If I will buy an electric, which do you suggest?

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Cri75!

I am mainly interested in playing jazz or classical, folk manly fingerpicking and absolutely with clean tones (no overdrive etc..)
I thought a 335 style would be the right one...

Based on this part of the original post it seems odd to me that a guitar noted for it's sharp attack (Tele) would be considered an option for playing jazz and classical styles. Even more, seeing an interest stated in a naturally mellow guitar (335) and the sharp attack guitar as an alternative.

ANY semi-hollowbody guitar is more likely to satisfy your musical taste than ANY solid body, especially when paired with single coil pickups.

Go check out your 335 style options and while you're at it, see if you can find any of the incredible Hollowbody PRS guitars.

[Cri75!]

Hi everybody,
Yesterday I went to a shop and I tried the ergonomics of several guitars.
The 335 is too big for the way I embrace it when I play. The solid bodies that I tried were okkeish (in case I will buy one of them, I have to change the position of in jack on the top... not a big issue if the guitar is not expensive.)
I had the chance to try one Ibanez AG75G and it felt so comfortable...I am tempted.
Now I am considering selling one of my solid top OOO acoustics and buying that Ibanez or trying to buy a krivo micro (or a lace sensor ultraslim) pickup and give a try to my OOO if it will have a traditional clean "Jazz Tone". No, I have one DiMarzio reference acoustic dp139, but when on it sounds too acoustic and I struggle to get the tone that I like. The last option would be simple to try if I were in the USA, but here in Italy finding a Krivo pickup is so difficult.....
The price of those pickups have almost the price of a used Ibanez... but if works, I could have all my acoustics sound similar to an electric jazz box...

[Bob Womack]

Grumpy old player here:

WARNING: If you gain up the amp at all, P-90 pickups put out 60-hz hum as if it were just as desirable as the sound of the guitar. They are THE noisiest pickups on the planet. I love their basic sound, it is gnarly and snarky. BUT, the one P-90 equipped guitar I owned? Every time my wife walked by the home studio and I was playing it she would say, "What have you done to that guitar? It buzzes like nobody's business!" And she was right, of course.

The 500 pound gorilla in the room. No-one else would say it. Get a humbucker-equipped guitar. They are the lowest-noise standard pickups of the bunch. They aren't overly bright, but they aren't noisy either.

All the best,

Bob

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Cri75!

I had the chance to try one Ibanez AG75G and it felt so comfortable...I am tempted.

I'm tempted by that AG75G too! Great choice if that's what you end up getting. Post pics if you do.

[GoPappy]

If the 335 is too big for you, I will reiterate my suggestion to try an ES-339 size. Same shape but in a smaller size than the 335. And some of them have the input jack on the top, which appears to be your preference.

I've been tempted by a few of the Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow body guitars. In general, they seem to provide good value for the cost. You could certainly do much worse.

In the final analysis, it's all very personal and subjective. In the motorcycle business, they say "There's a butt for every seat." Same thing goes with guitars.

[FrankHudson]

I'll warily offer this comment on the comments. even though the OP's search is on, and they're going the right thing, trying guitars. I hope to help any that have honest questions about why do jazz and or classical players sometimes recommend a "bright guitar like a Telecaster." Note this isn't a "you're wrong -- you should like a Tele" argument on my part. Rather this is my understanding from own use and listening to those who make that choice:

While Telecasters are not alone in this, the classic Tele design is good for note definition and clarity in chords. The more complex and changing the chord harmony, the more important this is. Richness in overtones, sustain, or a "fatter note" sensed by a wider pickup, are sometimes a detriment. These factors are also part of the reason you don't see many of the favored flattop steel-string acoustics more commonly used by Jazz players. Don't jump on me, I know all the "but whatabouts..." in this generalization. I'm not a complex chord guy myself, so for me a Tele can also do the electric guitar sustain thing with the right gain structure. It's easier to add sustain for example than to take it away. Another classic recipe pop/rock/country but not Jazz thing is to use compression with a Tele. The same compression settings that sound great with some Teles sound bad with some humbucker/Gibson scale instruments.

Some people overestimate the invariability of brightness with a Telecaster. First off, some of where the Tele clarity stands out compared to some Gibson scale humbucker guitars is in lower notes and lower strings. I happen to like to use the lower strings when playing lead lines more than some. It's also easier to take away brightness than to add it. I use the tone knob on Teles often. In some examples I've played, the Tele neck pickup with the tone turned down can produce a remarkable punchy "woody" resonance lower-midrange timbre that belies the guitar's solid body. And some amps (including some that are also associated with Jazz and Jazz players) are darker voiced and so match up with a Tele. Again, I know the "whatabouts" -- this is itself a "whatabout" listing why some do things others can't figure out the why of.

[pieterh]

I’ll chip in a little here.

For flexibility and suitability across genres it’s hard to beat a 335-style guitar. I don’t know what you’re actual budget is but a Gibson 335 Studio is a lot of 335 for the money. Otherwise the current Epiphone variants are excellent. There are also similar takes on the semi-acoustic front - I was on track to get an Ibanez AS when I got the chance to get my 335 Studio.

As others have said, the Telecaster can and does work with Jazz: think Ed Bickert amongst others!

Finally, I can’t praise the SE range from PRS enough! My son has one while I have a USA-made S2. On a blind test I seriously doubt you could tell which one was made in Indonesia and which was made in Maryland. The quality of the SE is really very high end and the playability is amongst the best I’ve ever tried. His model is the 35th anniversary custom with 3-way pickup selector and coil tap switches for each pickup. It is a truly versatile guitar that oozes quality!