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The guitar I grab most of the time is my archtop made by forum member Matt Cushman. I've had it 12 years now and we've settled into a comfortable and amicable relationship. If I play it the way it wants to be played, it sounds like I want it to sound. That's probably 80% of my playing and almost all of that is acoustic, no amp.
The other one I play a lot is my Tele partscaster, which is a semi-hollow with Pete Biltoft HCC pickup; the body and pickup came from forum member Skip Ellis and the neck came from Warmoth. When I gigged I used the Tele a lot because of the feedback issues that arise with a resonant archtop and an amp loud enough to be heard with drums and horn. My current playing situation is with an upright bassist- no gigs yet, and generally no need for an amp at stage volume since we're playing in the living room. If we do get around to gigging, the volume ought to be low enough to use the archtop.
I have my first guitar, a Takamine F-340S dreadnought that I bought in 1979. Just restrung it yesterday. And my first electric guitar and first archtop is my 1981 Ibanez GB10, which I've had since '86. I've got a couple of nylon string guitars I will get on a kick and play a lot for a few weeks, but the it's back to the Cushman.
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09-22-2018 11:05 PM
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I generally gig with my Comins GCS-1.
But at home I play a Yamaha Pacifica 012 just as often.
The Comins sounds better (except for a little sitar effect on the high E string I've been trying to eliminate) but the Yamaha is easier to play.
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Been working out a few standards on my AF95FM a lot, lately. It's a slick and has a great feel for chord melody stuff. I have a cheap gut string I keep at work so I have something to plink on when an idea hits me out of nowhere. My '68 Es-345 gets next to no love due to the crazy low frets that frustrate me to no end. Still, nothing is as easy to play as my Squier 70's Vintage modified Strat. It's just insanely comfortable. Problem is, when I get cozy with my cheapologies classical guitar I get used to the extra wide neck and all my other guitars feel narrow to a fault for half an hour. The Gibby sure sounds good. The Ibanez, too. Just have to adjust to em.
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Until recently it was my Telecaster with a short-scale conversion neck and Bardens, but I can't keep my hands off the new Eastman ar403 (unplugged 90% of the time).
My ES-339 is collecting dust, if I can't sell it I'm considering grafting a set of dog-ear P-90s onboard.
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It comes and goes in waves depending on where I am musically. These days I am not very interested in jazz and rarely play my archtops. These days I mostly play my Warmoth Strats and Teles, a Nik Huber Krautster, my nylon string acoustic and my gypsy guitar. It will undoubtedly change again.
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My acoustic, because my Hofner archtop is in a storage unit under a pile of stuff since we recently moved house. But one day...
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Mostly I play my Gretsch G5122, and now and then my Godin 5th Avenue, which is the acoustic version of that line. My other guitars tend to come out to play when I need a particular sound for a recording.
I favour those two over all my others because I have back problems, and they are the two lightest guitars I own.
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Well my guitar rotation has just gone for a Burton (British saying. Means gone missing, dead).
Recently purchased a G&L Tribute ASAT Bluesboy...
(The new squeeze)
I had a 'Tele day', trawling through music shops/stores playing vintage, modern and copy Teles.
A fun day out, or so I thought. Played some nice Teles and as always I compare it to my radically modded Squire Tele...
(The old girl)
Well the G&L came really close to the Squire. So much so that I walked back in to that shop an hour later and bought the damn thing!
It's so near perfect. The shop sets up their guitars (a rare thing these days) and that was evident in all the guitars I played, but this whole package was damn near Jazzbow perfect.
So the Tribute needs a little tweak, not much, but as it stands it's very playable and the pickups and pots are spot on.
Yes, the Jazzbow stable of guitars are gathering dust now. Praise indeed for this MoR unassuming guitar.
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I’m trying to play my 175 all the time, partly because I love it but also because it has quirks and I’m still learning it. I also feel this guitar is my sound.
It also has a strong acoustic tone for a 175
I will play other guitars (most often a tele or my Loar lh600 which sounds great unplugged) but I try to make that the main axe.
The next step will be to donate some of my guitars, or sell the ones that are actually worth a little bit of money.
Really I’d want to keep it simple and as a jazz guy I have the option of doing that. I’m not a session player, and if I was I know what I would buy.
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I play a 2017 es 275 vos w/p90’s daily. Can’t put it down. Second is my Godin 5th ave acoustic.
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I rotate my guitars and tend to go in streaks. Overall my Hollenbeck gets the most play been my main playing guitar since 1994. I make sure to play the two D'angelicos it is not difficult but I work them in depending. A couple of months ago I went back to playing my Barker that was my main guitar from 1979 till I got the Hollenbeck. I found had played in but just no very often and was eye opener. The wide neck and 24 27/32 scale was feeling very good. Has a bit softer feel and works great for fingerstyle playing. I appreciate the guitar much more now that I did 35 years ago.
