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Lately I've been playing a thin-bodied hollow 1964 Guild Starfire II with the original vintage mini-buckers. With the bridge pup only and the treble rolled off just a bit I get a nice jazz sound that to my ears sounds surprisingly modern... a little P90ish, very round and full but crisp and not too dark. I've since replaced the Bigsby with a traditional harp tailpiece and that further enriched the tone some by altering the break angle. The sound is different from my fully hollow, but very nice.
There are a lot of excellent vintage guitars out there at good prices these days that compare very favorably with similarly priced new instruments.
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11-15-2011 05:33 AM
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I replaced those mini buckers for humbuckers in my Guild. My luthier had to open a bigger hole for the humbuckers - sort of a risky job on such a precious instrument but it was worth it... I love my BK Stromy Monday much more than those mini buckers.
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Yes, the BKs have a great reputation. In your situation I would have been tempted to find a Starfire re-issue from the '90s. They have a full-size humbucker route and sell for quite a bit less money. That way you wouldn't have to pay a luthier to devalue your vintage instrument. My newer Guild came with a humbucker (decent sound) that I replaced with a Biltoft blade and I love that too, but the neck is a touch wider.
Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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Actually I was afraid any damage could be done to the guitar - although he is a brilliant luthier and everything went great of course. The acoustic sound also remained identical to my ears. Originally Posted by AlohaJoe
Oh and I couldn't care less about changing my vintage instrument... I live in Lisbon - a 1965 archtop is something you get the chance to buy once in your life. Back then I had the money and just fell in love with the guitar... since I am a regular player I have changed the guitar a lot to suit my needs and now it's absolutely perfect. I don't regret any of the mods I have done to it, specially putting regular humbuckers! And here almost no one collects guitars - if God forbid I would ever sell that guitar I would seller much quicker the way it is now (everyone just loves that guitar) that the way it was stock.
I feel the same about amps. A guy here was selling a blackface Pro Reverb and I told him I wanted it - turns out he was one the few collectors here in Lisbon and he refused to sell me the amp because I wanted to change the tone stack to better suit my needs... But hey that's a guy that collects amps in a basement not a player for sure.
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I hear you... I took the Princeton to a repairman who refused to replace the old 2-prong plug for the same reason... I like vintage stuff but that's ridiculous! Anyway, I'm glad you love your Guild; those old Starfires have the dream neck for my hands and the body & scale length is perfect for me. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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Never tried one! Actually I never saw one... vintage archtops are a rarity here, maybe you can find a 175 or a L5 sometimes. So it was not even a choice... I had to buy that Guild and mod it to my perspective of a true archtop!
I understand the idea of a collector but when you are a musician I really don't get it. My BK sound so much better than the stock mini buckers.. Why have a guitar that I love with bad pickups? Because its true to the original? And what if you have a Fender amp you love but you would like to tame the top end - you shouldn't do nothing because Leo Fender designed its tone stack for archtop players in 2011? I dont get it... Its a capacitor! And what if I want a middle button? For musicians all gear is a tool to achieve your sound and you can and should change it according to your taste - vintage or not!
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I understand the situation may be different where you are or you may have plenty of money to spend and plan to never sell. That's cool with me, it's your gear. No offense was intended. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
I understand the idea of a collector but when you are a musician I really don't get it. My BK sound so much better than the stock mini buckers.. Why have a guitar that I love with bad pickups? Because its true to the original? And what if you have a Fender amp you love but you would like to tame the top end - you shouldn't do nothing because Leo Fender designed its tone stack for archtop players in 2011? I dont get it... Its a capacitor! And what if I want a middle button? For musicians all gear is a tool to achieve your sound and you can and should change it according to your taste - vintage or not!
I like the Guild mini-buckers but everybody has differing taste. I hope you kept them, they've recently become very collectible over here and now command quite a high price.
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Sorry didn't mean to sound rude! If I did it was with no intention. Just trying to say if you are a musician you shouldn't treat your gear as museum pieces - but everyone is free to disagree. A lot of my favorite players modded old fender amps which might sound crazy to a lot of guys but not to them - I bet they liked post-modded amps much better.
To me it was not a matter of a lot of money to spend - I loved the guitar and hated the pickups. And it was impossible to find a similar guitar with humbuckers so it seemed logical to buy it and mod it because I wanted the best guitar for me not something true to the original - eventually more valuable but unsuited for my playing. I actually played with the original guitar for a lot of time until I realized I had to change it - and am I happy with that archtop now!
I have kept the original pickups and I will sell them for anyone who wants them. Bare Knuckles will be collectible in 40 years probably..
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There is a certain irony to all this, isn't there? Now I, for one, feel collectors have had a positive effect on the guitar market from the perspective of a guitar player and non-collector...but a lot of people don't share that view.Just trying to say if you are a musician you shouldn't treat your gear as museum pieces...
So anyhow, we worry about keeping old guitars "correct" and "original," and for what?
To maintain their market value to collectors...
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Exactly you shouldn't... I never looked at my guitar as an investment. Of course I cant predict the future and one day I might have to sell it but I can assure you it would be the last piece of my gear to leave the house - just after my jazzmaster ultralight. Originally Posted by cjm
I changed pickups, bridge, tailpiece, all the electronics, tuners, finish, frets and the neck was removed and put back again at the correct angle. What I know is that I have a MUCH better guitar now than before. I never cared about guitar value - I wanted a better guitar for my playing. And if I have to sell it one day I would rather sell it to a musician - who would pay much more for the guitar as it is now than how it was in the beginning.
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Sorry, I'm late to the party... I certainly haven't tried all possible semi-hollows, but I can vouch that, if you can afford it, the Sadowsky gives you a terrific 'jazz guitar' sound, and has the versatility to cover some other parts of the spectrum as well.
I don't recall if anyone mentioned it above, but Jack Zucker has a very useful comparison of semi-hollow guitars on his Sheets of Sound website.
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You might want to check out an ES 137 with flat wounds it gets a pretty convincing "jazz" tone...it will never have the "thunk" of my Heritage H575 but it is "woolier" and more "complex" than my Tele with a humbucker in the neck solid slab wish I was Ed Bickert era guitar...But I agree with all that say a semi never quite gets that Archtop Tone/Sound that is the trademark of "Jazz" guitar...
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just recently i replaced my trusted 60's aria ES175 copy with a german made Hofner 4572 thin hollow body (which is the hofner version of a Gibson ES330) the Hofner is also from the same era as the Aria ('68 - '72) ....... and it has a decidedly rich jazz tone ....maybe not quite archtop sounding ........ but tone is so open to personal perspective............and the best was it was not too expensive ...and is still 40 odd years old .........so this guitars feels and plays like the vintage guitar it is ..... it has huge hofner 511 pick ups which are single coils which are great sounding ......... and the guitar has a decidedly 'vintage tone" not anything like a modern 335 copy sounds of the ibanez /cort/ect .........
Last edited by Keira Witherkay; 11-17-2011 at 08:41 PM.
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I love my AFS75 but I wouldn't call its tone similar to a full-size hollow body like an ES-175, Broadway, L-5, etc. Good for jazz, but nobody's going to mistake it for an L-5 - plugged or unplugged. Originally Posted by Norman931
Fully hollow, thinner depth, 2 pickups, Bigsby = Ibanez AFS75. Can do jazz, blues, rock, country, gospel, @ $399. Love mine. The deal for me is sealed by the fact that it is very lightweight and easy on the shoulders.
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When you can find a vintage Hofner the prices are often reasonable.. and there's something very cool about them. Good catch! Originally Posted by Keira Witherkay
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