View Poll Results: Jazz guitarists do you prefer sold body or hollow body?
- Voters
- 514. You may not vote on this poll
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I prefer solid body
81 15.76% -
I prefer hollow body
433 84.24%
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Years ago I got a basic Artcore hollow body just to see if I would take to it, after (many) years of playing solid bodies exclusively. Well, I couldn't put it down, and my beautiful old Heritage 150 (Les Paul) started gathering dust pretty quickly, despite its ability to deliver very workable jazz tones with flatwounds on the Schaller neck pup.
I'm fully aware of Ted Greene and Ed Bickert's amazing (archtop-like) Tele tones, but when I plug in my Japanese 80s Strat, (which is fitted with a twin rail HB in the neck pos., and my only current solid body), I'm like ok, fair enough, could get by in a fix (ie, not inspired), unless we're talking funk, where it shines. Maybe fusion, too, but don't play a lot of that right now.
IME, a decent hollow body just delivers more note depth and sounds more alive and vibrant. I haven't played any football stadiums of late, so cannot comment on differences at that volume level.
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10-11-2020 05:03 PM
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I recently picked up both a Telecaster and a Jazzmaster (Squier) and after popping TI 112 flats on them, I love how they play and sound. I still love my archtops, but these two solid-bodies are already much loved members of the "herd."
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Originally Posted by Lobomov
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Lawson,
The Jazzmaster is a neat guitar. With flats it's just killer. Enjoy.
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I sold my Tele and currently have one guitar, a nice strat. With the little jazz if I turn down the guitar volume just a touch and the tone a bit it sounds great to me for how I go. I don't gig so don't need an arch and a driving cap for style. .
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Even at home you still need the cap.
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Originally Posted by Greentone
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Originally Posted by citizenk74
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Originally Posted by ruger9
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Originally Posted by st.bede
Since posting this, I have been through many Filtertron-sized pickups in my Thinline Cabronita: TV Jones various Filtertrons, TV Jones T-90s, TV Jones T-Armonds, and finally Rio Grande BBQ'Trons.
For the original tone I was after- the old-school jump-blues honky tonk thing, the T90s and Rio Grandes were great (the guitar still has the Rio grandes in it). The T-Armonds are gorgeous sounding pickups, but sound a little too "normal tele" for me (because I already have that tone in a normal tele). And in general, I'm not a fan of the mid-scooped sound of Filtertrons (the Rio Grandes are wound hotter than anything TV Jones makes, except for the Powertron+, and have plenty of mids... the Rio Grandes sound closer to P90s or PAFs than they do to filtertrons. )
Now, in my GRETSCH Hot Rod (which I talked about in the previous post), long story short, I have grown the like the TV Jones Brian Setzer Signature filtertrons in that guitar. BUT- I also installed a Tone Switch, which is a low pass filter.... it has 2 positions that work well to remove the ultra-highs the Filtertrons have. Altho I also have sitting here a set of Vintage Vibe (Pete Biltoft) P90s in the Filtertrons covers that I will someday try in the Gretsch... I've always loved the Gibson hollowbody P90 tone (think ES-295), and was hoping I could get a little more of that flavor out of my Hot Rod... we will see...
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I've never been comfortable with the way a solid body feels, probably because I played only flat top acoustics for years before needing an electric for a country band gig. I did like the sound of the Telecaster I used then, but if I had to use one again, I'd consider adding a double body, much like Clarence White but without the b-bender, just a frame to make it more comfortable.
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For me a thinline hollowbody – more specific: my ES-330. For the kind of jazzy thing we do I set it up with flatwounds.
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I have and make solid, chambered and semi hollows and have two carved archtops , for Jazz I prefer the carved arch tops.
My simple philosophy : The more air in the body , the more air in the note . I like the openess of the archtops
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My favorite jazz has always been played on archtops. Heck even my favorite swing and jump blues.
But then I see a video like this, and it makes me realize... once again... hollow is not necessary, and solid can sound great.
"It's not the plane, it's the pilot" (cheesy quote from Top Gun Maverick LOL)
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I don't play my big Hollow Body Archtops much, as they give me a bad back after a few hours playing. Pity, because I have some nice archtops. So, at present I'm using smaller solid body guitars and sit up straight for my playing.
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I go back and forth. The acoustic archtop is perhaps more unique and suited (for me) to acoustic jazz, but when I try to amplify it I quickly understand how the solidbody electric came about. Feedback control.
It's a similar difference between a double bass and an electric bass; they are just two distinct instruments. The shape of the notes are different. The acoustic archtop and the double bass have a more percussive attack and less sustain.
So I like both. I've been thinking of trying a Casino Coupe (the smaller version of the Casino) just to try out a hollowbody electric.
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As I get older and my left hand pain increases, I find that I can only keep up with a professional gigging schedule using lighter strings. I find that anything less than 11's on an archtop results in a thin tone. Solid Body guitars can handle 10's just fine due to their increased sustain, so I have been using solid Body guitars more and more. They don't do rhythm guitar very well and do require a slightly different technique than the archtop guitar, but we have to do what we have to do.
At this point, I need both in the jazz guitar toolbox.
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Originally Posted by supersoul
(I having been wanting a Casino for a zillion years. I have played a bunch but there were always something… on the inexpensive ones, I always felt like the PUs needed to be changed. The master built one, I think was priced too expensive. The vintage one was too expensive. I ended up with a Eastman Romeo LA).
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I'm puzzled. This poll is 11 years old and asks one of the most obvious questions around for this crowd. Just some 140-odd replies. The Forum supposedly has a five-digit number of members. All undecided, or an irrelevant question?
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Maybe a semi-hollow option would have made a difference.
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Originally Posted by GuyBoden
And they all sound better if I am wearing the cap.
* my wife refers to these complaints as the "organ recital."
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Originally Posted by Cunamara
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I'm kind of surprised that folks have trouble with an arch top sitting down. With me it's just the opposite. I sit up straighter with a bigger body. With LP's or a telecaster, I tend to hunch over the smaller body more when sitting. So I tend to stand with them more, but I also play different music on them and make use of those physical gyrations from my adolescence more.
D size Martins, I have one and that's getting a bit to deep for me for comfortable playing, I much prefer the ergonomics of a 000 size guitar (I prefer the sound as well). And I don't think I could make it to an 18" arch top, 17" is about my max.
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They're all guitars, man. There is no wrong answer.
Play a bunch of 'em and get the one that keeps you up at night.
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Originally Posted by bluejaybill
Me, I can't play an archtop very well standing up, but I know most people here don't even try that LOL
Charlie Garnett - Franken Tele
Yesterday, 08:52 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos