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Hi everyone. Me being on a jazz site is kind of... Hell, I don't know. I love jazz, play some, a good friend was nominated for a Grammy for an album he produced but my late little brother was the real player in the family. But, I love good guitars, sometimes great ones, and I play clean and sort of jazzish at times.
So, now that you know that I kind of suck, here's my deal. I play a lot of clean stuff. I have an Ibanez archtop that is actually OK but I put a Bigsby on it and Filtertrons so it's more of a Gretsch sort of thing these days. I love a Bigsby on a big archtop because you don't need the tension bar. But I digress.
Ideally I want something a lot like a guitar I stupidly let go years ago. It was a Heritage 575. Very plain and a lovely guitar. Life interfered and I had to let it go. I'm looking for something that I can put flat 12's on, plays well and sounds good, ideally with stock pickups. I'm fairly seriously visually impaired and my days of changing pickups on a hollow body, soldering, etc., are behind me. If I find a really good option that needs some changes I'll have to hire it done. I'm not looking for a Sadowsky, a, fill in the blank. I want a good, high value, step above beginner guitar that will give me the tone and playability I'm looking for. 1K or under would be good. I know that Eastmans are a strong contender but I don't know much about the models. I'm comfortable with a 16" bout, medium C neck and as long as the cosmetics aren't silly, I don't care. I'm going to lose more vision so I really want to have something I can focus on. That was sort of a pun. A bad one.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I do have an Eastman dealer within an hour but they mainly show the 335 styles and I have a lovely Hamer Newport for that sort of thing, i.e. blues/pop. Thanks to all. Oh, my musical tastes are much better than my talent, FWIW
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09-19-2018 12:48 AM
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A nice Korean built early ‘90s Epiphone Emperor II Joe Pass can often be found for less than $500-600. They can pack a lot of bang for the buck. I’ve been shocked at how good some of them are for their going price.
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There are many choices here. I have an Epiphone Joe Pass which served me well for 20 years. I also have a couple of Ibanez Guitars and a couple of D’Angelico Guitars. I use flatwounds on most of them.
Originally Posted by rom661
Check them out. Good Luck.
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Hi,
You need to tell us your budget, please. Sadowsky's run from $3500-5000, and you said you don't want something that expensive. So what is your budget??
Thanks!
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He wrote 1k or under in his op. Originally Posted by marcwhy
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For not much under 1K, a used Eastman might be possible, and I like them a lot.
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Sorry, it was in my brain when I posted but didn't make the transition to my fingers. I'd say a thousand or less. Back when I had the Heritage you could pick one up used for 1200 or so but those days are long past. Plus a lot of variability in them.
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Epiphone ES175 Premium. Tons of guitar for not a lot of money. Gibson Classic 57 pickups.
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The Epi is a great deal if you can live with the neck. it's not a full C, rather thin but not extreme. But it can be had for a lot less than 1k, and it's a high quality guitar.
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I'm not much of a thinner neck guy, I'm afraid. A 59 Les Paul carve is just too big but strongly prefer medium or slightly larger with a C shape. Since I've started having issues with my hands I have less wiggle room. The bolt on neck builds I do start with a 59 profile and then I sand them down until I like them. The Ibanez on the jazz boxish thing I turned into a Gretsch wannabe is pretty comfortable. I once had a Gibson ES-137 and if there's a perfect neck for me, that was it. Unfortunately used ones have gone up about 50%. Actually stillI have one and the neck is so twisted that even Dan Erlewine said it was hopeless. He suggested using it for slide.
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Based on your taste for the H575 I don't think you're going to find what you want at the price you want to pay. The H575 is a solid wood carved guitar. Add in the top mount pickups and controls and it results in a certain kind of sound. It's going to be really tough to find that sound in a laminate guitar and from my experience you certainly aren't going to find it in a laminate Ibanez or any Eastman. There might be a Peerless at the right price used but even amount those the closest match is probably the 16" Cremona and it has a 25.5" scale length making it a petty different beast. Probably my best advice is to change some part of your criteria, either price, features, or tonal character but that can be a really challenging exercise.
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My bad! Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Another Ibanez or used Eastman vote.
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I will add my vote for Epiphone 175 Premium. I had one and they sound fantastic. Gibson pickups standard. I would still have it but I prefer 25.5" scale.
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Godin 5th Ave Kingpin or Kingpin II
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+1 for this suggestion. The Godins' thin laminate top has an almost carved/acoustic sound to it and is about as loud as some carved top guitars with set-in pups. Maybe Mr. Beaumont will weigh in (he has a Kingpin and a 575 IIRC). There are also models with humbuckers. Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
John
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Hey, that's me. Originally Posted by John A.
I do have both a 575 and single pickup Kingpin, and I must say, they're very different guitars. The Kingpin is VERY light and resonant, and has a good deal of acoustic voice. The P-90 has a good amount of bite, I string it with Monels, and when I play it, it inspires me to play in a very specific, old school 1930's-40's kind of way. It's very Charlie Christian feeling.
My 575 is a heavier (though I suppose still not heavy, it's under 7 lbs) guitar, has much less presence acoustically. Mine is a maple top, a pretty thick carve, and it sounds mellow unplugged, which is only heightened plugged in. It can actually be too bassy through some amps--I find myself EQ-ing things differently depending on the room. The sound isn't what I'd call that of a carved guitar, really, it's very much that dark, "smokey" classic jazz tone, maybe with a bit more sustain and less "thunk" than a 175. A very cool guitar.
Clearly, I'm keeping both
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