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Hi everyone,
In the next few months I'd like to buy a new jazz guitar. I've been playing guitar for 12 years, jazz for the last 8 and I'm starting a decent career I think, so I consider myself to be an experienced player, but at the same time I have absolutely no clue about actual guitars. I don't know the differences between pick-ups, strings, semi-hollow and hollow, neck shapes, widths, fret scales etc.
I've only ever owned a Korean PRS Tremonti which I've sold, a Mexican Fender Strat and Czech Epiphone Les Paul which my father gave me that I'm keeping, and an Ibanez jazz guitar that I'm looking to replace.
The Ibanez I have is a €500 Chinese made AGR73T TSW that I bought 6 years ago, kinda without too much research, just liked how it sounded in the store. I'm not liking it that much anymore, I find that it has this high metallic clink to it no matter the strings I put on it or the pick I use, and its output signal is incredibly low. For the last month I've been playing my friends's barely used Ibanez AK95 DVS with 6 year-old dirty factory strings and it pisses all over mine, so I thought it's time for a change. The sound is just bigger, wider, more spacey...
As these are the only two jazz guitars I've ever played, I have to work with the little info I have, but some of you will probably be able to tell me where this huge difference comes from, is it the fact that mine is semi hollow body and his is hollow, or is it the pick-ups, ACH3-M & ACH4-M vs ACH1 & ACH2? Some of the guitars I saw only have the neck pick-up, what's the deal with that?
I'm playing into a 1978 Fender Pro Reverb through lots of pedals, I have a Rat pedal with drive knob at minimum almost always on, and I'm looking for a modern jazz sound. Sound is the #1 priority, playability and durability as well, cosmetics I don't really care about that much.
The budget is €2000 at the most, can you help me out? I'm willing to look at used, new, custom made... Keep in mind that I live in Europe so the used guitars market is nowhere near as big as in the USA and the music stores are usually smaller...
Thanks!
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10-08-2018 05:32 AM
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Godin 5th avenue line will have something you will like. Full hollow to semi, P90 to humbucker.
Or buy a Tele
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The deal with one pickup is that for jazz the bridge pickup is mostly just along for the ride, so it's better to have just one at the neck. I have two guitars that have two pickups, and on one the bridge pickup doesn't work, because the selector switch has been left in the neck position for so many years. I haven't bothered to try to fix it, because I never use the bridge pickup, that's why it doesn't work. YMMV.
For a modern jazz sound on a budget, I recommend Eastman. If you can find one, an Epiphone ES-175 Premium would be a good choice, either new or used. I know nothing of Ibanez.
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Telecaster.
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Here's how I evaluate an instrument.
1. Does the neck feel good in my hand.
2. Do the high notes on the E string ring clearly and sound thick.
3. Is it comfortable to hold.
4. Does it seem to be made well.
5. Does it sound okay acoustically.
6. Does it sound good amplified. Meaning, can I get my sound from it.
7. Can I return it if I don't like it after say 30 days.
8. Does it look good.
9. Does the price seem right.
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Within Europe one of the best options for jazz guitars with value for money is Eastman - new or used. Companies like Foulds of Derby in the UK usually have a good selection - look at the AR605e and AR610e for example which both have carved top, back and sides for less than 2k€
Peerless are within your price range with a good selection at Thomann, but IMHO not as good value for money as Eastman.
Whatever you do, get to somewhere where you can try several before making your choice, making good use of rpjazzguitar's approach. Happy hunting!
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I think you answered your own question: your friend's Ibanez AK95 that pisses all over yours. I recommend another Ibanez and an Art Core for that extra bit of nice fretwork and humbuckers. I was just playing my 2010 Ibanez AF105NT last night through my Princeton Reverb clone and I was thinking to meself, why did I spend so much money on the other fancy guitars for? I appreciate fine guitarmaking and beautful wood and fine paint-jobs and all that brand-name cachét but in a noisy club of mainly non-guitar aficionadoes, who can tell and is there really any significant difference? The answer is, no, to be frightfully honest about it. If it sounds good, it is good and I have yet to find an Ibanez that does not sound good, given the right set-up and strings.
I would advise you to suss out the different levels of Ibanez and find one like your friend's and for your budget. Ibanez has been making archtops a very long time. It is not very profitable as it is a small market and I admire their dedication to the jazz cause.
A made in Korea Comins GCS-1ES semi-hollow is very good if you can import it from Bill Comins in Philadelphia. The Comins 16 GCS is a true hollowbody, available with one or two pickups. This is also a good choice bought directly from Bill Comins. Bill checks them out and sets them up before shipping them out. I trust Bill and I have one of his handmade archtops. Wonderful guitar but I won't take it to a low-paying gig as it will be wasted on them. From a standpoint of pure functionality, the Ibanez or the made in Korea Comins GCS is worthy of your consideration. Bill Comins is a fine guitar player and you could Skype him and ask for a demonstration. Anyway, worth checking out.
Any guitar requires a set-up. You have to invest in a good set-up, too.
Just in my humble opinion.
