L 5, 1 pickup or 2

[fubb]

I read somewhere that 1 pickup, as in the wes version of the L 5 allows the top to resonate more naturally than a 2 pickup version. Is this true and is it something one would notice as a difference in tonal quality.

[JimR56]

I'd say it's true, although the difference might be subtle unless one's ear is particularly trained to hear such a difference. I think the difference between a two-pickup electric and an acoustic with a floating pickup is even more distinct.

 

Electric L5's with two pickups can also vary in terms of their resonance. The amount that a guitar has been played over the years can have an effect on this, in my experience. Guitar tone can be a mysterious thing.

[L5Larry]

Is this true

 

Absolutely.

 

The fact that a humbucking pickup weighs a good deal, plus the hole that is cut in the soundboard (and the potentiometers), has quite a "damping" effect on the guitar. A two humbucker archtop has very little acoustic voice remaining after the holes are cut and the pickups are mounted. I would figure one hole and one pickup would have half the effect.

 

I have archtops with three different pickup configuration (two humbuckers cut into the top, a fingerboard mount, and a pickguard mount), and the fingerboard and pickguard mounted pickups preserve and emphasize the acoustic voice of the instrument. As Jim says, there is a MAJOR difference in the sound of an archtop with humbuckers cut into the soundboard and one with a "floating" pickup.

 

One last point..... I seldom ever use the bridge p/u (or the "both" position) on my L-5CES. To me, the whole point of the big fat archtop IS those deep jazz tones which come from the neck pickup. My ultimate archtop would be an L-5C with a fingerboard mounted pickup, with the volume knob on the pickguard, and an endpin jack. That's pretty much how my L-7 is setup, except it has a pickguard mounted pickup, and it's not an L-5 or a cutaway.

 

Having played archtops for years and now knowing exactly what I want out of one, and if I were going to buy "new", the Lee Ritnour model shown on the Gibson website would interest me most (except for the "fingers" tailpiece).

[JimR56]

One last point..... I seldom ever use the bridge p/u (or the "both" position) on my L-5CES. To me, the whole point of the big fat archtop IS those deep jazz tones which come from the neck pickup.

 

I agree. I was lucky to find what I really wanted in an L5 (custom order with a single Charlie Christian pickup), but I've always thought the Wes Montgomery models were very cool.

 

My ultimate archtop would be an L-5C with a fingerboard mounted pickup, with the volume knob on the pickguard, and an endpin jack.

That would be sweet, no doubt about it. Gruhn currently has a custom '64, but it's got a Byrdland scale.

 

Larry, I forget- did you ever try a Johnny Smith? I always thought the design was fantastic, but I only ever owned one. I think the one I had (a '62) was an under-achiever (or something like that ;)). Never really sounded as good as I had hoped it would... but guitars can sometimes disappoint you like that. Not every example of a given model is going to turn out to be a winner.

[L5Larry]

Larry, I forget- did you ever try a Johnny Smith?

 

Never had the opportunity to play a Johnny Smith. I missed a few chances to meet the man also. Of the "older" configurations of the L-5, I would think the JS (single) setup would be quite nice.

 

As my singular high-end Gibson archtop, the standard L-5CES was the one I had to have, and I'm not sure if I would trade it for a single p/u neck mount version. But, IF..... I could afford a second one.....

[Danny W.]

My ultimate archtop would be an L-5C with a fingerboard mounted pickup, with the volume knob on the pickguard, and an endpin jack.

 

This one meets that description:

 

 

I have archtops with floaters, or one or two set-in pickups. Although the ones with fewer pickups might sound better, at a band gig I almost always play a two-pickup version. That allows me to play a little louder if I need to, and gives me a handy mute switch between tunes. With a big band, I even use the bridge pickup on rare occasions.

 

With a small group I do sometimes use a floater or single pickup guitar, but even there I most often use a double-header.

 

The thing about the sound of these guitars is that the differences in tone, which are quite obvious in isolation, tend to get overshadowed by other factors at gigs. My thin-bodies L-5's are noticeably brighter and bass shy compared to any of my deeper guitars, but on a stage with a bass player they sound great--most venues I play in eat the extra high-end by the time the sound gets to the first row, which greatly equalizes different guitars. I tend to find my floaters too detailed and stringy for a great jazz sound, but when I play them at a concert the recording tells me otherwise.

 

So I don't obsess about this much--I just own them all and use whichever seems appealing at the time ;)

 

Danny W.

[Danny W.]

All that being said, here's a photo of me in a big band in 2003 using a red Wes. I played around 200 big-band gigs back then with that guitar, so it must have worked out pretty well

 

 

Danny W.

[bill67]

I put a bigsby on a Washburn hb15 with fret board pickup and it hurt the acoustic tone and volume,But I really like the bigsby.

[JazzGtr]

So true. 1 pickup is the way to go. If you can afford a 1 pickup mounted it would be best, there louder ad project better. Lee Ritenour actually plays an older, 1 PU mounted Smith model most of the instead of of signature L5 because of these two qualities.

 

Jazz,