more acoustic tone with a 175

[backliner]

I once owned a '54 ES-175 with a single P-90 pickup. It was a much better sounding guitar acoustically, than the '51 L-4C I also had (which was carved spruce of the same size).

Charlie Christian used to lower his pickup away from the strings to get the sound more "stringey." Yes, the volume goes down but it works and most amps have power to spare.

Acoustic strings (bronze wound) will bring out certain qualities on an archtop (more bass -acoustically), but pickups will only read the core so be prepared for thinner sounding wound strings when plugged in.

DR "Zebra" wound strings may be worth a try.

Finally, using a supercardioid mic like a Shure Beta57A, might get you to performance levels. I once played a gig at the local Kuumba Jazz center by mic'ing an old ES-125 with an SM-57, but I was whammin' chords for a vocalist, not playing lines.

[Bill C]

if possible, try a good laminated guitar with a maple neck/ebony fretboard - eg the Sadowsky Jim Hall - with roundwounds or polished/semi rounds this guitar still has the laminate sound similar to the 175 but with a little more acoustic/high-end sparkle, detail and sustain imo

[mattymel]

vintage epiphones are also solid top and can be had for around the $2K range. archtop.com almost always has a few triumphs in. great guitars that sound amazing plugged in or acoustic. plus they only sound better and get more valuable with age