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Originally Posted by Sleeko
Tony
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08-21-2022 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by joebloggs13
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Any ES-135 owners! I find a thinline hollow single sharp cutaway very sexy. Perhaps sexiness is not a prime character of the ideal jazz guitar?
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Originally Posted by silverfoxx
Yeah, that would be my L5CES. I still can't believe Gibson would have allowed such shoddy QC. It was a late '90s build. I was so naïve when I ordered it. I didn't even specify the neck dimensions, so I ended up with a guitar that had a huge neck...bigger than most classical guitars. And I have small hands. Are L5CES's supposed to have very large necks?
I just assumed it would be more like a '60s ES335 neck. It was anything but. At times I've even wondered if the guitar was counterfeit. As I'd mentioned in my original post I got string rattle on two different frets the first time I opened the case and played the guitar. Even the tailpiece was mounted off center. Over the 61 years I've played guitar I've never had something so disappointing.
Oh well, that was 22+ years ago. I would love to have another L5CES but I would never buy another one without trying it out. Anyway, I have a Heritage Eagle Classic Standard on order with an April delivery date. This guitar will be auditioned. But I'm betting the QC at Heritage is top notch. I'll also bet the QC at Gibson is now very good. I currently own a Dave Harvey signed Gibson F5G mandolin and it is excellent. I think just about any L5CES made by Gibson before the early '90s would be a pretty good product. But, man, the monstrosity I owned soured me on Gibson for a few years.
Gibson did eventually redeem themselves with me... I purchased a Gibson '54 Les Paul Goldtop reissue and an ES5 Switchmaster (with three P-90s) in the early 2000s. The QC and sound on both guitars was superb. Great necks and great craftsmanship.
Maybe someday I'll own a great L5CES. But I'm really looking forward to owning a great Heritage Eagle Classic Standard. A friend of mine has a Heritage H575 and it sounds and plays wonderfully. I think I'll be a pretty happy camper with my Heritage. We'll see.
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Originally Posted by radioarc
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Perfect jazz guitar?
Hard to say, but I regret selling my cheap Epiphone Broadway with flatwounds.
I had it on neck pickup exclusively, with the tone rolled off. Lows sounded huuuge!
Now my heart is on the fence.
I love my 80's MIJ Tele for sentimental reasons.
The bridge pickup has lots of character, with both pots rolled off to some extent.
The neck is too narrow to my taste though.
The Taylor T5z is very versatile, but doesn't excel in one style.
Playability is great, although the body is too lightweight to provide balance.
The acoustic-style bridge saddle doesn't allow to adjust action easily.
I like the fact that you can hold it close to your chest.
Lastly, the Suhr Modern Satin HSH has the best neck I've ever played (elliptical .800-.850, 14" radius, not the 10-14" compound one that you find in the Modern Plus).
Too bad it sports 24 frets! Fewer frets would allow to place the neck pickup a tad higher, and improve lows.
Eventually, every time I want to sell one I change my mind :-)
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My favorit Jazz guitar is my Heritage H575-C , the carved top and back are gorgeous and it sounds and plays heavenly.
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The one in your hands.
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If you have stopped looking for that next guitar and instead shifted focus to playing the instrument now in your hands, you have found the perfect jazz guitar for you.
Just because "everyone" says a specific model is the perfect jazz guitar, that has no bearing on what the perfect jazz guitar is for you. Instead, I feel the most practical criteria is what I have said above in this post. Others may well disagree and that is fine since this is just my opinion and observation.
Tony
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Originally Posted by takefive
But, just for the sake of...... whatever, how much of Wes' decision was based on the fact that he was a big guy with huge hands and needed a large-ish guitar?
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Currently I have an Ibanez AF95, Ibanez AS73, Fender Strat, and a Fender Acoustic.
I have worked on getting a good jazz tone out of all of them.
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Gibson es 175 (or my daquisto jazz line hohoho)
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For acoustic, my 54 L-50 does it all for me, except I wish it had a cut-away.
For electric, it is a toss-up between my '89 ES-175D , or my '05 Peerless Epi Emperor Regent.
The very few times I have had the chance to play a top of the line Gibson L-5 CES or a Wes, although they were woks of art,
unfortunately they were not very good sounding. I'm sure there are great ones out there, but like all guitars, each one, even of the same model, is different .
