Hollow Body Options
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Great video that was really helpful! thank you. My favorites where the ce100 rocket and the 125. I got my 335 out last night and had it sounding halfway descent I think I might get away with using for a few songs until I can afford a holiday where can hand pick something rather then take a risk on buying a guitar with out seeing or playing it. I have done it once before and got lucky so I wont push my luck.
Thanks, I am glad that helped you out. If it were me personally I would definitely go Guild CE-100 over the Gibson Es-125. That is just because I think you get a lot more guitar for the same amount of money. However, depending on year and condition, some CE-100’s will start to push into the $2,000, but that is still a steal when you think comparable ES-175’s can go for $7,000 or higher . The ES-125 is nice but does not play any where near as good as the CE-100. Those guitars really aren’t in the same league though, so it is not a fair comparison. Even though they pull the same price. I have always preferred the Guilds to the Gibsons in terms of how they feel, sound, and play. That is personal though, but personal preference aside the CE-100 just plays better and is constructed better than the ES-125. Another guitar that is very nice is the Peerless. They make a Gigmaster SC that has two P-90’s in it that will be in the $1,100 range. They also make a few other guitars with P-90’s. I will attach the Gigmaster. Eastman also makes a ES-175 style guitar that is killer. Very awesome guitars and will also be in the $1,100 range. Peerless I know has some dealers in Australia but I do not know if the prices are the same as the US. I know the Vintage guitar store link you posted, a lot of those guitars can be found much cheaper here in the states.
http://www.peerlessguitars.com.au/products.html&pID=23
http://www.eastmanguitars.com/ar372ce/
Here is a link to one of the new releases of Guilds This also comes in a non Bigsby option that will be $100 less. This link has some videos of it
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item–i-GUI-3795005-LISTJust came across these, havent looked into them yet but damn they look bad ass. ( thats aus street price us is around $1500 )
http://dangelicoguitars.com/standard/ex-59/
From the d’angelico site
The D’Angelico brand was re-launched about a year and a half ago at winter NAMM I believe. Never played one, but they have positively reviewed in the trade mags.
Some confliction on that D’Angelico guitar. Their website says carved back and sides, and the jacksmusic site says all laminate…Does $1500 seem a little spendy for an all laminate guitar?
Not at all. Just about all Gretsches, even the pro series are laminated. Even all the Gibson ES series is laminated possibly with an exception here or there. There are two types of solid wood archtops. Pressed and carved. Looking at the guitar only as an acoustic instrument, a solid wood pressed top would be better than a laminated and a carved solid top would be better yet. But, as an electric instrument, how we actually use them, many people prefer the sound of a pressed top, or like the durability, or the slightly greater rejection of feedback or the greater environmental stability…… For a nice carved archtop I would think you would be talking about at least $3.5K. A new Gibson L5 lists at nearly $10k.
There are always exceptions and varying tastes and opinions, for example my semi-hollowbodies use solid wood to get just a little more resonance out of the body, but I use flat acoustic guitar top and back plates, thin solid wood, not carved, keeping the cost down.
Eastman and a few others make more affordable carved top archtops. You might find a local Eastman dealer and compare the acoustic and electric tone of carved and laminated guitars just to know what you like.
Looking at Gibson and Gretsch, the laminated tops are usually, Maple for the two outer layers and Poplar for the inner layers.
For a solid wood top, you can have a form and wet or steam the wood and press it into shape. You could also have 3 layers of thin spruce and laminate them in a press. In this case, grain orientation would all be the same, like it was a solid board where in normal laminations, just like plywood, the grain alternates for added strength and stability.
Remember that the guitar sides are bent with heat, moisture and pressure. So a top can be formed that way also.
With a fully carved top, the builder has more voicing possibilities. The thickness can be varied at will and optimized for the bracing, body size and desired tone. They are often slightly thicker at the center (so the arch won’t collapse) and thinner at the edges (so the top can move). A really beautiful sounding acoustic archtop can be made this way and some of that sound will translate thru the pickups.
On the other hand, most of the ES-175’s in the world are pressed tops and there is a certain sound they make that people like and are familiar with. If you want that sound, you might want a pressed top.
Interesting, thanks for the info. I believe the jacks site correct.
Being it’s such a new model there are no reviews on it that I can find and only one video of it at namm which is very short.
All the reviews of the Korean models I’ve found have been positive though but still the more I think about it $1500 seems a lot of money for a Korean made guitar.
The guy at jacks said he played the prototype at namm and they have sold a bunch of other models and people have liked them but yeh he’s a salesman lol. They are the only place to stock them in aus the first of that model arrives this week. Was super keen at first but think I will pass on it for the time being.
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