Help me to choose a jazz guitar

**Flupkedoc** · 09-30-2008, 07:54 AM

Hello,
I'm looking to buy an electric hollow body guitar.
I'm currently mainly an accoustic player and looking for a jazzy sound.
I already own an Laney ampli.
I'm hesitating between 2 model from Epiphone :
The Broadway and the ES-175 reissue and I can't decide myself.
I want to play with my amp, but also accoustic.
What do you think of these guitars ?
How is the quality of these instruments ?
I go the the music store next saturday to try them out.
Thank you

**valriver40** · 09-30-2008, 12:57 PM

i have a broadway and two joe pass models. my first buy was the es-175 but i did not like it. the selector switch did not work and it had a loud grd. hum. in appearence, playabilty the broadway i find is the best

**frisellfan19** · 09-30-2008, 02:29 PM

I wouldn't pick either one of them. I would look into Ibanez's Artcore line. Some very affordable guitars and great overall product.

**mmukav** · 09-30-2008, 02:45 PM

If you have the chance to play both the Epi and Ibanez, please do. I recently picked up a used Ibanez Artcore AK85 and I really like it. It's a beautiful guitar, well made, with a great neck, and fit and finish are very good for the price. (I also own a Martin HD28, Gibson SG and Fender Strat). The acoustic sound is decent, not great, but remember that these are plywood bodies, and don't have the resonance of a solid wood instrument.

I haven't played the Epis, did look at them prior to getting the Ibanez. If you can play both, it may help a lot in your decision. Hope this helps some......

**mr. beaumont** · 09-30-2008, 03:30 PM

godin now makes a fifth avenue with a P90 in the neck (the name for it escapes me) and it whoops any epiphone or ibanez in my opinion.

you're not going to get much acoustic tone out of a plywood top with some holes cut in it and pickups stuffed in. the epiphone emperor regent gets a decent amount acoustic sound since it has a floating pickup. ibanez also makes a model like that that might be worth looking into, but me personally, i hate the thin necks and too-big frets on the ibanez's. but that's just a matter of personal opinion...

**mmukav** · 09-30-2008, 07:20 PM

"but me personally, i hate the thin necks and too-big frets on the ibanez's. but that's just a matter of personal opinion..."

My Artcore AK85 has a great neck! I'm a former classical player, and have always been used to a thicker neck. That's why I like Gibsons, most of their models have substantial necks. When I got my AK85, I was real pleased with the neck, not thin at all. Can't speak for some of their other models, but........

**mr. beaumont** · 09-30-2008, 07:45 PM

no, not thin that way, the neck profile.

**bojan** · 09-30-2008, 08:40 PM

Flupkedoc,
If I understand it correctly, your question appears to be (mainly) about the quality of guitars you mentioned. In my experience these are all (very) competent instruments, meaning, they were designed by accountants who try to shave off of the price by interspersing the luthiers' work with generic tailpieces (some bent wire will do), knobs and pots, switches, tuning pegs, etc. As a matter of fact, I myself am playing such an instrument which was nearly twice the price you are considering to pay. To conclude: one (two?) in ten will be a lemon, and one in ten (twenty?) will be a pearl ... which I never bothered to find.

**Flupkedoc** · 10-01-2008, 02:54 AM

Thank you to you all for your advices.
My question was indeed much about the quality of these guitars. As I will go saturday in a very big guitar shop, I will have the opportunity to try out several instruments and will have a look also to Ibanez and Godin. The Emperor Regent may also be an option, I'll see...
About the budget, this is not really fixed, let's say that I can spend about twice the price of a Broadway.
To summarize, what I'm looking for is :
- a good guitar for an affortable price (budget is about 1500 euros maximum, but may be less),
- with a jazzy sound,
- archtop hollow body,
- that I can play accoustic at home and at my guitar lessons,
- and also amplified keeping the jazzy sound.

