Jazz guitar

[djlee8807]

Hi everyone,

I am currently looking around to pick up a small body jazz guitar. Any strong recommendations from the PRS lineup? So far I am leaning towards Gibson ES-359 but I would like everyone's opinion on PRS guitar's suitability and capability for a nice jazz tone. Maybe the hollowbody II or ja-15?

Thanks in advance

 

[AaeCee]

I'm a big fan of the discontinued PRS Archtop Spruce (or Jazz), but they're a bit hard to find. Great, reedy, deep jazz tones with some good definition on tap. Alternatively, every JA-15 I've played was fantastic, especially those that came with the 53/10 pickups. If I didn't have an Archtop, I'd get a JA-15 in a heartbeat.

FWIW, I once owned an ES-359 as well, but sold it fairly quickly. Not a fan. I do however own a sumptuous Byrdland which sounds ridiculously good but was ridiculously expensive.

 

[H2-DGT]

I had an Eastman T-185MX, which is like a 336. It was a great-sounding guitar. My H2 has alot more separation and each note has more body. The Eastman is gone.

 

[kingsleyd]

Singlecut hollowbody spruce.

 

[Egads]

Singlecut Hollowbody II or JA. If the size is not an issue, go with the JA.

 

[Tag]

For jazz, I LOVE my 359, but I dig my old CU 22 semi hollow LTD just as much. Not a fan of the PRS HBs, and never played a JA, but I would love to! The Walnut Semi hollow CU 22s are fantastic as well. I Jump between that one and the 359 a lot, and cant say i like either one more than the other. Both great guitars. The 359 is the loudest acoustically if that matters at all.

 

[djlee8807]

Thanks for the response everyone. Much appreciated.

I guess my following question is would there be a difference in capability for a jazz tone between singlecut hb and doublecut hb?

 

[László]

Thanks for the response everyone. Much appreciated.

I guess my following question is would there be a difference in capability for a jazz tone between singlecut hb and doublecut hb?

The larger resonator (a hollow body is a resonator) would make a theoretical difference, but guitar tone varies between individual examples.

I recently played a friend's Spruce Hollowbody Artist that sounded absolutely great, could do pretty much anything with it.

Remember that for a true jazz tone, you're going to want to roll the tone control on the guitar way down for a traditional jazz tone. The guitar can be as bright or dark as you want it. Very, very versatile.

Honestly, I get wonderful jazz tones from my McCarty Singlecut with the tone control rolled to about 3, and it's even easier to get a nice jazz tone from the HB.

Edit: It'd probably be a good idea to be a little more specific about jazz tones, since that's a pretty big category ranging from Charlie Christian to Scofield to Metheney to Burrell to Wes Montgomery, and they all do sound different. And then there's Les Paul who played, well...