HI YJJG,
I really like my epiphone dot deluxe; it's a gibson es-335 copy. I
own several archtop guitars, and so far I really enjoy the dot the
most. Maybe , it's the scale length; but it's a really nice action
and sound. Perhaps , one of the best non jazz jones out of archtop
guitars is steve howe of yes, and ironically, rocker ted nugent. Not
to mention the legendary 335 tone of larry carlton!
I put light jazz type strings on my dot ( .12 - .52 wound 3rd ).
They don't feel that heavy to me; however, you will probably desire
a non wound 3rd string if you like to bend the string. I'm not
quite sure how larger archtops will react to light guage strings.
good luck!
Donnie L.
--- In jazz_guitar@..., "rstl99" <rastlouis@r...> wrote:
I'm considering my options for acquiring an electric guitar (I own
some nice acoustics). In my case, for mainly solo playing (the
odd
jamming), practicing, learning, and recording into a digital mini-
studio (ie. plugging the guitar directly into the recorder).
Someone locally is selling a very nice Japanese archtop (Yamaha).
I
liked the acoustic and especially the amplified sound it had, very
nice and "jazz-like". But playing the heavy guage flatwound
strings
that it has fitted (which give it the best "jazz" sound), I
realized
that it could not easily be used for other purposes (fusion-type
jazz or blues, to name that I like to toy with).
So I'm thinking: maybe the archtop is not a versatile enough
guitar
for me. I searched through the archives of this great forum and
came across some suggestions for nice versatile guitars: ES-335
types like Epiphone Sheraton II, Ibanez AS-120 etc.
I have a question: can an archtop guitar meant for jazz playing,
instead of being fitted with med-heavy jazz guages, be fitted with
lighter guages that would allow playing other styles (fusion,
blues,
etc.) with reasonable success? Or is that defeating the purpose
of
the instrument, and is one better off finding a nice compromise
guitar like an ES-335 type?
I suppose I should say that my budget is around $700-800, and I'd
rather get something used/aged than new.
Thanks for your thoughts.
