak of. It got new EMG pickups and electronics, a new pick guard from Terrapin Guitars (the original white looked like hell on the black), a new bridge (Gotoh 201), Straplocks, a thorough set-up (tweaked over many days) and an application of Fret Doctor on the bare rosewood fingerboard. Despite the conventional wisdom that you have to play round wounds for that "Jaco tone" (as if I could play like that), I ended up stringing it with TI Jazz Bass flat wounds and love the results. Including a used hardshell case, I've got about 500 dollars in it and it really plays and sounds great.

[BKK-OZ]

I get the email newsletter from Elderly Instruments, this from their latest email:

UKE PLAYERS, BE THE FIRST ON YOUR BLOCK ...
Does there exist, anywhere else in the world besides Elderly Instruments, another instrument like this BLUE STAR BARITONE / TENOR KONABLASTER DELUXE ELECTRIC UKULELE (BSKBD11, $785.00)? We're betting not! This double-neck "Duo Deluxe" uke has a two-piece solid poplar body with a 17.5" scale tenor neck AND a 22" scale baritone neck. "Stairway to Heaven", here you come! If also features two single-coil pickups, tortoise shell pickguard, pearloid control plate with two volume controls, and string-thru-body bridges and fully adjustable saddles. Both necks are hard maple with East Indian Rosewood fingerboards, Dunlop mandolin fretwire, and pearloid position markers. It must be seen to be appreciated! Check it out -- and be amazed --

More here.

[mhschmieder]

Fender made a surprise announcement this week that they're reviving the Starcaster and Coronado hollow-body designs, for both bass and guitar. The bass is 30" short scale though. The difference between the two models is mostly in the pickup styles.