-
I've seen a few semi hollows that have small bodies. Gibson Florentine and Heritage Millennium - both about the size of a Les Paul. PRS also makes a semi hollow instrument, and I'm sure there are others. I've never played any of these but my assumption is that they're probably very bright sounding and almost worthless for jazz. Anyone played any of these and have an opinion?
-
11-13-2013 10:48 PM
-
Worthless? Pickups, amps, string choice and technique can make a world of difference. Brightness may be the easier thing to change.
A lot of forum members think Teles can play jazz and they are just a plank of wood.
Other small bodied semis:
- Eastman El Rey (actually more of a hollow body with a block under the bridge)
- ES-339 (check out the Epi!)
-
It's not a matter of brightness with a semi, but more of sustain. A carved, full size archtop is pretty bright, you know!
A small semi-hollow guitar with humbuckers is going to sustain well. And usually the people who buy one are happy about that. A Tele (solid) works well for jazz because the single coil pickups are lower output then the humbuckers on a Les Paul (solid). The lower output tames sustain and is typically a brighter sound, which helps chords from becoming mush.
You can lessen the sustain with flatwounds, although you also muffle the tone, so it's a tradeoff. And of course amp settings, blah blah... But sticking to the guitar itself, small + solid/semi + humbuckers = sustain. And for many players, such a guitar is harder to control in a traditional jazz context.
-
I and a few others here have an Ibanez AM93. An excellent guitar! Ticks all the items in the semi wishlist in a smaller size. And also a very good value compared to other guitars in the price range (600 usd.)
-
Agreed - I have an AM93 and it does everything right.
-
Agreed. Ibanez makes some nice stuff. I have a c.1982 Ibanez AM-205, basically an shrunk-down 335 shape, with an original pair of Super 58 pickups (NOT the current MIC Super 58 Custom PUs). Strung with D'A Half-round 11s, it gets such a warm, smooth sound for jazz on the neck PU, not at all like an archtop, of course, but like a cool semi-hollow with more sustain. Think more John Abercrombie (various periods) rather than, say, Jim Hall.
If you're looking for more of an acoustic-quality archtop tone, I'd also agree on the Eastman El Rey series.
-
Ah, so it is a case of Big G copying Ibanez with its ES-339 and not the other way round.
Originally Posted by ooglybong
Agreed. Ibanez makes some nice stuff. I have a c.1982 Ibanez AM-205, basically an shrunk-down 335 shape, with an original pair of Super 58 pickups (NOT the current MIC Super 58 Custom PUs). Strung with D'A Half-round 11s, it gets such a warm, smooth sound for jazz on the neck PU, not at all like an archtop, of course, but like a cool semi-hollow with more sustain. Think more John Abercrombie (various periods) rather than, say, Jim Hall.
If you're looking for more of an acoustic-quality archtop tone, I'd also agree on the Eastman El Rey series.
-
I've recently seen and played one of those AM-205's. I prefer a more traditional 335 size myself (hence my jsm100), but oh my, aren't they pukka little guitars! And warm and smooth indeed! Could play jazz on those the whole night long (if I could play jazz the whole night long, that is
).
-
My first good electric guitar was an '83 Ibanez AM-255, purchased new. It's the same as the 205 but with a horrible tremolo bridge rather than the TOM and Quick Change TP. Also it has no pickguard.
I finally sold it about a year ago. The AM93 sounds so much like it, even more refined actually to my ear and memory. But maybe it's just got a better bridge than that old monstrosity... I always wished I had gotten the 205 instead, but I had no clue back then.
Last edited by rpguitar; 11-14-2013 at 05:39 PM.
-
I put in a vote for the Godin Premiere--semi-hollow (arched center block), small size, thinline, light weight, nicely voiced for jazz as well as rock.
-
Good choices, although I wanted to point out that the El Rey doesn't have a block of wood under the bridge. I think you might be confusing it with the T186, which is hollow except for the block under the bridge and a screwed in tune-o-matic bridge. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
Worthless? Pickups, amps, string choice and technique can make a world of difference. Brightness may be the easier thing to change.
A lot of forum members think Teles can play jazz and they are just a plank of wood.