IMHO, there is no guarantee that a certain brand, or model of guitar is "ideal" because of the variations between identical models when it comes to the age, wood, fit and finish of each individual instrument. And then there is personal taste...... So for me, the ideal/best archy is one that plays well and sounds good, regardless of the make and model.
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Originally Posted by Eck
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I really don't think about sex when I'm playing, unlike some I guess.
Women are sexy, guitars are inspirational and unique. IMO
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I loved my es135. 1992, sold it in 2003, wish I still had it. Fabulous neck profile for me, played great sounded great. Cherry Red, very humble appointments, all business. Had two custom Fralin P90s but I also liked it with the OEM P100s.
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Get a Tele with both a humbucker and and single pole THEN get a L5 (a Wes preferred)...... all other guitars are in between.
get 2 night jobs.
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I guess I should to step into this pool.
By 1965 I had worked my way into an ES-175. A friend suggested that I trade up for his buddie’s L-5CESTSV.
What mouthful! T=thin, SV= stereo and varitone. Used this on quite a few jobs but then…..I found myself at a Wes Montgomery concert in April 1966, at local small venue and I convinced myself I needed a “fatter” guitar to get the sound I wanted. I met him, got a few autographs and talked for a bit. What a wonderful person!
He died in June 1968 and my son was born in September 1968 and his middle name is Montgomery.
Eventually I ordered a new L-5 with a single Johnny Smith pickup in 1967. That was used until March 1969 when our group called it quits. I also attended a JS concert but did not meet him.
In 1971 I sent it back to Gibson to have a single humbucker installed. But, that sound was found to be not the same as the JS pickup. I played that until 1978 and sold it in 1982 and was done playing.
Our group had a reunion in Sept. 2021, not to play but just to catch up…after 52-years! That inspired me to track down another L-5C, which I did and bought a 1952 L-5C in April 2022. It sounds just like the 1967 that I had.
I did not repeat the 1971 mistake of getting a humbucking pickup for it. Instead I decided on a Pete Biltoft replica Charlie Christian floating pickup, that was installed this past December.
In addition to Wes, I enjoy listening to Charlie Christian, Johnny Smith, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, George Benson and a few others. Rightly or wrongly, to me the L-5 is synonymous with that crowd. And it is a sound that I really like! It may not be the “perfect jazz guitar” since that designation is going to be different for all of us, but is to me!
I have a Martin D-35 that I bought new in 1973 but that is for sale. I’m happy with just one guitar, the L-5C.
(Don’t know if the photo stuck)
Tom
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I’m gonna wade in too. Any pool that has “woks of art” is the pool I want to be in.
Anyway…. I love the comment about “the one that got you to stop looking at other guitars and just play”. For me, a ‘jazz’ guitar has to be something inapplicable in other genres. Given the mileage Ted Nugent got out of the Gibson Byrdland, that’s not easy!
But it essentially leaves me with archtop, floating pickup as my personal definition of the instrument. Furthermore, I do not want the controls on the top; that top should resonate as freely as possible. And I’ve been working with one such ‘jazz’ guitar for more than 15 years! BUT… it’s laminate, and has always been narrow for me. Makes both fretting and fingerpicking more difficult than it ought be.
And I’m finally getting my understanding of the instrument to where I feel worthy of an upgrade. So that’s what I’m doing. The Eastman AR610ce seems to check all the boxes of what will get me through the next 15 years. It’s on its way; we’ll see.
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Originally Posted by coyote-1
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This quote from above, sums up better than what I could, regarding a key characteristic in considering any quality archtop guitar.
“But it essentially leaves me with archtop, floating pickup as my personal definition of the instrument. Furthermore, I do not want the controls on the top; that top should resonate as freely as possible.”
I no longer have the guitar but in 1971 I sent my L-5C (that had a single JS pickup) back to Kalamzoo, to have a single HB pickup installed. Upon its return, using the same amp, you could detect a change in tonality. Could be just me, or possibly the differing characteristics of the two pickups, but today this is all in my memory banks, from only 52-years ago, so nothing can be “proved”.
Tom
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Originally Posted by nyc chaz
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I have a 1956 Guild A-500 with a gold foil Lollar pickup. I play it mostly through a Rivera Suprema 55. I have Thomastik flats (.012-.052) on it, and its sound really great, very creamy sounding with the right EQ.
Rich Cohen
Lucy’s Jazz Guitar Gretsch G5420 an Projects
Today, 08:13 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos