Hollow Body Jazz Guitar

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poo

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Hey Guys
Im looking into buying a hollow body jazz guitar..
I have no clue what to look for in one and what brands offer
some good guitars. If any of you can offer any insights it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
 
solid wood

The good stuff will be soild spruce top, solid maple back and sides. The top and back is arched. The medium to lower priced will be plywood, formed in a arch. A hand made archtop could cost you $10,000 to $50,000. Factory made stuff, alot cheaper. I would check out a Heritage, made at the old Gibson plant, I think by some of the old Gibson craftsmen.
 
My brother picked up an Epiphone Joe Pass last month.Not bad for a korean plywood axe,approx 6 bills.Real jazz boxes are arch top,f-hole like Stan says.Solid wood cost big time,though.
Tom
 
1. How much money are you thinking about spending?

2. What type of material are you going to be playing?

3. Plugged or unplugged?

foo
 
Hi Poo,

I was looking for the exact same thing for the last couple of months...

To make it short, I tried about a dozen of various hollow and semi-hollow bodies. I did try a few Gretsch - rather pricey. But I didn't even touch the Gibson - way too $$$.

I wanted to stick around 500 to $1000. So with the sound I wanted in mind (that full deep jazz sound - with clear highs, and good fretboard for chords) and my budget, I focused on the semihollows. So my test drive included: Epiphone Dot, DeArmond Starfire?, Guild Historic Series something (hollow body), several hollow/semi Gretsch's, Hamer Echotone, etc.

I decided to go with the Hammer Echotone. It's got a real real real nice jazz sound with the neck pickup, the fretboard fingers REAL REAL REAL nice for complex chords (for me at least). Compared with the others I played, the
Hamer really stood out.

Now, the best part... I followed Ebay for a week or so and found one there. It was a factory 2nd due to the finish where the neck/body meet (and stamped "2" on the back of the heel). $300 including shipping. I love this thing - it gets me the sound I wanted - if you listen to Diane Krall's guitarist or Tuck Andress you'll know what I mean.
It's that full sound without the full pricetag!

The downside is that it's not a "fast" neck (cause it's flatter and fatter?) - I guess I'll have to keep my strat for leads... :-)

I'm going through a ART MP preamp, then a SansAmp GT-2 (on the fender setting) and then into my Tascam for the jazz sounds.

BTW, the Epi Dot was the worst of the bunch. Sounded extremlly muddy and didn't feel comfortable for some reason.

Good luck on your search! Rick aka fusion
 
Thanks guys!
Im looking in to 500-1000 dollar range. Im on a tight budget..but im studying jazz composition next year..and I need to get myself the jazz tone. I just dont want to end up the wrong guitar.
 
A hollow-body guitar is not absolutely crucial for a good jazz tone. Listen to Pat Martino's recent work -- all solidbody guitar -- you would never know it.
 
Try the Jay Turser line of guitars. They make some excellent copies of more expensive jazz hollow-body guitars. I have one that I paid $300 for, and I've been nothing but pleased by it.

Ryan
 
Ed Bickert gets a great jazz tone with a Telecaster. John Scofield uses an Ibanez semi-hollow 335 style guitar.

... and not that I'm considering myself in their class, of course, ('cos I've got a long way to go) but the sound I get from my 345 can be identical to the sound from a Johnny Smith.

If you're talking about electric, you have a lot of leeway - if it's acoustic, a big body is definitely a requirement.
The most important part is the notes and the phrasing.

foo
 
I've read that the Cort Larry Coryell model is quite excellent for the price (between $1 and 2K if I recall). Also there are a couple of Ibanez models that are in the lower price range for archtops, like the George Benson and the Pat Metheney signature models.
 
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