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A friend wants a jazz box under a grand


Freeman Keller

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A friend (and customer) has started taking some lessons from a very good local jazz player and needs a guitar. He currently only owns an old Gibson J25 and thinks he wants some sort of electric jazz box. He actually has asked me to build him something, I might but I really wasn't thinking of starting anything until this winter so that isn't really a possibility.

 

I suggested maybe an Epi Joe Pass for a hollow body or a Sheraton for a semi hollow or maybe one of the Eastman's. I think he would l to stay around a grand.

 

Suggestions?

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your friend should have a look at https://eastwoodguitars.com/

there are some hollow and semi hollow modells in the airline series and there is the classic series...

 

i have an airline tuxedo, its a great bang for the buck and definitely good quality guitars

 

and then there is the gretsch streamliner and electromatic series, all under a 1000bucks....

 

i haven't played one so far in person, but if the lefty G2622 would have been available back then, i guess i would never have asked you to build my guitar for me and would would have bought that instead :)

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Epi Broadway, Epi Joe Pass Emperor, Epi Casino, Gretsch Electromatic, D'Angelico Premiere series and some of the aforementioned Ibanez Artcores...all models new under a grand.

Used? I would lean toward a Guild Starfire III [i wish I had kept mine]

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A friend (and customer) has started taking some lessons from a very good local jazz player and needs a guitar. He currently only owns an old Gibson J25 and thinks he wants some sort of electric jazz box. He actually has asked me to build him something, I might but I really wasn't thinking of starting anything until this winter so that isn't really a possibility.

 

I suggested maybe an Epi Joe Pass for a hollow body or a Sheraton for a semi hollow or maybe one of the Eastman's. I think he would l to stay around a grand.

 

Suggestions?

 

I have a couple of Godin 5th Ave King Pins. It's something to think about and may fit the bill.

One of mine is a Kingpin with no cutaway in sunburst or whatever they call it. and the other is the Kingpin II in burgundy and that has the cutway and 2 P90 like pickups.

 

I have dAddario Chromes on both of them right now.

 

The Kingpin didn't come with a case of I got a TKL case for t. The Kingpin II has Godin's TRIC case. It's light very supportive, but bulky. I might just get another TKL case for that one.

 

You're looking at between 700 and 1000 dollars. In the used market I have no idea what they are going for. I play more of a roots thing, not so much jazz, but I dig the mellowness of the Chromes.

 

They make one with humbuckers too.

 

 

Other than that, you'll be looking at something made in Asia.

 

 

[video=youtube;H8Q3vFKz3QM]

 

Also not a hollow body, but a Semi Hollowbody. I have an ES 135 with classic 57's . They also came with P100's not P90's They have a chunky neck, but I like mine a lot.

 

They were not very costly in the 90's and 2000's, but have gone up in price over the years. They also came with a hardshell case, so don't let you buddy get shafted and have the case not included. The early ones I believe are made in Nashville, the later years are from the Memphis plant.

[video=youtube;BrKmhFj5gmA]

 

 

Mine is black w/ humbuckers just like this one.

 

[video=youtube;RbPPYmB_RRE]

I don't remember them ever coming with a Bigsby. However, there was a rarer Limited Edition that I saw with one.

[video=youtube;umK5CbgDQ0Q]

 

 

Guild, Epiphone, Ibanez, Gretsch.

 

The Ibanez's lack charm and the ones I played could have had a little more detail in the fret work., but they were there Artcore, cost not much. Same with the Epiphones. I think the Electromatic series Gretsch's are lovely for the price. When it came time for me to buy a Gretsch, I went with the MIJ professional Gretsch guitar, and probably spent another grand getting the Filtertron pups or TV Jones pups. I have both a Tn Rose and a Power Jet. They are lovely right out of the box. Lovely cases come with them and I have no complaints.

 

Don't forget the Guilds, but I have played any of the new imports

 

 

 

 

 

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All really good information folks, thank you so much. I'll forward it on to him as well as some thoughts I have. He really wants me to build something for him (or sell him my yellow guitar) but the timing is all wrong - if I started now it would be ready to finish right in the dead of winter, the worst possible time. If he finds something that will get him by for 6 months I might consider it - of course that would mean a build thread.....

 

 

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^build thread!! build thread!! build thread!! build thread!!!!

:)

 

 

 

*must resist to ask you, to make me an accoustic guitar* *must resist* *must resist* *must resist*

 

but the talk what and how and what my preferences are and seeing the progress every now and than from one piece to the next...

that was the most fun of all *must resist* *must resist* :)

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All really good information folks, thank you so much. I'll forward it on to him as well as some thoughts I have. He really wants me to build something for him (or sell him my yellow guitar) but the timing is all wrong - if I started now it would be ready to finish right in the dead of winter, the worst possible time. If he finds something that will get him by for 6 months I might consider it - of course that would mean a build thread.....

