The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    So after starting a bunch of confusing threads about other guitars (just to keep you on your toes, yeah, just to keep you on your toes), I picked up a new guitar that isn't any of the ones I asked about. I spotted a Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz that was within my price range, and it arrived today (after a brief FedEx side-tour). It sounds and plays great.

    I bought it without having played one and without a return option, so that was a bit of a risk. It has a 24.55" scale length, and I was afraid that would be weird (more risk ...), so I was a bit on pins and needles. It came with LaBella Tapeworms, I mean Tapewounds, and with those, yeah, it was weird. The action felt very spongey, with much less tension than I'm used to, and I had an uh-oh moment. But I changed to my usual Chromes, and it feels like home now. It's really beautifully put together, definitely a step up in build quality from the other archtops I've had. It has a really pretty sound. Some mid-range thunk, but quite a bit of brightness to it, more in the Ibanez Af200 camp than the 175 camp, but I like that sound.

    Edit: I should add some spec details ... 16" lower bout, 3" depth, 5-piece maple neck with volute, ebony fingerboard. Maple back and sides. Laminated Spruce top. The neck is on the thick side, I'd call it a full C shape (feels similar to a Les Paul I had with a 50s style neck). Kluson-style tuners. Bridge base looks like ebony. Tune-o-matic style saddle (might contemplate trying a wood one). Single humbucker (I don't know what kind). Only one strap pin, so I'll need to get another installed. Tone control doesn't do much, so I might get that looked at when I get the strap pin installed.

    Hopefully this picture won't be sideways ...

    Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz-img_20201205_190805-jpg

    John
    Last edited by John A.; 12-05-2020 at 11:43 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Beautiful! Congrats John.

  4. #3

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    That's a great looking Seventy Seven you've got there. Seems worth the risks you went through. Are those made in the Terada factory?

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
    That's a great looking Seventy Seven you've got there. Seems worth the risks you went through. Are those made in the Terada factory?
    The Label says "Made in Aska factory, Nagano, Japan".

    John

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    The Label says "Made in Aska factory, Nagano, Japan".

    John
    Aha! I once saw one of their semi-hollows made from Koa that made me weak in the knees. Amazingly high quality instruments.

  7. #6

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    She is a beauty. May she inspire your playing for many years to come!

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    She is a beauty. May she inspire your playing for many years to come!
    Thanks very much.

    John

  9. #8

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    I keep getting tempted by this model. Was concerned the neck might be too skinny. Dang. Nice looking instrument.

  10. #9

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    My old 175 is really quite bright. Be interested to know how the two guitars compared.

  11. #10

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    Gorgeous guitar. I think I read alnico lose their magnetism, you might want to check on that -magnets can possibly be re-magnetised. Congrats on this beauty.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  12. #11

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    Congrats on your online gamble paying off .. Did the same this week as well .. quite the thrill but with a good outcome too.


    Looks absolutely stunning!

  13. #12

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    I like that checkered binding.

  14. #13

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    Feck, that's beautiful. If that had a Gibson headstock you'd be paying 5X more. But Gibson is just too much of an auld stick in the mud to craft something like this.

    (I have a Fat Hawk Jazz in laminated Koa with a pair of USA Mojotone Clone 59...One of 3 made.)

  15. #14

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    The standard 77 Guitars humbucker is an ALS 255 with Alnico II magnets.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spook410
    I keep getting tempted by this model. Was concerned the neck might be too skinny. Dang. Nice looking instrument.
    The neck is definitely not skinny. In general, I don't pay that much attention to neck profile (unless a guitar noticeably bothers me in some way), so I'm probably not the best person to describe it, but it seems like a full C shape, without a whole lot of taper (haven't measured to confirm, but might do this).

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    My old 175 is really quite bright. Be interested to know how the two guitars compared.
    I'll try to get a representative recording up. Jack Zucker has a video on his site directly comparing the two, and gets them sounding very similar, FWIW. But he goes for a very specific kind of sound out of all of his guitars, and I'm not sure I can replicate that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eck
    Gorgeous guitar. I think I read alnico lose their magnetism, you might want to check on that -magnets can possibly be re-magnetised. Congrats on this beauty.

    The pickup seems fine (I don't know the measurements, but it seems on the high-output end to me). The tone control doesn't have a lot of effect, but it may just be a matter of getting used to it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lobomov
    Congrats on your online gamble paying off .. Did the same this week as well .. quite the thrill but with a good outcome too. Looks absolutely stunning!
    Thanks, and congrats to you. What did you get?

    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    I like that checkered binding.
    Yes, the decoration on it is quite different. The outer layer of the binding is tortoise-shell style, and I've never seen anything quite else like this.

    John

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
    Feck, that's beautiful. If that had a Gibson headstock you'd be paying 5X more. But Gibson is just too much of an auld stick in the mud to craft something like this.

