Vision Music

[Scratch]

Hi,

I am looking for an archtop guitar. I 've already had a sweet 16 from Heritage which was a great instrument but it didn't feel right for me so I sold it. I am now playing on an American Strat with Seymour Duncan humbuckers and I like it alot. I do wish I could find a pro quality archtop instrument for maximum 2000 Dollars. Could you give me a few tips? How are the Epiphones, Yamahas and Ibanez? I like sounds like Green or Montgomery.
Would a variax 700 from line 6 be an option? Is there a huge difference between a solid wood and a press wood instrument ,for example:Epiphone Elitist and non Elitist?

Thanks for your insights,

[Brad Kinder]

Hey Scratch,

If you don't mind buying used I highly recommend a Guild X150. It's basically their version of a ES175. Fantastic guitars! I just tracked down a '97 in almost unplayed condition(see pic). You can get them in 1 or 2 pickup configs. Price is usually $1,100-1,500.

The Epiphone Elitist are in the same league as the pre-fender Guilds. I owned their ES335 and sold to buy a new Gibson. Big, big mistake! The Gibson may have been nicer to look at but the Epi was head and shoulders above in playability and tone. Needless to say I don't recommend a newer Gibson. Sorry but once bit - twice shy.

As far as the standard Korean Epi's and Ibanez Artcores...I've played many of them but they're just not in the same league IMO. If you have anyway to compare them side by side it'll take about 5 secs to see what I mean.

Laminate or solid top? It's subjective maybe. Most of the guitar recordings I love and listen to are played on laminate guitars. If you're after a better acoustic tone then I'd go solid top. If you're after that classic electric jazz guitar tone, I prefer laminate top guitars.

Based on my experience the Guild X150 or an Epi Elitist are both great choices and probably the best bang-per-buck out there.

[Gorecki]

I have to throw in a little defense for the Ibanez Artcore series. And a little for the Epi's

With the Epi's it really depends, the Samick built ones have been good, others...so-so.

With Ibanez the one problem is they keep changing models and soon as a good one comes, it's gone. I love my AK-85! I tweaked it very little and is quite a player. Any of the 75's I've played were awful, the 100's, not bad..but inconsistent.

My AK-85

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Forums Admin VisionMusic.com
Do you know where all of your F'n B flats are?

[woland99]

Try Excel by D'Angelico:
http://www.dangelicodirect.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=4
http://www.dangelicodirect.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=6

They are sold out of other Excel models but stll have single floater
EXL-1 and double humbucker EXS-1DH ones in stock. At $800 that
is incredible deal. I bought the EXL-1 couple months ago. Practically
flawless. Of course it is laminated top not hancarved but it sound
good amplified. Friend of mine who is a local luthier here in Austin
thought that EXL-1 compared very favourably with Eastman archtops
at a fraction of the price.
You can find MP3 with very thorough demo of the sound at:
http://www.rogerplacer.com/projects.html

JT

[thaydon]

I have a guild x-170 pre-fender, with double humbuckers that i am really pleased with. i play it acoustically and it sounds very good.
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sincerely yours,

Todd

[Scratch]

Thanks guys for your replies,

I am looking into the infos you sent me. For those who would like to reply please go ahead 'cause it really helps,

Thanks again,

[Scratch]

Hi,

So here I am again,

this week I went to a local guitar shop where I had to oportunity to try a few guitars. There was a Gibson ES-175 which I found had a great sound. There was also an Epiphone Broadway which I didn't like so much. It wasn't very easy to play. And then I tried a Yamaha SA 2200. I wasn't expecting this since I wanted to try Archtops. A very good surprise. Great sound, great playability and very good quality. Does anyone of you have comments on this yamaha? For those of you who know this guitar, how does it compare to the Heritage 535? Playability and all that?

Thanks,

[woland99]

No to dis fellow members here but you will cast much wider net asking
on RMMGJ (rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz) newsgroup. Topic of affordable
archtops is discussed there twice a week.
If you spend $1500 on Yamaha SA2200 then why not get a used 335?
I bought my 335 for $1600, put Kent Armstrong P90s on it and Pyramid 10s
and it is awesome guitar. For jazz or blues.
I also have $800 D'Angelico Excel and it has it's merits. You need more
precise technique to play it - it is not a as forgiving as 335. But it sounds
like an archtop - you cannot get same sound from 335.

JT

[Don MacArthur]

I've owned a lot of guitars over the years. Some expensive, some not so expensive. I've owned a Heritage Sweet 16, two Heritage H555s, an Eastman 905CE, an Eastman El Rey, an Eastman 803, a Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno, a Buscarino Gigmaster, a Samick RL4, a Samick JZ4, an Ibanez Artcore AF105, a fully carved Foster St. Charles, a Tacoma Jazz King, a fully carved Trenier Model E, etc.

For the under $700 price range, the Ibanez AF105 is really a good quality guitar for the money. To me it felt more like I was playing a guitar valued at $1,500. You can find them on auction sites for about $450. If you get a chance, check one out.

[jlc]

No first hand knowledge, but i ran accross this on another jazz forum.

about 1100 dollars.

http://www.jazzguitarzone.com/manhattan.html


peace
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Peace

[Jazzin']

I just placed an order with Doc Dosco, http://archtopjazzguitars.com/, who was very helpful in describing the merits of each Peerless guitar.

I'll post a followup in 10 days or so after I receive the guitar from Doc.

For those of you who already own Peerless, I would be interested in your comments.

Cheers

Peerless Guitars on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B883E04FDBAB4C06&page=1