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As much as I praise my '59 125 and '96 Tal Farlow, my Warmoth franken tele is the one getting the most play time...
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...because it is independent of price and other readily apparent values.
My "best" archtop is my Epiphone Broadway Elitist. Made in Japan, it's like a Lexus--built flawlessly, not a bad note on the fretboard, and the tone is rich, like heavy cream. But, it's big at 17" and kind of heavy. When I go to a gig where I know I will have a guitar strapped on my shoulder for three hours, I tend to reach for either my Gibson ES-175 1959 VOS or my Godin 5th Avenue Jazz. Both are light and comfortable at 16". They also sound good, if not as rich and complex as the Epi, and they play very well.
For flattops, my Martin 00-15M is built flawlessly and every note is clear as a bell. It's light, comfortable, and set up to play like butter. That's my flattop of choice for gigging. But, when I'm just playing around the house, I tend to reach for my Seagull Entourage Mini Jumbo, a very inexpensive guitar. I love the way it plays and feels, and it has a rich, deep tone I attribute to the large size and cedar top.
Go figure.
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I play unplugged 90% of the time and I'm just as happy on a flat top as an archtop.
But the '34 L-7 has become my favorite at home practice guitar since I found strings I really like.
My LG-2 American Eagle is my favorite at home flat top. It's also a nice guitar to gig plugged in.
Once a week, the J-45 comes out for an acoustic jam because of it's big voice.
When I do plug in for weekly practice with my duo or the occasional gig, it's the 175 all the way.
The tele, the strat, and the Eastman 810 mostly just sit in their cases.
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This
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Victor Baker model 15
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I pretty much play everything and do rotate things around especially if I think I need something else! The acoustic Bjarton/Hagstrom Metro archtop always seems to be in the line up as it seems to have it's own nitch. It gets played both acoustically and plugged in using the K&Ks which do a great job of keeping the natural sound but letting me plug in effects or play louder. For the line up I like to have an electric, a nylon and something with steel strings around.
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At gigs (abt 14 a month Benedetto Bambino'Ibanez ag95l or Tele if out doors. The big archtops almost never go out the door . All left handed Mickmac
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Homebrew Tele 'cause it's the only electric I own. I have a Martin 000-18 and a C.E. Sobel classic both of which gather dust. I don't play unless it's gig or I have to learn a new tune for an upcoming gig. I've been doing this so long, it's hard to find a tune that I don't already know or can fake for a request.
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All Gibsons
Concerts (tangerineburst L-5CES Signature):
Rehearsals, outdoor gigs, casual stuff (red L-5CES Signature "Baby Wes")
Home (blonde CS-356, vintage sunburst L-5C Signature Lee Ritenour, blonde Johnny A Signature)
Since I play the Rit almost every day, it's probably technically my most played guitar, but the red one gets the most mileage.
Danny W.
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Yamaha SA2200 - all the sounds that I need normally.
I have 3 more guitars and a bass, but just for recording, 1 Tele, 1 PRS-style, 1 D'Angelico (Korea) and 1 Yamaha bass, but these don't get much use, sorry.Last edited by DonEsteban; 09-24-2018 at 06:30 AM.
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The one I play most often is this Silvertone 1427:
Not quite what I expected would be my favorite jazz guitar, but that's how it ends up. This old dog is the best playing archtop I've had, and it sounds so good through the Polytone MB II.
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Home - A recently acquired Martin OM-21 Special
Gigs - ES-165 Herb Ellis and a 1993 Franklin(Nick Kukich) Prairie State
Bass gigs - Sadowsky Metro Will Lee. The Sadowsky has banished all other basses to the storage room. Can't recall when I took another bass out to a gig.
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[@Jim Soloway: love the "serial monogamist" reference!]
I wish I had kept most every guitar I've owned -- they each had something special about them!
The one I've kept and played the longest, though, is my Novax AX-6 (semi-hollowbody); it was built in 2009, and I'm the original owner. I have a couple new guitars that I really like, including a Forshage "Orion" (ergo hollowbody), and a Clay Conner semi-hollowbody (fanned fret; student/helper of Ralph Novak), so I hope I hang onto them!!
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My cousin had one of those in natural when I was kid and I just loved it. There was also one in black like yur in the Chinery Collection. It came up when were selling off the bulk of the collection but like most of the collection it was selling for a pretty hefty premium.
Originally Posted by mad dog
The one I play most often is this Silvertone 1427:
Not quite what I expected would be my favorite jazz guitar, but that's how it ends up. This old dog is the best playing archtop I've had, and it sounds so good through the Polytone MB II.
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