Good Playing But Inexpensive Hollowbody Guitars

[jaguarcat311]

im kinda lookin for a hollowbody guitar that i can customize just how i want but im not lookin for the huge pricetag. preferably with mini humbuckers or filtertron'ish pickups......is there such a thing? believe me if i wasnt paying for college and had a spare 2 grand i would buy a gretsch so fast......but since that isnt the case im lookin for a project. i wind my own pickups so i plan on rewinding or straight up replacing whatevers on it. slap a bigsby, lockin tuners, tone switch, roller bridge and maybe even a preamp on and i'll be set. has anyone played an oscar schmitd? or any of those fairly cheap ones on eebs? thanks for the help

[guitar_ed]

Try Epiphone Dot Reissue guitars. A Dot Reissue Studio goes for about $350. The neck is straight, and it is reasonably well built.

Guitar Ed

[Jester700]

I was fairly impressed with what you could get for the money in the Ibanez Artcore line, but I didn't do any direct comparisons with anything and I'm not even a jazzer. So there's a data point, albeit a really small one... ;-)

[ooten2]

I second the Ibanez Artcore thing. I've never owned one, but played several in stores, and they always play great. I like the Talmans the best, but all of them seem very nice for the price.

[stageleft]

I'll 3rd the Ibanez Artcore thing. I bought one about a year ago, with the same thing in mind as you. I like it so much I haven't touched a thing on it yet. In comparion to the Epiphone dots, the Ibanez is a MUCH better value.

Both GFS and TV'tron make humbucker sized filtertron like pickups. I may still drop a set in my Ibanez, but its not on my short list at the moment.

George

[jaguarcat311]

I'll 3rd the Ibanez Artcore thing. I bought one about a year ago, with the same thing in mind as you. I like it so much I haven't touched a thing on it yet. In comparion to the Epiphone dots, the Ibanez is a MUCH better value.

    Both GFS and TV'tron make humbucker sized filtertron like pickups. I may still drop a set in my Ibanez, but its not on my short list at the moment.

George

←

it seems like the artcore is the way to go. i played a used one in guitar center that was set up pretty badly, but i checked the neck felt pretty good and such. i dont believe in gfs filtertrons, a friend of mine got a 'hot' one for bridge position, i measured the resistance in series: i believe it was about 14 k....... filtertrons measure around 4k. they also dont use 42 awg formvar wire, i believe they used 43 awg poly wire. gfs also uses ceramic magnets in one of their "filtertrons", where gretsch uses alnico 5.

i prefer to wind my own coils, they turn out much better than gfs or seymore duncans. the second pickup i wound was an invader copy, threw it in my friends epi sheraton and that pickup screams through his pignose. its less sterile sounding than the invader. the only pickups i like enough to stick them in my guitars are bartolinis (bass) and lace sensor. so theres my speil about pickups......

if tvjones pickups were a bit less pricey i would grab a set, but i will just wind my own pickups

Edited August 3, 2005 by jaguarcat311

[GodBlessTexas]

I'll fourth the Artcores. I don't own one yet, but I'm hoping for a AFS75T in transparent blue under the tree this Christmas after my wife and I came to an agreement about me buying anymore guitars this year. And somehow I ended up buying a piano.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

[stolb3rg]

Id Probably go with an old Kay. I like em alot!

[lovekraft]

I had a really nice Turser 335 dot clone (sold it to somebody who couldn't live without it), but I went through a dozen or two to find a really good one. You're going to run into that same situation on any inexpensive import semi-hollow, be it Ibanez, Epiphone, Samick or whatever. There are some real dogs in all those lines, but if you can pick and choose from a fairly large selection, there are a few real gems to be found. Look for intonation, playability, clean fretwork and good fit and finish, and expect to replace pickups, and you shouldn't go far wrong.

[ccbryan]

Epiphone Dots and 335s aren't hollow...

[Sambo]

Look at the washburn catalogue. Cheap and good. might get a set of duncans in for a resonable price too.

[gripper]

I love the Epi Casino but it sure isn't for everybody. That trapeze taipiece is something you have to be sure you can live with before you buy. 3 out of 4 Beatles can't be wrong! Ringo would have bought one but Bach had all his money.