Small Body Jazz Guitar?

[kenhan]

I've always been curious how to service the parts on the Guild with no openings. What do you do when pots go bad?

[neatomic]

I've always been curious how to service the parts on the Guild with no openings. What do you do when pots go bad?

out thru the bridge pickup route....remove pup

cheers

[mr quick]

that's an interesting subject - I've always been a traditionalist when it comes to hollowbody guitars. There's just something about this El Rey that I really really like. I thought it was WAY smaller than 16 inches so I understand that it's far from the right choice.

I'm selling guitars now because I've found "my" guitar, it's a Gibson ES-139. I have no idea how big it is and it was never listed at Gibson so I'll never know.




Alright I promise I'll try not to make a long post about how this is the best guitar ever ...but it is.

Look, like yourself I was skeptical of semi-hollowbody guitars and the potential for a full sound. I'm not saying "go get an ES-139"(mainly because no one else but me can have one ) but rather that you might wanna give different semis a chance. I use 011 flats on my guitar. I leave the volume and tone at 10 and turn down the amp/board's mid a little and it sounds like a big-body archtop.

There's a plethora of small-bodied semi-hollows available if you're willing to experiment

[es34569]

Have you considered a Heritage H-525?

P90s w/2 1/4" rim. They seemed to be priced quite fairly when on the used market. They were $3580 new.

[abelljo]

I recently acquired this Eastman ad after a pickup upgrade it sounds great. A lot bigger than a 14" for sure!

[jads57]

Maybe a used Schaeffer Fred Hamilton?

[Naquat]

Hello All,

I haven't been on this site very long but really do enjoy the wealth of info and knowledge base.

This may be a tall order but here's what I'm looking for.

Budget $800 - $1000 Used…..usually more bang for the buck.

Small body…14" - 15"…..smaller can be deeper if the body is larger, prefer more narrow depth.

Not into fancy…..Dot neck is fine not too fond of "Gold" bling.

Single cutaway…...

Prefer 1 11/16" nut but could go to 1 3/4" IF the neck front to back is slim. I don't have large hands.

Prefer Humbuckers (single or dual) because if the originals are so-so….I have a set of nice sounding late 70's ? Gibson T-Tops I could install.

I'm good with setups, electronics are no problem for me….built a few Fenderish amps.

Suggestions?

Thanks…:>)

[Headshot]

Possibly a Fender Thinline or an Epiphone 339?

[TH]

Ibanez makes the SS300, 15" two humbuckers and not too deep. Very comfortable double humbucker (easy to upgrade) in the very appealing size of the George Benson guitar.


David

[BigToe]

Sounds to me like you're looking for a thinline tele with a HH config.

oh wait, that's me...

[Naquat]

Something along the lines of that SS300 might be interesting.

I know one can roll off the highs on a Tele or similar guitar but to my ear it's missing something. A 339 is a double cut.
I know…it could be a tall order but I appreciate the input.

[jbucklin]

Ibanez makes the SS300, 15" two humbuckers and not too deep. Very comfortable double humbucker (easy to upgrade) in the very appealing size of the George Benson guitar.



David

I just bought one of these off reverb.com for $900. I had the SJ300 for awhile and decided I wanted something with a smaller body. The SJ300 is a wonderful, pro-level guitar and I'm confident that the SS is just as good.

[Jabberwocky]

The Ibanez SS300 is a great suggestion. Its predecessor is the Ibanez SS500. It is basically a Made In China GB10 with inset humbuckers.



Also, look for the Eastman El Rey.

[IbanezAS100]

Some more ideas (all humbucker equipped)

D'Angelico EX SS
Eastman 803-15 and T145
Godin Montreal Premiere
Comins GCS-1
Gibson ES-Les Paul

[newsense]

+1 on the Godin Montreal - I've been playing one for 6 months, but the Supreme version with Seymour Duncan pickups. It is the most versatile guitar I have played. The tone control can roll of the highs without it getting muddy for clean jazz, plus it does funk and with some OD, blues and rock as well as any guitar I have had in the past. I'm lovin' it ! BUT unless you can find one used, they are well out of the $800- $1000 price range.

[GNAPPI]

Easy, the Ibanez AG86 is an excellent 14.5" guitar.

Mine is bubinga over mahogany and its tone is sweet and warm (sorry Mr. B it applies here) the action is low, and craftamanship is superior.

[Naquat]

I'm leaning towards something like the Ibanez T145 , SS500, or Eastman El Ray. I also wouldn't mind an older GB10 but that may not be in the budget. I'm not looking for a semi-hollow.

[TedBPhx]

I got one of those GB10SE last month new for 1299. Perfect guitar for me. Never played a Made in Japan GB10 so can't compare it to this China Doll but the specs are very close. The SE is 14.5 vs 14.75 and there is different name for the fret edge treatment. But everything else including the pickups is the same according to the Ibanez site. Can't imagine a nicer version.

