I'm looking at archtop guitars for the first time in my life! I could use some advice from those in the know. At this point, jazz would not be my main focus.
I've been an acoustic only guy for a good 20 years now. I have often wanted to get back into electric, however nothing really worked for me.
I'm looking for something that has some of the clarity of steel string acoustics, but with a less high end frequencies. I mainly want to do strumming type, acoustic rhythm work. I don't want to give up the woody warmth. I do want the ability to overdrive it a bit for some rhythms. Then overdrive it some more for some lead work. But not huge amounts of distortion. I got to thinking in the past weeks how I've come to like that short scale acoustic tone. It's a little sweeter overall, a little less highs to my ear. So then I got to thinking about archtops.
I did some research and was leaning towards Gretsch hollow bodies. Specifically the
G5420T as it has the Filter'Tron pickups. This line is made in Korea, I've had some great guitars from Korea. These pickups seem to be an interesting in-between of that humbucker vs single coil tones. These have an odd scale length of just 24.6. I found a nice anniversary model in orange with upgraded hardware. I played it and was pleasantly surprised! It had 10's which felt too spongy with such a short scale. I think 11's would be perfect. The Bridge is pinned, so no worries about it moving around. The Bigsby is kind of fun, never tried one before. The tuners are geared high. A slight turn does WAY too much. I also found the fingerboard a bit cramped, but I've been playing a 2" Classical neck for the past 9 months. All and all it was pretty good. Very good playability, nice action everywhere.
Then against my better judgement (
) I tried a
Joe Pass Emperor II Pro in Vintage Sunburst. I'm not a fan of guitar made in Indonesia... but maybe times have changed. This one really surprised me! More volume and warmth than the Gretsch, however also more string shifting noise and that screeeeech sound. The neck is a little wider, scale length a little longer at 24.75. The action at the nut was too high, but everywhere else was fine. I found this one quite nice for classical pieces as it is a jazz box. The single coil tone is quite usable as well (splitable humbuckers) I like that it has independant volumes, tones & coil splitters. The neck is gloss which I do not like. However the gloss neck & high nut are easy fixes.
I played both through the same amp without touching any settings as I compared them. I did fiddle with all the guitar controls to see how much tone shaping was available.
I use a TRIO pedal for bass and drums. I also add some loops sometimes for rhythm. The low mid warmth of that Epi is very attractive. But the Gretsch may be right with it's tone that's a little more cutting.
Here is my dilemma and my questions;
-Which guitar is best for strumming rhythm work??
-Will the Epi will be TOO warm in a band setting. Will it get lost??
-I worry about guitars made in Indonesia in general, not an issues??
-I don't like Epi's moveable bridge... but it means I COULD replace it, an issue??
-Finally, would a Godin 5th avenue be better?? Also in my price range but I can't try one out. Some jazz guys love them, but it may be too warm. Cantilevered fretboard, choice of P90's or HB'ers. Good jazz reviews... but a strummer???