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Hey Guys,
I've been on the look out for a mid priced hollow body with P90s. There seems to be a bit of a gap in the market. Either budget instruments or high end Gibson.
Best contender I've found so far was a semi hollow B&G Little Sister Crossroads
I know Godin do a few guitars in this price range but they sound a little thin to my ears. Anything else out there that I'm missing?
I'm after a hollow gritty jump blues tone more than a clean jazz tone.
Cheers
Sean
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12-19-2017 01:54 PM
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You can find player’s grade ES-125s for sure in the price range of the B&G. What’s the exact price range you’re thinking? Are there any specs like a cutaway, thinline, fat body, etc. that you would prefer?
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I'm a big Godin fan and think either the 1- or 2-pickup Godin Kingpin would be excellent for jump blues, as well as in truth most genres except metal.
As far as "thin" I think the tone will vary a lot depending on setup, playing style, strings and amp--maybe more so than for most guitars.
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I wouldn't write off lower priced gits. The P90 equipped Dean Palomino (3 pups I know, I know) sounds and plays well beyond the ~$600 price tag.
Others I have played / owned are the Epiphone Casino, Peerless wizard (~$1100) and in semis the Epi Riviera, and if you can snag one at the right price the ES-195 with P94's is a good one.
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used elitist casino. thing is an animal. super responsive to volume and tone fiddling, too. or failing that, one of the discontinued lennon/60s reissues that had the upgraded electronics.
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Yes, the better Casinos look great. I've been keeping an eye for second hand versions. I also notice the 3 pickup Rivieras but never see them in shop where I live.
Budget wise, I'm trying to keep to the lower end of a €1000 to €1500's.
Anyone got any experience of the D'Angelico EX 59? Would it be a good buy at 50% off original retail? I thinking it would give me the tones I'm after which would just leave the issue of the ascetics(head stock and tailpiece).
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The OP didn't ask, but I think this is relevant -- what are the necks like on these guitars that are being recommended?
My experience is that the economy to mid-priced guitars always seem to have skinny C or D necks. If that doesn't work for you then you're forced into buying a very expensive instrument to get a fat necked guitar.
Are there any economy / mid-priced hollowbody guitars out there with fat necks? Not a V, but a plain old fat C?
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I think the Loan LH309 has a more substantial neck, though it's a V profile, than a lot of the budget archtops. Full depth archtop, carved top, 16", 24.75" scale, P90 pickup.
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Good point BeBop. It does make a lot of difference but I can learn to live with most.
Generally, if I don't notice the neck, it's a good thing.
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Tonight's duo gig will be on my 2001 Epi / Peerless Casino:
Low cost. Light weight. Feels great -- this neck has some shoulder. And I don't worry about it.
Stock Epi AlNiCo 5 11k Ohm P90s -- tricked one up for hum-cancellation in the middle position. (The black plastic covers were a $10 indulgence.) The Official Web Opinion is that these pickups 'do not sound like real P90s.' Great, OWO wins the argument, but these pickups are excellent for jazz. Gibson / Epi stumbled onto the formula behind both the DeArmond 1100 and the Bendetto / Duncan B6: Hot coil for a relatively low resonance peak with enough space between the coil and string for 'air.'
I've paid much more and gotten much less pretty often over the years.
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Ltd. Ed. ES-295 Premium
Have a look at the video on there too
sounds pretty effing good to me !
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Pingu - Great shout, but for the past few years I haven't seen any of those available in Europe.
Sam - Thanks for mentioning Peerless. Forgot about them. They have the Songbird model. Not sure if it a notch up from the Epi but definitely worth a look.
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I have an EX-59 with a natural maple finish (not the Halloween burst) and was just playing it. I use it for jazz and roll off the treble some but I think it would be great for rock, blues or country. At half price that's a great deal. The headstock and tailpiece are D'Angelico identifying characteristics. The action feels solid and is low, setup with Thomastik 12s, the finish is perfect and quality control is high as on all the Excel series.
Originally Posted by Sean65
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Sean, even though my "Epi by Peerless" guitar was probably made on the same line as the current Peerless product, that line was moving a lot faster in 2002. Maybe that reflects 'even greater' attention to detail these days but I don't know. Originally Posted by Sean65
Generally the carpentry on my guitar is fine and solid. Strung with .012s for jazz, it remains a robustly sound instrument with a fine fret job -- maybe from the factory! -- fifteen years after it was built. That says everything that matters most. Even so, we are nit-pickers:
. The binding on the neck shows 'chatter.'
. There's some finish 'waviness' on the maple. That might be finish settling since 2002 or it could reflect that wet-sanding was rushed fifteen years ago.
I got the Epi / Peerless Casino for use as a tool and it works great. The stock pickups sound nice, taken on their own merits rather than as boutique copies of vintage P90s.