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2000€ will wit a bit of patience get you a lot of nice guitars on the used marked. I've seen both Heritage 575s, Ibanez GB10s and a Gibson 165s below that.
Personally I paid 1350€ for my '97 Ibanez PM100
New your best choice is probably an Eastman
Good luck hunting!
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I have been very impressed by Eastman guitars. I should think there will be a place near you where one can be tried out. You may just get an es-175 for 2000 euros but you would have to be lucky. Again best try one before buying, they vary a lot. I thnk the best value guitars in Europe, which probably aren't available in the USA so much, are the modern Hofner jazz guitars. They are beautifully made, beautiful to look at and are surprisingly affordable 2nd hand. I know this is sold but something like this for example.
1990 Hofner New President - Natural-Vi90HofPresiBld907153
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Take a look at Eastman. I think the 372s are really nice.... but for 2000 Euro you can probably get something better.
Can’t go wrong with Ibanez though.
I think for your first jazz box it’s good to go for something laminate and with set in pickups (like a Gibson es175) as these are the most versatile. Later on if you so desire you can get something more at the acoustic end of the spectrum.
As Gibson is a bit over your price range, maybe not that, but plenty of good clones (or a used 175 maybe?)
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What about the Gibson 135? Or are we not digging those on jgo? Maybe has a centre block?
Another though Godin composer(set pick up) or Godin jazz (floating pickup)?
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Are we allowed to shamelessly promote our selling gear on a non-sales topic/forum?
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Thanks everyone, I will look at your suggestions! The Eastmans really do look nice, I've never even heard of that brand until now.
Some of you mentioned going to the store and testing them all out, of course that's what I intend to do, but I don't think there are many major guitar centers where I live, so I'd have to find stuff online first and then drive to individual stores to test it out, same goes with used gear of course...
@grekko please do
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Originally Posted by Kunji
@grekko please do
Dupont BeBop 16”
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Eastman, Ibanez, Epiphone or Guild are good options. All should be readily available.
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Dupont make great guitars
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The existence of the final guitar is a myth. Many people believe that it must exist somewhere out there, but it has yet to be proven. Get one that really speaks to you and go from there.
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Haha yeah I imagine, although I was never really that interested in guitars, I've had that Fender stratocaster from the start and I still love it, same with the Epi LP. My gear acquisition syndrome was always more connected to pedals. It's just that right now I really do not feel what that jazz guitar does for me, and if I'm about to replace it I want to find something that I won't feel the need to replace in the future. Originally Posted by Drifter
Right now, after a few days of looking at guitars, I'm even more confused than at the start. I don't even know what I need, because I don't know if the difference between the two Ibanez's I'm playing right now is due to the semi-hollow/hollow body, the pickups, strings, or something completely different, or all of it. I don't know how to find that out, because I can't just lug around my pedalboard and 40kg amp to Germany and try every possible guitar with my setup to see if it does what I want it to do.
A guitar that caught my eye today is Ibanez JSM100 - a bit pricey though, and then I notice there's also a JSM20, that's more than a half cheaper - why, where's the difference? Supposedly one has 58 pickups and the other 58 custom, what does that even mean? I never understood these descriptions, they're either creamy, woody, warm, bright, dark, sparkly... And then there's the Ibanez AS153 that's supposedly almost the same - but not quite. Does anyone know these guitars?
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The JSM1000 is made in Japan, the JSM20 and AS153 probably in China, maybe Korea, I don't really know. Different woods, pickups, finish, craftmanship.
Don't think too much about it, you will not come to the one and only correct conclusion. Try a few guitars and buy with a good return policy, take rpjazzguitars list into consideration and you can't go wrong.
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I’m down to only 4 electrics now: Gibson Es-275, Strat, Tele, and an Ibanez AS153. I considered selling the Ibanez after buying the 275, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I cannot recommend it enough. I would say any of the Ibanez Artstar series priced around $1000 would make you quite happy.
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Hi hi, I can‘t count the number of „final guitars“ that I have bought ... the next one is coming next week. I mean this is the final one as in *really* final. I think ... or I am sure ... well pretty sure at least
... ok, it ain‘t gonna happen
... good luck with the Hunt!
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2000€
how much is that in normal money
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What do you consider to be normal money? Pounds sterling? Yuan?
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"I've been playing guitar for 12 years, jazz for the last 8 and I'm starting a decent career I think, so I consider myself to be an experienced player, but at the same time I have absolutely no clue about actual guitars."
So I have a question for you. How have you managed to play guitar for 12 years and yet apparently completely avoid GAS, with all of its longing for a particular model you just have to have so the universe can finally be complete, comparing of specifications of different guitars, looking at manufacturers web sites, youtube videos etc.? How'd you do it?
You could probably market your technique/solution/drug to the wives and girlfriends of guitar players accross the globe, and become a fairly rich man in the process.
Lots of good advice here, and I don't think you can go wrong with an Eastman or Ibanez.
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The final guitar will always be the next one .... Originally Posted by Frank67
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A really nice pickup in a cheap guitar
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