What about a lower end hollow body?

[Kip Carter]

This wasn't an open shopping opportunity... I had a trade negotiation in the works on the Ibanez going and the primary reason for bring up the topic was to spot check my thinking on the placement the guitar, the opportunity to shift to a different guitar was limited.

[Steve DeRosa]

Now you need a nice crisp P90-equipped Godin CW II, and a sweet mellow 17" Big-Band box, and a twangy snarly rockabilly axe - and an original blonde '63 Twin to play them all through...

[jaybones]

I have a project in mind where I buy this ES 175 copy by K Tone, cut a 3 ply PG using the original as a template, replace the pickups with Parson Street PAF alnico's, possibly the tuners and also a Bigsby. If I do the tuners, I could probably go with all gold hardware on a sunburst with cream pickguard.

Or, I could do an aging job on the trapeze tailpiece and tuners (gas them with muriatic acid fumes for 15 minutes then lightly brush the chrome to remove the loosened plating).

I've done some online research and found that the main gripes on this guitar are the poor quality tuners, the thin single ply pickguard and the less than stellar pickups.

Considering its price of $160 shipped (for a set neck), I could throw a little cash into it a little bit at a time and end up with a decent guitar for under $500.

I have an extra hard shell case that would fit it, but if it turns out to be as nice as I think it would, I might spring for a premium tweed and brown leather case.

[Kip Carter]

Originally Posted by jaybones

I have a project in mind where I buy this ES 175 copy by K Tone, cut a 3 ply PG using the original as a template, replace the pickups with Parson Street PAF alnico's, possibly the tuners and also a Bigsby.

The link doesn't work! *pout*

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

[*]Washburn J3/J5/J7: their take on the 16" (J3)/17"(J5/J7) twin-humbucker electric archtop - the ones I've played seem to have more consistent QC than Epiphone;

When you say 16"and 17"what measurements are they?

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by Theleman

When you say 16"and 17"what measurements are they?

Lower bout.

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by DukeX

Lower bout.

I thought the Washburn J3 was a huge and heavy guitar, but the J5 and J7 are even larger.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Theleman

I thought the Washburn J3 was a huge and heavy guitar, but the J5 and J7 are even larger.

Historically, 16" archtops (particularly acoustic) are considered small-body instruments; adopted in the late-1920's as replacement rhythm instruments for the tenor/plectrum banjo, they soon proved inadequate in the days before amplification and larger sizes were put into production by the two powerhouse manufacturers - Gibson and Epiphone (an independent entity until their purchase by Gibson in 1957) - around 1934, which were quickly adopted by the rest of the industry. When ever-increasing stage volume, along with changes in technique (the guitar was emerging as a solo instrument by the late-30's) demanded amplification, many Big Band-era players simply added pickups to their existing 17"/18" instruments; as the electric guitar became the standard jazz instrument circa 1950 the major makers simply followed the prevailing format - Gibson's L-5CES/Super 400CES and Epiphone's Deluxe/Emperor "Zephyr Regent" models would quickly acquire the same prestige their acoustic predecessors held a decade earlier, and would become the "bridge" instruments as early-50's "bop-&-pop" morphed into rock-&-roll/R&B by the middle of the decade (FYI Scotty Moore - Elvis' first guitarist - used electric L-5 and Super 400 instruments through the late-1960's)...

If you're an aspiring jazzer, or into roots/Americana/early R&R and R&B, you need at least one of these in your collection: they're just classy as all-get-out, you'll never achieve quite the same tone from any other type of instrument (IME they're the sweetest-sounding guitars in creation when played through a good tube amp), the current crop of 3" or wider straps make them far easier on the shoulder than the skinny straps of the 1950's, and thanks to the globalization of the guitar industry there's a greater variety of high-quality reasonably-priced new instruments on the market than at any time during the last 60 years or so - check out a few when you get the chance...

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you're an aspiring jazzer, or into roots/Americana/early R&R and R&B, you need at least one of these in your collection: they're just classy as all-get-out, you'll never achieve quite the same tone from any other type of instrument (IME they're the sweetest-sounding guitars in creation when played through a good tube amp), the current crop of 3" or wider straps make them far easier on the shoulder than the skinny straps of the 1950's, and thanks to the globalization of the guitar industry there's a greater variety of high-quality reasonably-priced new instruments on the market than at any time during the last 60 years or so - check out a few when you get the chance...

I am interested in learning Blues guitar playing especially the early to modern artists such as Robert Johnson, Lightnin Hopkins, Skip James, R. L. Burnside and Robert Belfour.

I did some research on the semi hollow guitars to get amplified sounds, and Gibson and Epiphone models look great, but they are well out of my budget.

Washburn, Ibanez or Gretsch models made in China or Indonesia seem fit my bill. For my level of skills in playing, anything more than these would be just waste, as I will be using it for mostly practice.

And Washburn J3 caught my eyes, because it has wider and shorter neck, gives both Jazz and Blues sounds, can play both acoustically and amplified, has smaller bout and gets good reviews for the price.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

Well I got it and i'm loving it... guitar is better than the ad showed.... I'm thinking I will upgrade the humbucklers at some point it could use new strings and a setup to fine tune it but it is very playable as is.

Nice! Congrats on the Ibanez, all the best with her

[Kip Carter]

Wow [emoji50] Old Post response! I did upgrade the pickups with Fishman Fluence humbuckers. Was very good guitar but replaced it with a Les Paul which fit the application better. So I’m selling it.
Thanks
Kip

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Theleman

...Epiphone models look great, but they are well out of my budget.

Washburn, Ibanez or Gretsch models made in China or Indonesia seem fit my bill. For my level of skills in playing, anything more than these would be just waste, as I will be using it for mostly practice...

If you're looking at Asian-made Washburn/Ibanez/Gretsch, you're closer to affording a modern Epiphone than you think; here's a few examples:

https://www.sweetwater.com/c591--Hol...ZW50dXJ5Il19fQ

You might also want to check out Godin's Kingpin models - a bit more expensive than your stated budget but, speaking as a satisfied owner, well worth the money:

https://www.sweetwater.com/c591--Hol...yI3IiwiOCJdfX0

As far as Gretsch is concerned, the Korean-made Electromatic 5400-Series hollowbodies are light-years ahead of the Chinese/Indonesian 2500-Series - fully competitive, in fact, with the high-end Professional Series at three to four times the price; in any case, save your money and buy right the first time - a better guitar can make you a better player, and you will be playing out sooner or later...

[Kip Carter]

If you would be interested in my Ibenez with the upgraded Fishman Fluence pickups pm me.

[Steve DeRosa]

I was initially thinking the same thing, Kip, but I don't think this guy lives here in the lower 48 - looks to me like his posts have been through a translator app - and that EIR fingerboard may not pass muster for international shipment under current regulations...

[Kip Carter]

Ah I didn’t pick up on that... thanks Steve.