Other small bodied semis:
- Eastman El Rey (actually more of a hollow body with a block under the bridge)
- ES-339 (check out the Epi!)
I've got three semi hollowbodies:
Eastman El Rey
Eastman T186
Hofner Verythin Classic
All three do great jazz tones, but if I wanted to choose one to use instead of a big hollowbody for traditional archtop tones, I would choose the El Rey.
-
Maybe it depends on the El Rey version. The El Rey 3 has a stop tailpiece, so it must have something under the top at that point for mounting the tail piece onto it. Originally Posted by Klatu
-
In my experience, it's not useful to try to predict what a guitar will sound like based on it's size. Especially electrics, but a lot of acoustics too. Here's a small-bodied semi that works just fine for jazz. (and everything else too)
Seventy Seven "Albatross Jazz". The Stetsbar is my addition. Unfortunately, I'm not sure these are still available. But it's so pretty, I just had to post the pic!
-
[QUOTE=BigDaddyLoveHandles;377726]Worthless? Pickups, amps, string choice and technique can make a world of difference. Brightness may be the easier thing to change.
A lot of forum members think Teles can play jazz and they are just a plank of wood QUOTE]
I am a guy who thinks a telecaster CAN play jazz, teles are my go to guitar!
That being said, in terms of small semis, I love the Gibson ES 339, fantastic sounding and playing and can achieve a great jazz tone.
-
This is an interesting position -- my jazz tele's have always had neck humbuckers but lately, I've been playing a Warmoth build with a Vintage Stack neck PU. I'm actually digging it a lot -- maybe this is why! Originally Posted by rpguitar
-
Of course, look at videos of Ed Bickert playing a Tele. First it's stock, then the neck pickup gets swapped for a HB (probably a classic 57). He sounds the same!
-
I'm using my Gibson 339s just to play jazz, it sounds great with 12 or 13 flatwound strings. I like the 339 so much that I got 2 of them.
Last edited by Mauro Pavanelli; 08-13-2014 at 11:34 PM.
-
If I can get a very nice jazz tone out of an all maple Gibson L6-S solidbody, I think it's possible to get a good jazz tone from any of the smaller hollow body guitars listed above.
Often it's the larger carved guitars that are brighter- it's very easy to listen with eyes instead of ears (I do this too often!).
-
I think the new PRS S2 semi-hollows have the potential to be really cool entries in this category.
http://www.prsguitars.com/s2singlecu...low/photo1.jpgLast edited by Jim Soloway; 08-14-2014 at 10:01 AM.
-
Really nice! And it is a very cheap guitar. I think it's made in china. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
Last edited by Mauro Pavanelli; 08-15-2014 at 06:33 AM.
-
I've owned numerous semi and small hollow body guitars including Gibson Johnny A., Pat Martino Custom, Carvin Allan Holdsworth Fatboy and Reg models, Heritage Millenium's 2 of them, Hamer Monaco Std, & Superpro, Newports 3 of them, Eastman El Rey 2, PRS Hollowbody 2 and SC Std. G&L Asat Super, Classic 3, Benedetto Bambino Std w/ Bigsby.etc.
I still have the following Benedetto Bambino, Hamer Newport P90, G&L Asat Super. All different from each other and excellent guitars.I have swapped out all p/ups on these guitars and made a few other mods to my liking as well. I wish I still had a PRS SC Hollow, probably the 1 guitar that does it all the best, at least to my ears.
-
And it is a very cheap guitar. I think it's made in china. Originally Posted by jads57
-
$664 at MusicasFriend, hmmm! Originally Posted by Mauro Pavanelli
I just wonder about the bridge/tailpiece. How does one handle switching between plain and bound G strings?
-
No. The S2's are mid-priced guitars made in the US with simpler design features, fewer options and Asian hardware. This one is the the top of the S2 series and sells for about $1575. Originally Posted by Mauro Pavanelli
http://www.sweetwater.com/c592--PRS-...w_Body_Guitars
-
Was your PRS the SE or the S2? Originally Posted by jads57
Reply With Quote
$2,995 1967 Fender Vibrolux Reverb Blackline...
Yesterday, 11:58 PM in For Sale