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So i have been looking for a jazz guitar for a long time, after only having a strat and i can finally afford one up to about 1300 dollars. I play a lot of traditional jazz but i also like playing fusion a lot, and sometimes funk or blues. Out from those preferences the semi hollowbody might sound like a better choice than a hollowbody, but i really DONT want to compromise on the "traditional" jazz tone. Do semihollowbodys work fine as a traditional jazz guitar? In this case i was contemplating between an Ibanez JSM-10 John Scofield semi hollow, and an Ibanez GB10SE, as they both like very nice. What should i choose?
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06-29-2021 10:22 AM
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I think what you want is impossible. Full hollow bodies will always be a challenge when playing fusion and even the best semi-hollow is going to fall about short of giving you a true traditional hollow body sound. That being said, given your criteria and your budget, I think a good semi-hollow will give you the better performance with greater versatility.
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What Jim said. Everything is a compromise. Sounds like you need something along the lines of a 335 to me. Plenty of great jazz (and fusion, and blues) has been played on 335s.
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The other guitar to consider is a PRS SE HOLLOWBODY. This will lean a bit more to a laminate hollow body and still be able to Rock Out!
Can be found used at Dave's Guitar Lacrosse Wisconsin.
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+1. Semi now, and start saving for an archtop.
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Yep, going along Jim’s thinking...what sound do like the most? Like to return to the most as your most enjoyable. Lot of us boomer types were listening just pre fusion so the hollow body archtop is kind of home to many of us.
So whose you’re fav to listen to? FWIW I’m pretty much in the Ibanez camp. When I bought a GB10 I was disappointed I couldn’t get a fat enough tone (for me). Yet there are many trad jazz cats here loving it.
Ya pays yer money and takes yer chance, but you can make a solid formed opinion first. You can for you!
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You don't say if you're keeping the Strat. If you are, all other things being equal (starting with quality), I'd go for a Benson. But the current Indonesian made SE has drawn some criticism for quality - see post #45 in this JGO thread for a firsthand report. If the strat is leaving and the new one will be your only guitar, the Sco may be a bit more versatile. But if the idea appeals to you, you can play anything (fusion, blues etc) on a big fat archtop too. There's a great thread on this forum right now about this, and if it was good enough for Robben Ford it's good enough for me. I had nothing but a 175DN for a decade (1961 to 1971) and did just fine with it on everything from rock and blues to weddings to solo jazz gigs.
Originally Posted by JonasPaulsen2612
Hopefully, someone who owns or has at least played both of your choices can chime in. My experience with Ibanez spans 45 years. I've played many MIJ Benson models and one Chinese SE, but I've not seen an Indonesian one. My first one was one of their NAMM demo 335 clones bought in about 1978 from Harry Rosenbloom (the guy who put Ibanez on the map in the US). It was a magnificent guitar and I loved it, only selling it when I went to 7 strings. My working jazz box is an AF207 that I bought new when they first came out, and my gigging flat top is a dark blue 7 string model whose number I don't remember (it's in the case and in the closet right now) that I bought 7 or 8 years ago. Both are stellar instruments with outstanding quality of design, materials, and construction.
I've looked at every hollow acoustic 7 string they made and bought what I think were the two best for me. But back in those days, you knew that any Ibanez guitar would be excellent. I ordered the AF207 when they were announced and got it about a year later. It was wonderful and everything I expected it to be. Unfortuntately, we can no longer rely on every Ibanez guitar to be good enough to buy sight unseen and without return privilege. They came out with a 7 string flat top maybe 15 years ago that I ordered sight unseen and ended up keeping for about a week before returning it. Intonation was terrible, tone was mediocre, and it just felt crude in my hands. I don't recall where it was made, but I'd be shocked to be told it was MIJ. That experience left me much more careful about buying non-MIJ Ibanez (although not at all reluctant). I'd just be wary of buying any current $1200 Ibanez hollow guitar (and especially an Indonesian Benson SE) without first being able to inspect and play the one you'd get.
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If we're suggesting specific semi-hollows, I really liked the Godin Montreal Premier that I had. The size is good, the weight is under 7 lbs. And it definitely had some air. It didn't sound like hollow body but it sounded less like a solid body than a lot of semis that I've tried.
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Seventy Seven also makes a few wonderful semi-hollow bodies. But honestly I've still been playing my Telecasters the most of all my guitars for the last few months and have been very happy with them.
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Originally Posted by JonasPaulsen2612
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You say that you play a lot of "traditional" jazz - but that's a wide and vague concept. In my country "traditional" often means Dixieland, in which case you should buy a tenor banjo ;-). If you mean swing, an acoustic archtop set up for rhythm may be appropriate. If it's a mid fifties guitar sound is what you are after, a laminated full body jazz box is what to get. For fusion, a semi is a good choice.
But frankly, getting a good jazz tone is just as much about the setup of the guitar as it is the kind of guitar. Even your Strat will be a more than OK jazzer if set up with a blocked tremolo and medium to heavy flatwound strings. Many people play wonderful jazz on a Tele (say Ed Bickert). I like the Fender modular system a lot - it's so easy to customize a Fender with another pickup, another neck etc. But of course, a Fender will never sound like an acoustic guitar.
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I hope you'll keep the Strat.
As far as jazz tone fron solid bodies:
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A properly set up 3XX - type semi-hollow can do almost any genre of music. Of the choices you present, the John Scofield model would be my pick. Good luck!
PS- Big Daddy has the right idea!
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Agree with this. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
They're not currently being made, but the Gibson ES-135 with the balsa wood center block is a great guitar and an outstanding bargain in the Gibson world. They do have a nice warm sound with a hint of thunk--same body size as the 175--but can also rock out.
I got mine for a mere $1000 a few years ago. There's a blue one for sale on Reverb right now for $1350.
Gibson ES-135 1991 - 2003 | Reverb
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I have been doing a lot of mic’d amp recording in recent months. I recorded with a Strat recently. It sounded more similar to my other guitars than I would have expected. I think I would have a challenging time differentiating the guitars used in my recordings in a blind test. The most distinctive sounding guitar I own is a Hofner Jazzica. It has a unique pinginess in the upper mids that none of my other guitars have. But aside from that, the way I play and set up my amps and knobs, I tend to sound like me no matter what.
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I think they all sound pretty close. Not identical, but close. And that's under ideal conditions. Put that in a typical gig situation and I don't think I could tell them apart. Originally Posted by fep
OTOH, I've never heard Wes' tone come out of anything but an L5. And, there are certain sounds that I've heard out of an archtop that I don't think I've heard out of anything else. But, that's on chords, not single note lines.
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I would probably check out a guitar like the Guild in this little shootout, which Rich says should feed back a lot less thanks to the center block.
3 archtop shootout
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Trying to get a 50s jazz sound may be counter-productive, after all. But the new line of Gretsch 5420 arch tops are quite versatile, reasonably feedback-resistant, and can rock out quite convincingly, since the Gretsch pickups tend to have less compression and more "airiness" about them, especially the Filter-trons. The new Broad-Tron pickup is a little closer to the conventional PAF style most jazzers favor, and are worth investigating. The Broad-tron 5420s are around $800, and the Filtertron models around $1000, although available used for quit a bit less. Given the lack of jazz opportunities and the versatility of the Gretsch line, I think you should look into them. And for fun, the Bigsby (on most of them) is a very expressive device. I've only had my Gretsch for a couple of weeks, but it has really expanded my tonal vocabulary.
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Originally Posted by fep
I'm betting that every one of these was done using Tim's hands.
The sound is in the hands. It's always in the hands.
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A semi-acoustic is a great way to start your exploration of jazz.
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