My actual electric guitar is a Godin SD XT, a solid body instrument, and a very good guitar in my opinion, but I can't get the sound I want out of this, that's the reason why I want to change it by a hollow body guitar.
I love the sound of my '59 Hofner, but this one is only accoustic and I find the neck a little too thin. As this is a very old one, I don't like to much have it out of the house.
See you ;-)

**mmukav** · 10-01-2008, 10:18 AM

Please let us know how it goes on Saturday! Tell us all the guitars you try out and what you think of them, and good luck!

Like I said, I'm very happy with my Ibanez AK85, but I don't need it to sound great acoustically, since I always use it with an amp. I also was fixed on budget for this guitar since money is tight right now and I have several other great instruments.

I wanted to get back into jazz guitar, and am very happy with this Ibanez. I play it through a Roland Micro Cube, and have a Cube 60 on it's way to me by mail. So I should be set for a while.

Of course, if all goes well and I find myself playing lots of jazz, and get into a band, I may have to look at other guitars! Sounds like fun!

Good luck Saturday!!!!

**Flupkedoc** · 10-01-2008, 11:08 AM

THanks Mmukav !
I will surely try the following guitars saturday :
- the Ibanez AF125
- the Epiphone Broadway
- the Epiphone Emperor Regent
- the Hagstrom HJ600
maybe also other ones, depending fo what they have in the shop.
THe good thing is that they have quiet places (kind of small studios) for the customers to try the guitars.
I'll tell you !
Bye

**Flupkedoc** · 10-02-2008, 02:48 AM

Hello,
One last advice, please...
I read here somewhere that guitars with a floating mike sounds better accousticly than with mikes fixed on the body...is that true ?

Mr. Beaumont --> I had a look on the site of Godin, about rhe 5th avenue, this seems to be a great guitar, with a neck mike, I will ask saturday, the shop where I go sell Godin also.

**derek** · 10-02-2008, 11:17 AM

Thing is, you need to play a bunch of them. At this price point, the Epis and Ibanez guitars seem to be the best. You will pay more for a Godin, but in fairness, it is a price point above the Epi and Ibanez guitars.

I agree with bojan, most of them are fine, a small few will be bad, and if you play enough of them, you will find one that is a bit better than the norm. The set humbuckers sound more "electric" if that makes sense than a floating pup. Thing is, all these guitars you are looking at are laminates, so the set vs floating pup is not as big a deal as it would be if they all had solid wood tops. My personal preference of all the ones you named is the 17" Epi Emperor Regeant. It has a floater, and for some reason, I have liked best consistently when I play all the similarly priced Epis and Ibanezes.

Truly, it is tough to go wrong at this price point with these guitars. Happy hunting.

**frisellfan19** · 10-02-2008, 07:36 PM

I would honestly go with a Epiphone SG. Not a Gibson, because they are very expensive, but you can get an Epiphone SG G-400 for $399, which is that bad at all. You will find SG's to be very versatile. They can produce a dark, warm jazz tone, but they can also get down and dirty with a distortion pedal.

I think it handles clean tones so well. I have one and I play it a lot. They have a great neck and the body style really feels good against your body. Really comfortable guitars and sound great.

I also want to say that you DO NOT need a hollowbody guitar to play jazz. Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie, and Pat Metheny have used solid body guitars throughout their careers. This whole ideology of jazz guitarists must play hollowbody guitars is a bunch of nonsense. If you find a guitar that has a warm tone and sounds great clean, then your foot is already in the door. Most importantly find a guitar that's comfortable. I've played a lot of archtops through the years and have not been too impressed with them. I have to be comfortable.

**mr. beaumont** · 10-02-2008, 10:50 PM

true, frisellfan, true...

but if somebody wants a traditional jazz hollowbody, nothings going to scratch that itch but a big jazz hollowbody.

even though i'm a tele guy, there's times i just need to play my emperor.

