https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:41 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78572 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 04:01:11 +0000
I sure am happy with my AS-820.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78572 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78522 Mon, 06 Dec 2004 21:19:19 +0000
I guess that'd be a nice trip to take over winter break. :D]]> Guitar Players Discussion Rodya S. Thompson https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78522 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78448 Mon, 06 Dec 2004 06:35:52 +0000 http://rondomusic.net/]]> Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78448 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78439 Mon, 06 Dec 2004 03:14:50 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion Rodya S. Thompson https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78439 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78415 Sun, 05 Dec 2004 23:52:59 +0000
So far as "jazz boxes" go, there are two main types of pickups. P-90s were Gibson's main pickups from sometime in the '40s to 1957, when they introduced humbuckers. (P-90s hung around on some models, and can still be had of course.)

P-90s are single coil pickups, but made differently from Fender's. They have a bigger coil with more turns of wire, and two magnets lying edgewise on the bottom with like poles together against the screws that act as pole pieces, the opposite poles on the outside at the edge of the coil. They're way "hotter" than Fender type single coils, and deeper toned, but let more bright treble through and they make a "quack" sound like Fender pickups, but deeper voiced. They hum like crazy, being very sensitive to alternating magnetic fields in the environment. A lot of '50s rock, blues and jazz was done with these. They've got a wider frequency range than humbuckers.

Humbuckers have one of the P-90 magnets lying horizontal with two sets of iron pole pieces sticking up from either end (making them reverse polarized), with two coils of wire, one around each set of pole pieces, either reverse wound or connected in reverse. That makes them cancel out any voltages induced by external magnetic fields (assuming the coils are identical), thus they "buck" hum. But the magnetic influence of the vibrating string induces voltages in the two coils that add together, producing a very strong output. Because you can't get the two poles very close together and have enough wire wrapped around them, they sense a pretty long section of the string and miss the very high frequencies with wavelengths on that order or shorter, so you don't get a lot of bright harmonics out of a humbucker. They're very strong, and very "warm" or "dark" sounding. That's a lot of the "mellow, woody" sound that many people associate with hollowbodies nowadays.

Few hollow guitars are now being offered with P-90s. Epiphone offers a reissue Casino with them, and Agile makes that semihollow I've got. Otherwise, you're going to get humbuckers, and they're a classic sound as well. Most of the "jazz boxes" made since 1957 have had them.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78415 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78406 Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:09:24 +0000
A friend of mine has an Ovation - very nice, very easy to play, good action, sound, incredibly lightweight. I'm definitely picking one of those suckers up when I want to get an acoustic.

As for the jazz box stuff, I will most DEFINITELY look into those guitars. I was struck the most by the aesthetics of the Ibanez line (I'm young, us young people like things that look purdy/shiny), as I said, not much of a chance to sit down with some and jam.

Also, if you don't mind entertaining another beginner question, what are the differences between some pickups? I know that the wood involved in construction of guitars contributes a certain sound, but how much of a particular sound can be attributed to that, and how much more can be derived from pickups?]]> Guitar Players Discussion Rodya S. Thompson https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78406 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78230 Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:16:03 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78230 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78210 Fri, 03 Dec 2004 20:50:48 +0000 the Dillion line is a bit more expensive that the agiles....but they were praised VERY highly for thier price bracket!!

definatly worth checking them out.
only problem is....you can only order them from Rondo
so you might have a hard time finding one to see if that is what you really want]]> Guitar Players Discussion pcparrothead https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78210 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78195 Fri, 03 Dec 2004 19:52:20 +0000
http://www.rondomusic.net/coolcat.html

http://www.rondomusic.net/coolcatprestvintstoptail.html

For me personally, I love the upper bout toggle and the florentine cutaway, but wish they offered them left-handed (like they used to) AND with the vintage-burst (or whatever they called it)

Wow, just cruising around their site brought me to this:

http://www.rondomusic.net/doublevalkyrie.html

I'll have to check Rondo out more often!]]> Guitar Players Discussion DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78195 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78189 Fri, 03 Dec 2004 17:31:17 +0000 maybe more like an electic

you might check out the Fender Telaccoustic or the Stratacoustic.
"plastic" body with wood top. strat/tele style neck with a "thin line" accoustic body.

just something to look at....
and they also have pickups and electronics.....and should be had for under the $400 mark

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN957400]]> Guitar Players Discussion pcparrothead https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/jazz-guitars-a-good-middle-ground/#post-78189