[snoskier63]

For around a grand you can also have Mr. Wu make you a fully carved 14" or 15" archtop.

JAZZ GUITAR - HOTMAN HANDMADE GUITAR

[Naquat]

I found a good deal on a used El Rey ER2 w/Seth Lovers and OHSC in excellent condition….no dings or scratches so I took the plunge !

[339 in june]

I found a good deal on a used El Rey ER2 w/Seth Lovers and OHSC in excellent condition….no dings or scratches so I took the plunge !

Please report back with your impressions once you get accustomed to it
(TBH, an El Rey may be in my radar as I like the look, the size and Eastman built quality)
Thanks
(and pics, too, we all need pics !)

[Naquat]

Well…..I received the guitar today. The seller's description wasn't exactly on the money. There are some dings and small gouges on the guitar and it wasn't as clean looking as in the pics. A quick action adjustment stopped most of the string buzz, which the seller said didn't exist, but the neck pup buzzes a bit and I'm thinking it's because it's too low.

My main issue is the pup install. Someone obviously did something wrong. The Tone pots make almost no difference and the Volume pots drop off to barely audible when you back the setting off from 10 down to 7-8. There is also a HUGE difference in volume between the neck pup and the bridge which has the poll pieces raised to the max and is still low by comparison. I believe someone did a hack job on the pup install because these Seth Lovers are…..ugh….

From the package insert it looks like the previous owner installed D'Angelico Stainless Steel Flatwounds on it. Now I don't think it sounds too bad acoustically so I'm guessing the pup install is what's making this guitar sound dull as hell and lifeless.

I've got to go food shopping now..LOL..so I'll dig into it tonight. I sent the seller a note and am curious who did what on the pup install.

Before I purchased the guitar I asked the seller if the pots had been changed and he said no. For those who own an El Rey ER2….these pots have about 1/8"+ of thread showing above the nut when I pull a knob off.

More later.

[Naquat]

More on the El Rey.

Long story--short, sort of.

Even though there were a few bad solder joints I still didn't like how the controls functioned. The wiring was not typically what you'd see on say a Gibson styled 2 humbucker guitar. The volume pots were 500K and the Tone pots 250K with .002 caps and the input from the toggle wasn't wired the same.

The toggle and output jack were very inexpensive looking so I decided to swap out all of the parts (which I already had) and just keep the Seth Lover pups.

I installed 4 - 500K CTS pots, 220K/250pf treble bleed circuits on both Volume pots and .001 caps on the Tone controls.

The Volume controls react much better and the tone controls are very smooth with a more noticeable change.

I need to either fill in some of the hardware mounting screw holes and then re-drill them or use slightly larger screws because someone stripped out a number of them. The "buzzing" I heard on the top was caused by the mounting rings not being secured.

On tip if you're going attempt parts replacement yourself…..Dental Floss works great to use as thin string to remount the pots and output jack. Tie it around a small screw, drop it in the pot hole, retrieve it from the bridge pup cavity.

Some other useful tools. A approx. 7" pointy probe with one end having a 1/2" "L", hemostats for grabbing small parts inside the guitar, heat sink clips so you don't overheat caps when soldering.

I like the way this guitar sound acoustically. I haven't tried it on my guitar amp yet. I still need to do a final setup but I did listen to it through a guitar preamp and into an RCF 310 speaker. Pretty good.

One thing I will say is that I could hear a difference in quality when turning down the two tone controls. On the neck pup side I have a generic poly .001 cap and on the bridge tone control a .001 Sonicap (too bad I had only one on hand). There was a difference in the openness of the tone using the Sonicap but I usually don't turn down the tone on a neck pup anyway and pulling everything out again doesn't sound appealing. LOL

OK…sorry for the longer post. I'll post again when I do a final setup and listen to this through a few different amps.
I have a '64 Princeton w/Weber 10" and another Blk Face Princeton that was blown up and rebuilt more like a Deluxe Reverb with a bit more power, and a Dumble clone that I can run through a closed cab with an EVM-12L.

Later…….

[Naquat]

Well I've had a chance to play the El Rey through a few amps (rebuilt BF Princeton/deluxe'ish into a closed cabinet with EVM-12L and a fairly stock '64 BF with a Weber 10F150) and I was a bit surprised.

I really like the sound of the El Rey acoustically. But when I go into my practice studio and run it through the amps it loses most of that natural sound. Sure, I can back off on the tone control but then it seems to lose that natural tone and sound more like a lot of other guitars with the pickups eq'd. Not quite but you get my drift. If one likes that "no treble" sound fine but I was hoping to get closer to a big box sound without the big box. LOL Acoustically, it doesn't but it does come close and that gets lost in the electronic mix IMO. Still, not a bad guitar at all. It looks cool, plays well, and is comfortable as a couch guitar.

[KEOKI]

If you have stainless steel strings on it your frets will need work sooner than later (unless they are stainless as well)