Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Jazz tones from a Sorrento ?


vaxxine

Recommended Posts

I've never seen a Sorrento in the flesh. Does anyone know if they're capable of getting the smokey, woody jazz sound ? Or are they more in the 335 territory ?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Phil

 

They definitely have the woody jazzy sound with the neck pu and tone rolled off. True hollow body.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jazz guitarist Grant Green did many of his recordings on a Gibson ES-330, which, like both the Casino and Sorrento, is a thinline hollowbody with 2 P-90's.

 

My Sorrento sounds very much like my Casino, with subtle differences due to the different tailpieces --- my Casino has a B-7 type tailpiece, while the Sorrento has a Bigsby B-3:

 

Sorrento.jpg

 

EpiCasino.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was the early-mid 90's (Korean?) model. The originals had mini hums as the current re-issue does. I preferred the P90 model.

Correct. Kalamazoo made Sorrentos had mini-humbuckers.

 

The P90 equipped Korean Sorrento was more like a single cutaway Casino.

 

Mini-hums are an interesting pickup, but I too love the sound of P90s!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was the early-mid 90's (Korean?) model. The originals had mini hums as the current re-issue does. I preferred the P90 model.

 

 

Right. I had one of the old Korean P-90 Sorrentos. Nice guitars, and ideal for jazz and P-90 fans. I wish they would have stayed in production.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody ! The 1962 RI intrigues me mainly because of the thin body depth plus the classic single cutaway shape. And it's full hollow. As the years accumulate I find reaching over a full depth archtop more and more tiring. A thinline full hollow archtop is appealing. It's the mini bucker sound that I'm not familiar with. I had a 60's-something Gibson Les Paul with mini buckers, but it was decades ago and I don't remember anything about how it sounded.

 

I've also seen the 90's-made Sorrentos built by Peerless, with the P90s. They're also intriguing. Those ones *appear* to have a center block or sound post, based on the bridge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find reaching over a full depth archtop more and more tiring. A thinline full hollow archtop is appealing.

 

That's a great thing about Sorrentos, and Casinos, that thin comfortable body. Much nicer when you're playing standing up. My Casino sounds almost as loud as a deep-body acoustic guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've also seen the 90's-made Sorrentos built by Peerless, with the P90s. They're also intriguing. Those ones *appear* to have a center block or sound post, based on the bridge.

The Peerless Casinos are hollow, but have a small soundpost,

as does the '61 50th Anniversay Casino.

 

My guess is the Peerless Sorrento & new '62 reissue models

will also have soundposts.

 

FWIW - The Elitist Casino does not have a soundpost,

and neither do Gibson's two recent versions of the 330:

(330L and 330 VOS).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Short answer yes, sure... but, Jazz is a style of music and has much more to do with how you play it, than what guitar you're using. "Jazz Tone" can be had on just about any guitar including strat's tele's (Ted Greene), and just about anything else. Ever heard Larry Carlton play Jazz on a 335 or a Les Paul for that matter? Just roll off the treble little bit and you've got instant "jazz tone" [biggrin]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Short answer yes, sure... but, Jazz is a style of music and has much more to do with how you play it, than what guitar you're using. "Jazz Tone" can be had on just about any guitar including strat's tele's (Ted Greene), and just about anything else. Ever heard Larry Carlton play Jazz on a 335 or a Les Paul for that matter? Just roll off the treble little bit and you've got instant "jazz tone"

 

Technically you can play any genre on any guitar, but there are guitars better-suited for some things than others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody ! The 1962 RI intrigues me mainly because of the thin body depth plus the classic single cutaway shape. And it's full hollow. As the years accumulate I find reaching over a full depth archtop more and more tiring. A thinline full hollow archtop is appealing. It's the mini bucker sound that I'm not familiar with. I had a 60's-something Gibson Les Paul with mini buckers, but it was decades ago and I don't remember anything about how it sounded.

 

I've also seen the 90's-made Sorrentos built by Peerless, with the P90s. They're also intriguing. Those ones *appear* to have a center block or sound post, based on the bridge.

 

Although its a review of a 62 RI Sheraton the minhums are the same as the Sorrento. From 7:00 minutes onward you can hear how the gibson minihumbuckers sound.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've become real fan of the Gibby minihums. I have both the Sorrento and Sheraton 62 RIs and love the tones i get from each.

 

At the moment the Sorrento is my go to Jazz guitar, both for the tone and the ease of playing a thin hollow body.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...