The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Epiphone Masterbilt With Added Pickup-cffdbde3-bdfc-4032-8458-64e3937c8437-jpg
    I got a super deal on this used but mint guitar. Except for the bridge pickup, it was love at first note. Of course the plugged in sound had nothing to do with what I consider a viable jazz tone. I had the humbucker equipped pick guard built and I installed it with absolutely no alterations made to the guitar. Now she sounds as great as she plays!

    I kind of miss a cutaway, but she plays so fantastic, it’s a small sacrifice!

    As an added bonus, I can use two cables and mix the pickups for a nice woody addition to the humbucker tone.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Cool rig! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

  4. #3

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    What a great looking Epi! I like the added floater idea a lot.

  5. #4

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    Straight outa the box those guitars have their deficiencies, but man do they look cool. I like your idea a lot, in fact you’ve got me jonesing for one of those.

    Does the output jack for the floater fit under the pickguard? I think the piezo pickup is in the end pin, right?

    People diss piezo pickups, but with a good acoustic amp and especially if blended with a magnetic they can be very useful.

    With the same concept, I put a GFS floater on a Godin 5th Avenue, and a RC 1000 reissue on a vintage Harmony. The RC reissues would pair particularly well with that guitar I would think.

    (Another thought which just came to me is one of those old foil P90’s.)

  6. #5
    This model took a lot of criticism because of the acoustic bridge pickup. Not as bad as some described it, I still found it useless as a Jazz pickup. The floating pickup really adds what I was looking for. The output jack is on the pick guard.

    Blending both pickups creates a very rich sound with pleasing overtones. Kind of a nice blend of the sound of the wood smoothed out, softened and enriched by the humbucker.

    To me the neck feels fantastic. Nice and meaty without being overwhelming. With the neck profile and low action, I can play for hours without fatigue.

    I’m using some of the last of my cache of Gibson L5 strings from years ago. (Only 2 sets left if anyone has some they want to get rid of). To me, they match this guitar perfectly.

    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
    Straight outa the box those guitars have their deficiencies, but man do they look cool. I like your idea a lot, in fact you’ve got me jonesing for one of those.

    Does the output jack for the floater fit under the pickguard? I think the piezo pickup is in the end pin, right?

    People diss piezo pickups, but with a good acoustic amp and especially if blended with a magnetic they can be very useful.

    With the same concept, I put a GFS floater on a Godin 5th Avenue, and a RC 1000 reissue on a vintage Harmony. The RC reissues would pair particularly well with that guitar I would think.

    (Another thought which just came to me is one of those old foil P90’s.)

  7. #6

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    Congratulations!

    She really looks the part, too.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by rabbit
    Congratulations!

    She really looks the part, too.
    I'm kicking around the idea of changing the tailpiece to a frequensator style. Any thoughts?

  9. #8
    Many years ago I had a vintage Zephyr that looked exactly like this

    Zephyr '54 - Dave's Guitar Shop

    Traded it for an ES-335. Probably a good deal, but I really loved the Epiphone. This is very reminiscent of it.
    Last edited by rsclosson; 11-17-2019 at 06:59 PM.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by rsclosson
    I'm kicking around the idea of changing the tailpiece to a frequensator style. Any thoughts?
    I have a frequensator on my EER. I like it fine, although some folks have had some difficulty finding strings long enough; D'A Chromes work for me. I've toyed with reversing the forks, putting the longer side on the treble strings. My concern with replacement parts would be the quality of materials and workmanship.