The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I had the chance to demo some great archtops and felt like recording some audio to compare them closely. Everyone probably has their own impressions, but I don't mind sharing some notes.

    - I think the order of most acoustically resonant to least is: Excel, L7, L7C, L50, 175. However, that 175 is the most resonant 175 I've ever played. I think even though the mic was pointed at the amp, you can hear the resonance of the guitars in the room. If I had miced this differently the difference would be more apparent. The Excel is really percussive and loud.
    - The TK Smith pickup really stands out to me. My favorite pickup of all time is the DeArmond FHC (from the early 50s), because it's clear but also has a lot of texture to the sound, like a quiet growl. The TK has this quality too, and lots of midrange too. Single notes on the TK L50 are really fat (not muddy) and just feel great to play.
    - If I recorded this again I'd open up the DeArmond pickups more. They get a bit muddy when you roll the volume off. That's totally fine when I'm comping since I want to hear the guitar resonate and rolling the high end off the pickup helps with that.
    - The tone knob on McCarty pickup on the L7CN is rolled off almost all the way. That is one BRIGHT pickup. The guitar itself is also fairly bright but has a big low end. It feels like a dreadnought in a way. Really big acoustic sound, lots of sustain.
    - The ES 175 is the only plywood guitar here. I'm not crazy about the really thunky electric-only 175s that came later. I think the ones from the 50s were built much lighter and are much more resonant. The thin laminate top creates a quick note decay but the acoustic tone carries over into the amplified signal, producing a more complex and interesting tone than what I'm used to hearing from modern Gibson archtops.
    - Comparing the L7 to the D'Angelico is interesting: both acoustics with a DeArmond pickup. The L7 is much brighter and doesn't have the smooth mid range of the D'Angelico. The L7 definitely serves its purpose. They both sound amazing when you play them hard. To me a full size non-cutaway acoustic archtop with a floating DeArmond is pretty much the perfect sound.



    Please take a look at the description in the video. I included some timestamps that will let you hop through the video to compare the guitars side by side.



    1954 Gibson L7CN 0:00
    1950 Gibson L7N 1:09
    1949 Gibson L50 2:12
    1936 D'Angelico Excel 3:14
    1953 Gibson ES 175 4:18


    Phrase 1
    1954 Gibson L7CN 0:25
    1950 Gibson L7N 1:32
    1949 Gibson L50 2:32
    1936 D'Angelico Excel 3:37
    1953 Gibson ES 175 4:41


    Phrase 2
    1954 Gibson L7CN 0:40
    1950 Gibson L7N 1:48
    1949 Gibson L50 2:48
    1936 D'Angelico Excel 3:53
    1953 Gibson ES 175 4:58


    Phrase 3
    1954 Gibson L7CN 0:49
    1950 Gibson L7N 1:55
    1949 Gibson L50 2:55
    1936 D'Angelico Excel 4:00
    1953 Gibson ES 175 5:05
    Five electric archtops compared: L7, L7C, L50, ES 175, Excel-img_5074-large-jpegFive electric archtops compared: L7, L7C, L50, ES 175, Excel-img_5079-large-jpegFive electric archtops compared: L7, L7C, L50, ES 175, Excel-img_5080-large-jpegFive electric archtops compared: L7, L7C, L50, ES 175, Excel-img_5083-large-jpegFive electric archtops compared: L7, L7C, L50, ES 175, Excel-img_5088-large-jpeg
    Last edited by omphalopsychos; 08-19-2022 at 04:45 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I love this even though, to be perfectly honest, no matter how many times and how hard I listen I can't distinguish the sound of one guitar from any of the others. Still, I enjoy trying .

  4. #3

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    Nicely done, Juan! Great playing. Thanks for taking the time to do this. To be honest, all the guitars sound great. Just different shades of great in my opinion. I do really enjoy the smooth mids of the Excel. And that 175 sounds really sweet. Thanks again!

  5. #4
    I guess the question then is, if they all sound great, does that validate or invalidate the desire for more guitars?

  6. #5

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    Any one of those guitars could be the only jazz guitar you need. But need and want are two different things.

    The L-50 was a bit too midrange heavy for my taste but still sounds fine.

    I agree that a non cut, carved acoustic archtop with a Dearmond is a superb sound.

    You have some great guitars. Here's hoping they inspire your playing for many years to come

  7. #6

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    validate, of course.






    ( thanks for taking the time ... really enjoyed it quietly last night, got to listen to it again later in the day

    with a little more volume.

    ES-175 does not sound "laminate" in the mix at all so far )

  8. #7

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    L7N for me, both in terms of sound and looks. But, yes, I’d be delighted with any of them.

    A beautiful post, Om, the video and the images, and nice playing too.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Filmosound 621
    ES-175 does not sound "laminate" in the mix at all so far )
    Great post and noble, rewarding effort - thanks! I was surprised at how happy I’d be with any of them. The 175 really does hold its own among a group of guitars most consider far superior to it.

    Probably like most of us, I’ve never played or even heard an early 175. This is clearly a huge hole in my fund of knowledge! I got a used DN with humbuckers in early 1961 and gigged with it for 10 years. As soon as I could reasonably dream about an L-5, I began to do so and stupidly sold the 175 to buy a new L-5CN in the fall of 1970 IIRC. I missed my 175 almost immediately, but the friend to whom I sold it refused to sell it back for the rest of his life despite never learning to play it. I never heard from his family, so it’s gone from my life forever.

    But even in the fog of a 50+ year old memory, it never sounded as good as the one in the video. It had the “right” electric jazz tone, and it did a decent job on blues & pop - but it didn’t sing like this ‘53.

  10. #9

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    Thank you Juan for the nice comparison and the nicely played phrases ! I'll take the L7N

  11. #10
    Thanks everyone for listening! All the love for the L7N validates my belief that the perfect jazz guitar design was achieved very early on. This L7 was from the 50s but the design was fundamentally unchanged since the late 30s and those dearmonds became available around the same time.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
    - The tone knob on McCarty pickup on the L7CN is rolled off almost all the way. That is one BRIGHT pickup.
    Thank you for sharing that observation. The pickup coil on the McCarty of my L7 is a reproduction I wound based on the original patent and is also bright.