#1
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Jazzboxes on a shoestring...
For those who crave some classic archtop mojo but don't have the big bucks to spend, here's some under $1K options from MF:
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...step-tailpiece https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...pin-ii-cutaway (NOTE: the humbucker version is on sale for $200 off - P-90 is regular price) https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...lectric-guitar
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 03-19-2021 at 09:45 AM. |
#2
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I like my hollowbodies to have 17" (at the lower bout) bodies, and it's probably why I've always preferred Country Clubs when I had Gretsches (the Falcon variants have too much bling for my taste), and I will admit that the EXL-1 has intrigued me for the past several years. It's just that their necks are kind of thin (.787" at the first fret) .
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Play Whatever Brings a Smile To Your Face My Smile Makers: Guild OM-120 Guild F-2512E Deluxe 12-string Eastman E3DE 2013 Ibanez AFJ-95 |
#3
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If you're looking for adequate acoustic tone as well as electric capability IMO a 17-incher is the entry point size-wise - if you're playing in what amounts to the cello register you need a cello-sized body to obtain adequate frequency response - but be advised that the RPO D'Angelicos are all-laminated construction: less detrimental to tone than with a flattop, but if this is an important selling point you might want to look into either the Guild A-150 (solid top only) or one of the all-carved Eastman archtops. The latter also boast 1-3/4" necks - and while the .787" / 1-11/16" D'A neck would be absaolutely perfect for me (my early jazz training - on archtop - made me a lifetime "fingertip" player) the wider dimensions tend to appeal to many players coming over from flattop acoustic and/or using a "flat-finger" left-hand technique...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#4
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A wider neck helps things (and as a result, I prefer wider necks on flattops), but thin profile necks on wide necked guitars, still make my fretting hand feel like it's trying to do the C-Clamp thing (since I play classical style), which is uncomfortable for me, and can cause hand soreness. Unfortunately, other than Eastman (which I like - I just spent well over $1300 on an Eastman E8OM that just came back from refretting [I'm allergic to the nickel that is in most guitar frets]) I'm stuck with a vintage guitar, if I want an archtop with a chunky neck. It's too bad, because Musician's friend lists an EXL-1 with a finish blemish, that's soooooo cheap at $320. As long as the blem doesn't look hideous (it didn't in the photos I saw), I can live with that. Ditto for the laminated top - my FilterTron loaded Country Clubs (which I got rid of, because I got tired of the thin necks most Gretsches have), had laminated tops (the Dyna loaded 'Clubs are the ones with the carved spruce tops), and sounded fine. But that neck on the EXL-1..........
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Play Whatever Brings a Smile To Your Face My Smile Makers: Guild OM-120 Guild F-2512E Deluxe 12-string Eastman E3DE 2013 Ibanez AFJ-95 Last edited by EllenGtrGrl; 03-21-2021 at 09:15 AM. |
#5
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Like the look of the second guitar from the top (the tobacco coloured one). Clicked the link and it took me to a Line 6 interface thingy! Anyone know the make and model of this guitar so that I can investigate further. Thanks.
Addendum. Got it folks......Godin 5th Avenue.
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#6
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2nd one is Godin 5th Ave CW Kingpin II
I have the p90 version. The Humbucker version is $200 off. Well made and I like the sound and playability. Playing it right now. Made in Canada Lee
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in alphabetical order, (so none of them gets jealous) Breedlove, Eastman, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Godin, Guild, Gurian, Larrivee, Loar, Martin, Recording King, Taylor, Voyage Air, Webber, Yamaha ... |
#7
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Can you play them first?
At my last jam session before the virus shut things down, a friend showed up with a similar D'Angelico her boyfriend just bought. It was a lovely guitar, as almost archtops are, but I found it heavy, with a too-slim neck. "Have a look at this," I said, showing her my Godin Fifth Avenue Kingpin. Within a half-minute, her eyes were wide and she was grinning ear to ear. "this feels like it was made for me," she exclaimed. I told her to take it home for a few weeks and make sure.
She remained sure, so I sold it to her for my cost, $400. It was a striking example, light, unstained cherry with straight, parallel, wide grain lines slightly diverging at the bottom end, like arrow feathers. It was my longest-owned guitar, the one that led me from the pain of dreadnaughts to the pleasures of Mini Jumbos. But I hadn't played it in months, since I got good pickups in my acoustics. I was happy to see it go to someone who would appreciate it. That's just one example, but a direct comparison between guitars mentioned here. Question for Archtop Guru Steve- do any of the Fifth Avenue models have a wider fingerboard?