Used Songbirds seem to hang for about twice the price of a used Casino and it's hard to believe that they deliver twice the guitar. If you're looking for a hollow P90 guitar for jump blues you can easily dip a toe with a 'vintage' Korean Casino and may well find that the water is fine to stay in.
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Another option (considering that you play jump blues) would be an Epiphone WildKat, especially if you can track down a Samick made instrument.
Not exactly a hollowbody but it may be just fine for that style of music.
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I'm agreeing with the premise for this thread. There are not many choices in the middle - above the cheapest, but well below the priciest - for good hollowbodies with P-90s.
I've been desiring a good ES-330 type thinline hollow for years. With vintage prices soaring, no wonder the Gibson custom shop RIs are so popular. But even used, those reissues get way pricey. I had one offered to me used at 2200 a couple years ago. It was thoroughly unremarkable. Doesn't exactly motivate me to chase the many others floating around used at 2600 and up. I'm sure I could find a good one, but not happy on the price part. (I had a vintage ES-330 for awhile, couple years back, and it too was thoroughly unremarkable. Which tells me how important try and buy is with any guitar. It's always a crapshoot.)
On the cheaper side, I've had two Peerless built Casinos. Good in their own way, serviceable, regretfully for me, not good enough. Same goes for the Peerless Wizard I traded into. Not bad, but not great either. I've picked up many other low end types with P-90s. Epi wildcat, ES-390. Anything Loar. No magic in any of them, at least for me. Many so dead feeling/sounding I couldn't wait to put them down.
My midpoint solution for the ES-330 search has been Heritage. A used H525 specifically. Which is in quality, sound and playability everything I hoped to find in older and RI ES-330s, just cheaper. Still pricey, but well under 2k. I've also tried their H530. Same quality, but the ES-330L type construction (body meets neck at the 19th fret) means a sound tradeoff I don't care to make. Next up for me is an Epiphone Elite casino. Have a line on trading for one this week. I know from experience that the Elite/Elitist and equivalent MIJ Epis can be excellent. Extremely well made instruments. So we'll see. I can't try this one first. It's a risk. If it works out, I get (more or less) the quality ES-330 type I seek, at about half the cost of a used ES-330 RI.
MD
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Have you tried a Terada built Elitist Casino, mad dog? I’ve had four pass through my hands and all have been quite good.
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Mr. Rhythm:
I'm about to. I mentioned it in the last paragraph of the last post. The one I hope to trade for is an Epiphone Elite Casino, from the first two years of that line, before they had to rename it to "Elitist". Same guitar. I believe all were made at the Terada factory in Japan. I have high hopes.
Having owned other Elite/Elitist Epiphones, I know well how good those guitars can be. The Elitist 335 '63 RI (not sure if that's right) I just got for a friend being a case in point. With a pickup swap (to Seth Lovers), that guitar is the closest in feel and sound of all the semihollows tried to my old '66 ES-335. My friend could not be more pleased with it.
MD
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keep an eye out for a used epi "inspired by lennon" casino..short lived line that was between the standard epi casino and the elitist
had real gibson usa pups and the neck body joint in the correct position..had vintagey chubby neck as well
great full hollow thinline guitar for under 1k$
cheers
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Update on this thread.
My trade deal went through, got a 2003 blond Epiphone Elite Casino yesterday. Cold soaked in this brutal weather, so I waited most of the day. Unpacked and checked it out last night. "mid price" may be stretching it a bit, as these are two or three times the cost (used) of used MIK casinos. Based on what I'm seeing and hearing, absolutely worth every penny. This is one fine guitar, with excellent P90s. Even has hum cancelling in the middle p/us position, so useful for anything live. Beautiful, very dark mahogany on the neck. 1 5/8" at the nut. Got the action lowered ... needs nothing else. Great feel and playability.
The two Peerless made casinos I had were good guitars. This MIJ elite casino is in a different ballpark. Loving it!
MD
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congratulations, sir. i really like mine a lot, though i don't use it all that often, for whatever reason. its really light, the pickups respond really well to volume and tone changes, and it feels very responsive and tactile if that makes sense. like an acoustic, in that sense.
like everything i own, its fairly modified, but the only thing i felt mine really, really needed was a shim for the bridge pickup. it was kinda weak. and having the headstock reattached. that was key, also.
its a cheap mod that made a huge difference- i was pretty close to swapping the pickups out.
every now and again, i have half a mind to try to pick up another elitist casino and put some filtertrons in it. i always stop myself, but i often wish i didn't. after a few of these, its kinda hard to settle. i figure i could have picked up a loar, or a epi century or the mik guild one but for the money i'd put into it, i may as well get the better one.
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I am suprised no one has mentioned the Reverend Pete Anderson PA-1 with the P90's, I have one and it has the jump blues vibe.
The quality is quite good on mine, and I got to play two when selecting it, a black model wasn't bad but the blond one had the feel I liked.
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Ibanez asr70
Were hollow , note made any more but
used could be cheap and good
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