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I need a Jazz Box


badbluesplayer

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Preferably 24.75" scale. Either single coil or humbucker - What should I get?

 

I recently spent about two years at that point.

 

 

After trying out tonnes of full hollow bodies, going far, I ended up at a store that had one 175 Premium, finally. I really wanted to hate it, but even though it wasn't the color for me, I almost bought it right there after about a half an hour. I went home and chiseled 15% out of MF, a Black one with the right case for it, pair of straplocks, about 850 delivered. Opened up the guitar, not opening the case box in case I had to return it next day. No. Way. GREAT guitar. I'm not a jazzbo by any stretch, but a set of flatwounds on it and minimal setup and I have a really really cool jazz box, making awesome jazz sounds. When I get a tad of gain and a tad of compression and stand a couple feet from the amp, I can get some serious RHAWK sounds out of it.

 

So, for me, it was worth the gamble with the return. I do love that thing!

 

rct

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Hey RCT,

 

when these EPI ES-175s first hit the market, the were really hit or miss. I remember trying a few of them out (this as a while ago.. 8 10 years??) they just felt "Meh..." I've not tried one since, But after reading your experience, and hearing about others who are expressing the same results, Good news! That profile is great for a jazz box.

 

I do love my Broadway though, pretty much flawless, plays/sounds great. for the money,, can't complain. but man it's HUGE!

 

got chromes on it now, and they work out nicely, but I'm in the mood to go back to round wounds, so this weekend,, we scratch that itch.

 

I also have the single pickup variant (Emperor Regent) which has been discontinued for like 2 years,, that one will always wear the chromes.

These were also really good values, I guess Epi decided they weren't selling enough and disco'd em...

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I haven't played one, but the new Guild Newark Street A-150 (made in Korea) has a single floating pickup with a SOLID spruce top. Other models in this recent Guild series are also quite interesting, but the A-150 really caught my eye (it can be viewed at Sweetwater's site). Available in either natural or sunburst, and it prices out a bit north of a grand.

 

Best of luck in your search!

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First...

 

Note RCT's comment about the Epi 175 PREMIUM. It's a different run than the prior iteration of Epi 175 copies.

 

I'm of the 16-inch hollow box with a 24 3/4 scale bunch. A 17" or larger body is IMHO too big for my personal comfort regardless of quality of manufacture. Ditto a 25 1/2 inch scale (like my Gretsch, darn it).

 

Eastman AR372 is a two pup box that is doggone close to the 175. I have the one-pup version and it's awfully nice playing. Had RCT's Epi 175 premium been available when I got my Eastman, I'd probably have preferred the Epi on several grounds. But that's getting really picky. I would have been happy at the time with an Epi Joe Pass for even a bit less cash. Some folks who sell them like the Loar or Godin or Ibanez whatever, but currently I'd not personally consider them for a number of reasons...

 

Thing is, a jazz box to me is like any other guitar "type." I love the 175 "type" because it just plain fits my personal geometry and playing geometry as well. A neck shape I like and set up with how I like a setup, it's marvelous. My Gretsch has the right basic body shape, but the longer scale does, IMHO, force a perceptible difference in lefthand technique that cuts a bit into how I do what I like to do.

 

Bottom line IMHO is to try several types.

 

I find RCT's comments on finding his Epi to be really enlightening for those who may not have had a similar experience. But it's how one should feel, IMHO, when one finds a guitar that simply "works" for them. I've had the same feeling, btw... and sometimes even decades after having a guitar sitting in its case in a closet, then being restrung and...

 

EDIT: RE the thin body regardless of shape: It's a different type of instrument that brings me to a different playing geometry.

 

m

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I'd go for the Epiphone. I have 2 Gibson archtops - an ES 175 and a ES 5 Switchmaster. Also I own 2 Epiphone ones - another ES 175 and an Epi Broadway.

 

The Epi 175 I got 3 years ago for £299 bargain and it is a very nice guitar. Maybe I got lucky, but it is a joy to play and is well made. It sounds pretty good for the money, though lacks the warmth of the Gibson and doesn't feel quite as nice. But it sure is a cracking jazz box.

 

The Epi Broadway I got second hand and the previous owner had made some mods to make it look more like a Gibson L5. I love it! It has a lovely tone and feel with nice low action and again it is a well built instrument. Similarly to my other epiphone it does lack the low end warmth of my Gibson ES 5 but it is brilliant for the money.

 

Also, the Godin Kingpin is great too as others have mentioned, and they are made in Canada with lovely Canadian woods. As Milod mentioned the Loar do make some nice looking ones and they sound pretty good in the demos I've seen. I've been after one of the full acoustic archtops they make because they are super cheap and seem fairly well made for the money. They claim to be solid wood, not laminate as well!

 

Peerless also make some excellent solid wood archtops for around the same price as the ones you are looking at, although I believe they just put their prices up at the beginning of October which kinda sucks!

 

Lastly, check out the Gretsch New Yorker - this is an acoustic archtop, but looks fantastic and you could find a way to add a pickup to it perhaps?

 

Good luck with whatever you decide. Buying your first archtop is a very exciting experience [smile]

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Kid, the current offering this year is the ES-175 Premium. The paint isn't shiny, but the rest of it is a pretty good knock off of the 175 I'll never buy.

 

RCT, I think we're looking at this from the same perspective, it's a compromise. I'd love an Gibson USA L5, or a Gibson USA ES-175, I can't justify it.

 

I'm not a jazz player, Do I dabble? yes, I do. but the cost is way out of my league.

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1. Love my Epi ES 175 NOT PREMIUM (I will agree that these can be hit or miss...they got it right with mine). [thumbup]

2. You can find Gibson ES 135's all day long on the used market. This is a great guitar for the money (I bought mine for $900.00)...I actually have flatwounds on it, but I am thinking of going back to rounds.

3. Eastman makes great guitars for the money.

4. Washburn makes great jazz boxes (and you can find them in the $500.00 range).

5. Guild X-170 Manhattan is another good used choice (although I think Fender may have re-issued these).

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This.

 

I'd go for the Epiphone.....the Epi 175 I got 3 years ago for £299 bargain and it is a very nice guitar....it sure is a cracking jazz box. [smile]

 

 

And this.

 

1. Love my Epi ES 175 NOT PREMIUM (I will agree that these can be hit or miss...they got it right with mine). [thumbup]

 

An ES-135 is nice too but thin-line, not much deeper body than the 335 which BBP has....

 

 

I'm biased, I love my Gibson ES175....

 

Regards!

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I think archtop playing comfort is more critical than a lotta other types.

 

I'm serious that my 25 1/2 scale Gretsch basically takes away 5-10 percent of what I do on given pieces (fingerstyle solo with my own arrangement/fingering) compared to the shorter scale on a similar-size-shape body. Yet it has a marvelous action and quite nice sound with its floating pup and pickguard controls so there's not a hole otherwise in the instrument's body. I use it for some sorts of material, but not stuff that makes me play the most/best I can, 'cuz it doesn't help me like the shorter scale.

 

Yeah, a difference in the nut width, fingerboard radius and neck is not unimportant.

 

There's an excellent case to be made that it's as much how I play as other aspects of my physical geometry interfacing with a guitar's geometry. But the same general conclusion would "fit" anyone else - some of these will simply "fit" better than others, and my emotions tell me it's that much more important on an electric archtop.

 

But let's put it this way: If Gibbie gave me the choice of a nice new and free 175, an L5 or a Super 400, I'd ignore the price stickers and grab the 175 before they change their mind. It's not a matter of price or pretty, but what just seems to fit me and what/how I play.

 

Other guitars with essentially the same geometry? Yup. A $10,000 handmade 17-inch body with a 25 1/2 scale? I'd take it appreciatively as a gift but I doubt it'd get played as much as several archtops I have that are in that $1,000 range and roughly the same sort of geometry as a 175.

 

But that's me. Apparently it's also RCT. So... I think playing a coupla variations of short-scale, 16-inch body, short-scale 17-inch body, long scale with each, may be a good idea.

 

m

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That Epi you linked looks nice, USA electronics, those Classic 57's sound great.

 

I'd have a look at the Ibanez jazz boxes too. I own one of their cheapest models, the AF55, and it is a really surprisingly nice guitar for around $330. Some of their higher priced models look really sweet and fall right in your price range, but if you just want to scratch a hollowbody jazz box itch and you don't care if the look is plain, check out the AF55. It's not bad as is, but if you drop in some nice pickups (the stock ones are okay, but a bit harsh) you could have a killer jazz guitar for way less than your budget. Mine is stock right now and it's one of my favorites to play at home (haven't gigged it yet, the body is very resonant and I stand in front of my amp where I play).

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My Eastman single pup "copy" of a 175 almost plays itself...

 

But seriously, for about the same cash, were the new Epi premium available a the same time as the Eastman, I think I'd go for the Epi due to both some tangible and intangible reasons.

 

m

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I would have gone ahead and ordered an Epiphone 175 Premium but I had an Epiphone a few years back and it was a dud and I've been gun-shy since about Epiphones ever since. I did have a nice Sheraton II a while ago too and that was pretty nice. I don't know if I can get over the Epiphone factor.

 

Nice electronics. I'll bet the workmanship is pretty darn good. Maybe I'll call MF and see what's up. They always claim to have some deal going.

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Blues...

 

All kidding aside, I think that the overall "type" of an archtop with a floating bridge adjustable for height, with a truss rod, etc., is perhaps one of the most accommodating to the individual player.

 

So "setup" and "string choice" are to me both easier and yet more critical than on almost any other type of guitar.

 

I can't forget how my "#1" sat in its case for roughly a quarter century unplayed, even unseen, until I got it out one day and began to wonder, "Why do I have those big 'jazz' strings on this guitar when that isn't how I play?"

 

At that point I made a huge shift in thought of how to use this very nice but - functionally useless to me - guitar.

 

I almost always use 9-42 on my electrics. Heck, ditto on most of my flattops through the years since I am, and basically always have been a very light fingerpicker. Even my "strum for various musical roles" guitars have been 9-42 if electric and 10--46 if a big flattop.

 

So...

 

I put on some Elixir polyweb 9-42. Adjusted the TOM bridge. The neck was fine as it was and no problems with the neck.

 

The tone through several amps seemed fine to me, so I didn't mess with the pups.

 

And the doggone 16-inch archtop with the 24 3/4 scale, light strings and low action suddenly was making my fingers fly and do things I'd thought of but never did on other instruments.

 

Just a thought.

 

You may find something similar in super-light flats 9-38 for example, like I have on my Gretsch full hollow right now as I mess with different sorts of strings appropriate for me and a 25 1/2 scale on a 16-inch archtop body. Or you may discover heavier flats simply allow you to move the notes as if someone else where helping.

 

I think that unless an iteration of that Epi might have a twisted neck or bad wiring, the adjustments available and a bit of experimentation might offer musical options unimagined.

 

But then again... perhaps that's just me.

 

m

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