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- Tacoma ER22C - Tacoma CiC Chief - Tacoma EK36C (ancient cedar Little Jumbo, '01, #145/150) - Seagull SWS Maritime Mini Jumbo ('16) - Simon & Patrick Pro Folk Rosewood ('01) - Godin Montreal Premiere Supreme - Ibanez Mikro Bass |
#8
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No, they don't - Godin adapted (wisely IMO) the 1.72" neck of the Seagull S6 Slim to the archtop platform, as a compromise that would presumably appeal to both older jazz-trained players who came up with 1-11/16" (and often slimmer) necks, and fingerstyle/"flat-finger" acoustic players from the '1-3/4" or death' camp; FWIW they seem to have been successful - although the niche-market all-acoustic 5th Avenue was discontinued (BTW I love mine - perfect couch guitar with its slimmed-depth 16" body) the electric line appears to be a steady if hard-to-find seller. FWIW if there was enough player interest, it wouldn't be too hard for Godin to produce a "Fingerstyle Jazz" model with existing tooling - similar to the old Jazz model but based on the ultra-lightweight CW II platform, with pickguard-mounted PU/controls and the 1.8" neck of the standard Seagull S6 - but would there be enough difference in Monsieur Robert's eyes to justify adding it to the lineup...?
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#9
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I learned this lesson the hard way last year, when I bought a Martin DSS-17 (yes, I like slope shouldered 'dreads). I thought the 1 3/4" wide neck would suffice. It didn't. I hated the modified low oval neck it had (which almost all Martins have nowadays). The neck felt cramped, and I felt like I was fighting the guitar, when I played it, so after only 4 months of owning the DSS-17, I got rid of it, making it a very expensive (for me) failed experiment. For decades I put up with thinner necks, telling myself that "I'd get used to them" (when in reality, I only tolerated them), after all, the wisdom at the time (from the 70s through the 90s) was that a "thin neck is a fast playing neck," and since I've played lead guitar in my bands for a long time, I wanted a fast playing neck. I played a chunky necked guitar in 2009 or 2010, and realized that I found it much more comfortable than the typical Gibson-style slim taper neck I played on for decades. I also realized that I didn't suffer playing speed-wise.
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Play Whatever Brings a Smile To Your Face My Smile Makers: Guild OM-120 Guild F-2512E Deluxe 12-string Eastman E3DE 2013 Ibanez AFJ-95 Last edited by EllenGtrGrl; 03-23-2021 at 11:17 AM. |
#10
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Although Epiphone would revert wholesale to 1-11/16" necks with the postwar decline of classical archtop, they would also introduce an interesting exception in the 1955 Harry Volpe model - a non-cutaway, all-laminated single-PU hollowbody aimed at the beginner market, and the final new product marketed by the New York operation; period ad copy specified a wider neck (1-3/4" according to accounts I've read - I've never personally encountered one) specifically intended to provide easier fingering for beginners - the premise being that, as they acquired the requisite left-hand precision and dexterity, they would transition to the "professional" 1-11/16" dimension. FWIW I also had the pleasure/honor of playing Wes Montgomery's personal L-5CES when MandoBros was brokering its sale in the early-2K's; suffice it to say that its neck width/profile, typical of early-60's Gibson specs, would cause mass apoplexy among the '1-3/4" or death' crowd - and I think we can all agree that Wes' technique/tone credentials need no further introduction...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#11
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As for the uber skinny Epiphone, and late 60s to the late 70s Gibson archtop necks - well, I had one of those guitars. Mine was a 70s Les Paul Signature (basically a '335 with an Les Paul - style lower cutaway, low impedance pickups, and a Varitone switch). That neck was tiny to put it mildly! It's hard to believe that my Les Paul Signature was my main guitar through my college years in the 80s - it got so cramped if you played up by the nut.
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Play Whatever Brings a Smile To Your Face My Smile Makers: Guild OM-120 Guild F-2512E Deluxe 12-string Eastman E3DE 2013 Ibanez AFJ-95 |
#12
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I didn't even know nuts came in different widths until I started joining internet forums
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