 

 

You can build a jazzbox for under a grand? nice.

 

 

 

 

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I was think you'd be a grand into the materials.

 

I have followed your work over the years. Nice to say the least.

 

A lot depends on "options". For example, the 335 I built for T_e_l_e had pretty nice but basic PAF style pickups, the one I built for my jazz playing friend had some very special ones that he spec'ed (and was willing to pay for). He also wanted a gold plated Bigsby and his name inlayed on the pick guard.

 

I've been looking over my friends shoulder as he looks at archtop jazz guitars - how can they build a whole instrument, ship it to the US, have several levels of distributors all getting their mark up and still sell the damn thing for less than I can buy the parts? As I look over the guitars you guys have suggested, there are some really sweet ones for pretty darn affordable prices.

 

 

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A lot depends on "options". For example, the 335 I built for T_e_l_e had pretty nice but basic PAF style pickups, the one I built for my jazz playing friend had some very special ones that he spec'ed (and was willing to pay for). He also wanted a gold plated Bigsby and his name inlayed on the pick guard.

 

I've been looking over my friends shoulder as he looks at archtop jazz guitars - how can they build a whole instrument, ship it to the US, have several levels of distributors all getting their mark up and still sell the damn thing for less than I can buy the parts? As I look over the guitars you guys have suggested, there are some really sweet ones for pretty darn affordable prices.

 

 

I played a few The Loar thin bodies, and they were pretty nice. Kind of like playing a real old skool Gibson. However I'm not gonna give Chinese a dollar more than I have too.That's probably why I ended up with the Godin's.

 

I rarely sell anything, and I'm willing to pay the extra for an instrument made in the USA.I do have the Godin's made in Canada and a couple of Gretsch's made in Japan and a very old tele 62 ri that was also made in Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. . . I've been looking over my friends shoulder as he looks at archtop jazz guitars - how can they build a whole instrument' date=' ship it to the US, have several levels of distributors all getting their mark up and still sell the damn thing for less than I can buy the parts? . . .[/quote']

Same reason I couldn't compete with Dell back when I built computers. I had to buy Windows, motherboards, hard drives, memory, etc. at retail, they could get a bulk discount. I typically just about broke even building a given machine. Those Asian factories also have minimal labor cost overhead.

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Mr Brown.... I have to call bovine excrement on your comment regarding the use of laminates in building jazz boxes. The real reason for using plywood over solid wood is purely economic. It's 1) cheaper to use a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood, steam and press into shape, then to use a 1 inch thick piece of wood and carve it. and 2) easier to bend.

 

And there is no evidence that solids feedback more then laminate. In fact, I would suspect the opposite too be true, due to the small voids in the laminate.

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Mr Brown.... I have to call bovine excrement on your comment regarding the use of laminates in building jazz boxes. The real reason for using plywood over solid wood is purely economic. It's 1) cheaper to use a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood, steam and press into shape, then to use a 1 inch thick piece of wood and carve it. and 2) easier to bend.

 

And there is no evidence that solids feedback more then laminate. In fact, I would suspect the opposite too be true, due to the small voids in the laminate.

 

I don't see the post by MrBrown that you are referring to but I believe it is much more involved than economics. Remember that I have built both laminated top and solid topped instruments - lets talk about the differences. Lets start by dividing the group in half - on one side are acoustic jazz guitars, the big wonderful archtops from D'Angelico and Stromberg and the Gibson L models and all the similar things. They basically have one thing in common - they were designed to be play unplugged in. Yes lots of them have pickups added, but almost always they are floating above the top or somehow designed to not affect the vibration of the top. Pick guards float, neck extensions float - nothing impeds the movement of the top.

 

The second group are electric jazz guitars. We think of all of the ES series from Gibson, but Epiphone, Gretsch and many of the PacRim companies make them. Again, they all have one thing in common - they are designed to be plugged in. If the top moves, fine, that will color and affect the tone, but almost without exception, if you play one of these critters without a chord plugged into its little jack it will be weak and anemic.

 

But, you say, they look the same (more or less) - they both have gracefully curved tops and floating bridges and f-holes. And you are right - they do. But the traditional carved solid top is just a heck of a lot of work - even with a duplicarver or a cnc there is a ton of hand work in making a good archtop top sound just right. Read Benedetto's book, you'll get the idea. It also explains why hand carved arch tops and mandolins and violins can start at 10 grand and go up.

 

Gibson wisely decided a long time ago that in their (E)lectric (S)panish series there was no need to make an expensive carved top, if they laminated three pieces of wood (with something pretty on the outside) they could duplicate the shape of a carved top and turn them out like cookies. Others followed suit and we have all the wonderful electric jazz boxes that you guys are suggesting and my friend is looking for.

 

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=48705&hilit=freeman

 

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=44679&hilit=Freeman

 

 

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