**frisellfan19** · 10-03-2008, 01:36 AM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

true, frisellfan, true...

but if somebody wants a traditional jazz hollowbody, nothings going to scratch that itch but a big jazz hollowbody.

even though i'm a tele guy, there's times i just need to play my emperor.

Mr. Beaumont,

I think he should buy whatever guitar he wants to, after all, it is his money. All I was saying is that you don't have to own a hollowbody to get a warm tone.

If I'm not mistaken you agreed with me by saying true, very true, did you not?

As long as we're in agreement, then I don't see any reason to carry this forward.

**HotClubBrampton** · 10-04-2008, 01:25 AM

Hi Flupkedoc,
I noticed you have a Gitane, therefore you play some Gypsy Jazz.
My GJ band does electric gigs sometimes, and we do them on the Epiphone Emperor Regent and the Ibanez AF125AMB. Both work great for doing the 'pompe' and rest of the style nuances....might want to add that to the quest..!
....
I posted this link somewhere else in this forum, is not a 'best of' sample, but it can help you on the AF125 sound

Good luck!

**Flupkedoc** · 10-04-2008, 01:56 PM

I posted this link somewhere else in this forum, is not a 'best of' sample, but it can help you on the AF125 sound

HotClubBrampton, it's a nice song !! I wish I could play that way !
I have indeed a Gitane, this is a great guitar...what a sound !
I'm not so good in the solo parts, but i do "the pompe" quite good.

In the store this afternoon, i played the Ibanez, and the Epi Broadway.
The Hagstrom and Emperor Regent were out of stock .

Finally I choosed for the Epiphone Broadway. It sound good with the amp, and I find it has a better sound accousticaly.
They were nice because I asked to play the guitar with flat strings as I use to, and they were so kind to mount them for me.

So, now, I'm the proud Epiphone Broadway owner.

Thank you to all of you for advices.

PS : sorry for the poor english, i'm french speaking and try to do my best.

**mr. beaumont** · 10-04-2008, 06:02 PM

congrats on the new guitar!

**HotClubBrampton** · 10-04-2008, 07:17 PM

Congratulations!!!
...and thanks for the nice comments!

cheers!

**mmukav** · 10-05-2008, 09:50 AM

Way to go Flupkedoc! Good luck with your new guitar. You were lucky to be in a music shop that would change guitar strings for you so that you could hear what it would sound like with those particular strings! Most of the shops I go to would not have been as accomodating! Is it blonde color? I almost bought one when I was looking but the Ibanez worked out better for me money-wise.

I found these clips of the Broadway you might be interested in. They're from the 'Learn Jazz Guitar' site:

Nick Colionne Plays Wes Montgomery Style : Learn Jazz Guitar

A very nice guitar! Congratulations!

Mike

**Flupkedoc** · 10-05-2008, 01:02 PM

Thank's Mmukav !
It's indeed a blonde one. I thing it's the only color available in Europe.
The shop I speak about is a kind of "supermarket" for music instruments.
You can find and try out almost everything there It's located in Deinze (Belgium). It's really HUGE but they offer a great service. I asked by phone to keep the broadway for me until saturday (it was the last one in stock). I tried the Ibanez and the Broadway, I had a preference for the broadway but couln't decide, so I asked for the strings...
The only thing is that you cannot discuss the price and negociate for an additionnal discount.
By the way, thank's for the video links, it's great !

**derek** · 10-05-2008, 03:20 PM

Congrats. Nothing like a new guitar to inspire practice and playing. Enjoy.

**valriver40** · 10-05-2008, 06:49 PM

congrants on your buy as i was the first to reply to your request to suggest a epiphone broadway. mine is a brown sunburst. i think they longer make them. good luck and happy picking for many years!!!!.

CC323 · 10-14-2008, 12:47 AM

Gary Stroup will make a guitar with any neck profile you want as long as you're very specific (thanks calipers and warmoth online back contour shapes.)