software

Whaddya think? I'm going for tones in the style of Kenny Burrell, Grant Green. Mellow, smooth, very warm.

J

Seths or Ants.

I would recommend a Alnico 2 Pro. IMO it has the best tone for an Archtop guitar. Do a search here for Mirabella guitars. Xcessive just posted some PIcs of Cris's guitars a few days ago. Cris will normally install Alnico 2 Pros in his guitars, but he has used Antiquities and Seth Lovers as requested by his customers. I have heard all of these in Archtops and I feel the Alnico 2 sounds the best.... very warm sounding.

Another consideration is what type of Archtop is your guitar? Is it a laminated guitar, or is it a solid carved top? These will have an affect of the tone you get thru Arctops.


Originally Posted by BludaveI would recommend a Alnico 2 Pro. IMO it has the best tone for an Archtop guitar. Do a search here for Mirabella guitars. Xcessive just posted some PIcs of Cris's guitars a few days ago. Cris will normally install Alnico 2 Pros in his guitars, but he has used Antiquities and Seth Lovers as requested by his customers. I have heard all of these in Archtops and I feel the Alnico 2 sounds the best.... very warm sounding.

Another consideration is what type of Archtop is your guitar? Is it a laminated guitar, or is it a solid carved top? These will have an affect of the tone you get thru Arctops.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking of either an EPI Dot or Sheraton, or the Ibanex Artcore AK85.

seths.

p.s. I lt;33 kenny burrell.

jonnymangia, I have a few archtops with various pickups Duncans,Kent Armstrong (made by KA..not WD), Benedetto. I have a Duncan Seth Lover as a neck pickip in one guitar. To be honest, I find it a bit muddy for my style of jazz e.g. Martino, Benson, Taylor. My favorite pickup other than the Kent Armstong is a Duncan Jazz neck. Warm but also articulate. rob


Originally Posted by RobTjonnymangia, I have a few archtops with various pickups Duncans,Kent Armstrong (made by KA..not WD), Benedetto. I have a Duncan Seth Lover as a neck pickip in one guitar. To be honest, I find it a bit muddy for my style of jazz e.g. Martino, Benson, Taylor. My favorite pickup other than the Kent Armstong is a Duncan Jazz neck. Warm but also articulate. rob

Thanks Rob. I'm going for a tone in the vein of Kenny Burrell and Grant Green who are pretty warm sounding (I hear Martino is as well). Is the Kent Armstrong pup you mentioned a P90?

And what kind of archtops are you using? I'm just starting out with jazz, so I was going to buy a lower-end one (Epi or Ibanez), throw in some sweet pups and make it sound nice.

I had a ebony cased 24 pole pieced Kent A. pickup on my Manzer jazz Cat when I had it. That pick-up was the sexx.

jonnymangia, For straight ahead jazz and chord melody playing I play either a Guild Benedetto Artist Award, a Gibson L5, an Aria Bob Conti Johnny Smith copy from the 70's or a Warmoth mahagony bodied spruce top. The Warmoth can be seen on the Warmoth site under the LPS gallery. I end up mostly playing either the Artist Award or the Warmoth. The AA has a Benedetto pickup and I play it mostly through a Genz Benz Acoustic amp or a SF Fender Pro Reverb. It has a very clear and articulate tone that is really nice for chord melody style playing. The Warmoth has a SD Jazz neck and it sounds a like like the L5 or the Aria. The L5 has stock pickups and the Aria has a floating Kent Armstong 24 pole piece pickup. Very nice pickup. I prefer a 1 3/4 neck so I end up playing the Warmoth. Plus its not as fragile. I didn't know how the Warmoth was going to end up when I put it together, but I've been very pleased with the tone. I use Thomastick Infeld strings a 12-50 gauge set then toss out the .12 and .16 and use a .14 and .18 for the E and B. D'Addario's on everything else except for my flatops which get John Pearse. The Ibenez, Eastman, are god starting points. r/rob

57 classics. I was going to change them out in the 335 I bought recently but I'm going to leave them in now. One because I going to leave my 335 stock and two, they are giving me the tone I want. The 57 classic neck is one of the better pickups for a jazz tone. If I just had to put SD's in it, I would go with a set of 59's or jazz.


Originally Posted by Stratsky57 classics. I was going to change them out in the 335 I bought recently but I'm going to leave them in now. One because I going to leave my 335 stock and two, they are giving me the tone I want. The 57 classic neck is one of the better pickups for a jazz tone. If I just had to put SD's in it, I would go with a set of 59's or jazz.

The SD Jazz is an intriguing pickup, but I thought that it didn't have a vintage vibe to it, like the Seth/59's do.

The Seths are great in my Sheraton, but I too think they are a bit too loose on the lows for comping. I like the Phat Cat in the neck a bit more for those tones.


Originally Posted by jonnymangiaThe SD Jazz is an intriguing pickup, but I thought that it didn't have a vintage vibe to it, like the Seth/59's do.

I've tried a Jazz neck in a strat and one in a PRS. I think they sort of like a 59 but brighter and cleaner. I also like it overdriven. I havent tried a Jazz bridge so I can't tell you about it. I matched the Jazz neck up with a PG in the strat and a JB in the PRS.

Seth Lover!
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