1st Jazz guitar

mags

Hi, I have been an acoustic player for years and I'm now dabbling about with jazz chords.  I'd like to buy an entry level acoustic / electric , hollow body , with f holes guitar suitable for jazz.  I've seen Gretsch, Epiphone and Ibanez but some of the guitars seem huge.  I've got a budget of uptp £600.  Any one out there who can point me in the right direction?  Thanks in advance.

mgaw

I am thinking of selling an excellent one   tis this  one it is quite big but plays extremely easily and sounds superb   little bit over budget but well worth it  
http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/148853/fs-ft-2010-dupont-bebop-archtop

Wonky

Personally I'd go for a second hand Ibanez.  But there's a lot of lovely Jazz Box' out there, but second hand will get you a lot more guitar for your money.

octatonic

Jazz is an approach- you can play jazz on anything.

Jalapeno

octatonic said:

Jazz is an approach- you can play jazz on anything.

This.

Les Paul was originally a Jazz guitar, Teles sound great too, as do 335s (and clones there of).

Ibanez / Epiphone / Peerless / Eastman - do jazz boxes in your budget (Peerless probably only 2nd hand)

Blueingreen

It's personal preference, but I'd tend to go for a more versatile guitar than a traditional archtop.  A 335 type is the obvious choice but I prefer a smaller body size.  I have a Gibson 339 but there's quite a lot of choice in the smaller bodied 335 format nowadays: the Collings i35, Gretsch Broadkaster Jr, Ibanez's Eric Krasno sig all look pretty good to me.

Also a lot of jazzers like a Tele which is another ultra-versatile option.  Personally I prefer the Gibson scale though.

Octatonic is right though - jazz is about rhythm, harmony and note choice.  Most of the bigger name jazz artists under 50 are no longer using the clean archtop sound with a touch or reverb or delay that is the cliche jazz sound.  Unless you really want to do the retro thing and sound like Wes/Joe/Grant et al you can play a strat or an SG or any damn thing you like.

merciful-evans

First of all, as others have said, you don't need an archtop to play jazz. If you just fancy that style of guitar though, that's fine. I love them.


An Epiphone Broadway would be in budget. At 17" (lower bout) they are big though. The last one I tried I didnt care for, but you might strike luckier than me.



I would look to try a D'angelico Premier EXL-1. These are slightly over budget, but really very nice indeed.

Godin 5th Avenue models are similarly priced to the D'angelico. The last one I tried was the best handling, easiest playing archtop I have ever handled. It had an indifferent tone however.

If you want a smaller fully hollowbody model. An Epiphone Casino Coupe will be well inside budget. I had one for about 18 months and used it in a jazz band briefly. I sold it on because it needed constant adjustment (unstable wood?).

p90fool

If you fancy an archtop, get one.
There's a fast note decay which really helps with traditional styles, and if top level jazz guitarists don't need a hollowbody that doesn't mean you needn't bother.

I'm not a jazz guitarist by any stretch, but when I need to fake it for a job I find it a lot easier to get in the zone with the right style of guitar. 

The good news is, unlike acoustic archtops, electric archtops don't have to be expensive to work well. Check out The Loar guitars for example. 

Veganic

Anyone have anything to say about amplification? 

What about amplification?

Exactly.

JerkMoans

+1 for Peerless. Astonishing quality and value for the money: well within your budget. Slap a set of flat wounds on and you’re cooking with gas.

rossi

Buy any guitar within reason ,....... and a DV mark little jazz.

Jimbro66

I agree with the comments above about being able to play jazz on a whole variety of guitars but if you want something that looks like a 'traditional' jazz guitar but not too bulky then the Ibanez George Benson GB10SE-BS could fit the bill:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_gb10se_bs_george_benson.htm

If you can find a used one it could be just about in your budget.

knuckleberryfinn

D'Angelico EXL-1 Premiers are on offer at Coda at the moment. I was about to get one, then an Ibanez PM35 came up, which is a very nice guitar indeed. The Ibanez AFC95 is really good too. 

mart

octatonic said:

Jazz is an approach- you can play jazz on anything.

But you won’t get too many gigs if you play it on a BC Rich or a Flying V. 

rossi

I get really good usable jazz tones from my Gibson MIdtown with a2 burstbuckers .Of course through a DV mark but also my Tele and strat do a decent jazz tone on the neck pickups  I play Jazz and  blues in bars for my sins.

Megii

I tried a new Ibanez AFC95 recently - absolutely excellent guitar, regardless of price - you could do a lot worse than going for one of those.

mbe

mart said:

octatonic said:

Jazz is an approach- you can play jazz on anything.

But you won’t get too many gigs if you play it on a BC Rich or a Flying V. 

That wouldn't matter if one had the right chops.

Veganic

mbe said:

mart said:

octatonic said:

Jazz is an approach- you can play jazz on anything.

But you won’t get too many gigs if you play it on a BC Rich or a Flying V. 

That wouldn't matter if one had the right chops.

What's that thing where that cat pushes the string across the fretboard? It sounds like a slide gone wrong man. 

ArchtopDave

Veganic said:

Anyone have anything to say about amplification? 

What about amplification?

Exactly.

Rivera Jazz Suprema. Had one for quite a few years. It’s my ‘go to amp’ at home. Excellent warm ‘cleans’ and reverb. On the downside, they’re uncommon, and not cheap.

ionian

I recently picked up an Ibanez afj95 for £220 - and there was another similar model listed at the same time for £300. It's a lot of guitar for that sort of money, sounds nice, looks gorgeous and plays great as the neck is relatively slim for a jazz box. 

But still, the best clean jazz tone I get is from my jackson dinky with a sd59 bridge pickup and the tone and volume pots rolled down. Don't know how well that would go down at an old school jam (not that I'm much of a jazz guitarist) but it sounds great.