    (I have a Fat Hawk Jazz in laminated Koa with a pair of USA Mojotone Clone 59...One of 3 made.)
    Wow, that must look spectacular. I'm not going to knock Gibson's aesthetics, though. They make some beautiful looking stuff, and pretty much established the benchmarks for visual elements of guitar design. And it's not like their strategy drove them bankrupt or anything ...

    John

  18. #17

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    I REALLY want one of these. Besides being beautifully made, ‘77 is my birth year so that makes me want it even more. Kinda dumb but the reputation is good enough that I can justify that as an additional reason to get one, eventually.

  19. #18

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    Man, that is sharp! A really nice take on the 175 template. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    Man, that is sharp! A really nice take on the 175 template. Congratulations, and play it in good health!
    Thanks. I'll do that.

    John

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    Thanks, and congrats to you. What did you get?

    Thx for asking! .. Not really a guitar suited for this forum, so I've restrained myself from posting it, but what the hell

    It's an Ibanez PGM333 (Small run released last year to celebrate their 30th anniversary with Paul Gilbert) .. Found it 25% discounted and took a chance. Absolutely solid build and the pups sound great and aren't overly hot ... Flipped my Les Paul Standard that I never bonded with to make room for it and I'm extremely happy with my decision.


  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lobomov
    Thx for asking! .. Not really a guitar suited for this forum, so I've restrained myself from posting it, but what the hell

    It's an Ibanez PGM333 (Small run released last year to celebrate their 30th anniversary with Paul Gilbert) .. Found it 25% discounted and took a chance. Absolutely solid build and the pups sound great and aren't overly hot ... Flipped my Les Paul Standard that I never bonded with to make room for it and I'm extremely happy with my decision.

    Cool. I've never tried that particular model, but all the Ibanez superstrats I've checked out have been great guitars.

    John

  23. #22

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    I bought a near-mint blonde single pickup Hawk Deep Standard from Eishii on Reverb a few months ago. It played pretty well out of the box, but after a pro setup it’s really fantastic now. I also replaced the excellent humbucker with a BG Pups Pure 90 because this whole project was my attempt to get close to a mid-50s ES-175 without having to drop $4000+ for the real deal. At the time Eishii also had a Hawk Deep Jazz listed—I wonder if yours is that guitar.

    Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz-b47cc241-30d8-46d1-86f6-1b2cfefdc456-jpeg

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    I bought a near-mint blonde single pickup Hawk Deep Standard from Eishii on Reverb a few months ago. It played pretty well out of the box, but after a pro setup it’s really fantastic now. I also replaced the excellent humbucker with a BG Pups Pure 90 because this whole project was my attempt to get close to a mid-50s ES-175 without having to drop $4000+ for the real deal. At the time Eishii also had a Hawk Deep Jazz listed—I wonder if yours is that guitar.

    Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz-b47cc241-30d8-46d1-86f6-1b2cfefdc456-jpeg
    Nice! That P90 175 sound a la Jim Hall is among my all time favorites. I bought mine from a private seller and I don't know where he got it but maybe.

    John

  25. #24
    Dutchbopper Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    So after starting a bunch of confusing threads about other guitars (just to keep you on your toes, yeah, just to keep you on your toes), I picked up a new guitar that isn't any of the ones I asked about. I spotted a Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz that was within my price range, and it arrived today (after a brief FedEx side-tour). It sounds and plays great.

    I bought it without having played one and without a return option, so that was a bit of a risk. It has a 24.55" scale length, and I was afraid that would be weird (more risk ...), so I was a bit on pins and needles. It came with LaBella Tapeworms, I mean Tapewounds, and with those, yeah, it was weird. The action felt very spongey, with much less tension than I'm used to, and I had an uh-oh moment. But I changed to my usual Chromes, and it feels like home now. It's really beautifully put together, definitely a step up in build quality from the other archtops I've had. It has a really pretty sound. Some mid-range thunk, but quite a bit of brightness to it, more in the Ibanez Af200 camp than the 175 camp, but I like that sound.

    Edit: I should add some spec details ... 16" lower bout, 3" depth, 5-piece maple neck with volute, ebony fingerboard. Maple back and sides. Laminated Spruce top. The neck is on the thick side, I'd call it a full C shape (feels similar to a Les Paul I had with a 50s style neck). Kluson-style tuners. Bridge base looks like ebony. Tune-o-matic style saddle (might contemplate trying a wood one). Single humbucker (I don't know what kind). Only one strap pin, so I'll need to get another installed. Tone control doesn't do much, so I might get that looked at when I get the strap pin installed.

    Hopefully this picture won't be sideways ...

    Seventy Seven Hawk Jazz-img_20201205_190805-jpg

    John
    Nice John. So no FG 100 after all. Congrats!

    DB

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dutchbopper
    Nice John. So no FG 100 after all. Congrats!

    DB
    Nope, it seemed like there were none to be found at a good price (the 77 was less than the FG100's I saw). But would like to try an FG100 at some point. Yours really sounds good.

    John