Hopefully my experience might be of help:
I started playing jazz on a Gibson ES135 - similar to the 137. It was OK but despite swapping pups and trying various strings and amps I could never get a convincing jazz tone, although it was quite a versatile guitar.
After many years I moved on to a Godin Kingpin and swapped the stock pup for what would now be called a Bluenote. I was really into Charlie Christian and Grant Green at the time and the guitar was great for that, but not terribly suitable for more smooth, fluid styles.
I then went for a Peerless Sunset (thinline but hollowbody, floating bridge, etc).
The Sunset is perfect and I haven't even upgraded the stock Epiphone humbuckers.
I hear people mention the 'piano tone' a lot in jazz guitar circles. I've never really understood what they meant! I am also a pianist and can hear little similarity, except on occasion when listening to someone like Jim Hall who can have a very thumpy sort of tone.
Hope this helps!
It was great to hear of your experiences with the hardware - and thoughts on 'Piano tone'. We don't get that much banter about heavily strung archtops around these parts ! I am surmising that what many call 'piano tone' is just a certain clarity of note defininition and the presence of subtle dynamics ,
combined with a sustain that is felt through the body of the instrument.
I appreciate that ( in theory ) sustain is sometimes thought undesirable in Jazz guitar circles, as you want the note to be sweet but die young, so the next note / notes in a chord sequence can be heard in their own right. Given that subtle left hand damping and choice of pick can 'control' that sustain, it becomes desirable to have a clear ringing sustain, for the ' Big finish' chords - and pedal notes e.t.c Those of us that never played the piano, but heard other people do so, tend to carry with us a memory of this cavernous resonance and sustain that seems to keep going when you leave the room . I suppose ( for me ) it is a sense of the note being
pianesque - as it is struck with a jaunty 'bounce' - and therefore all the harmonics can swell up around the fundamental tone. So I suppose it is essentialy about producing 'the tone in your head' with the unplugged guitar - then choosing / setting the amp and cables to make the guitar sound physically
bigger, as opposed to merely louder. To magnify the volume, but get out of the way of the tone. The Phil Jones AAD Cub comes to mind in that respect.
I like the whole T.I. flatwound sound ( currently using 12s for ease of movement , and increased subtlety in the dynamics ) - but looking to return to 13s when the fretting hand gets more practiced . I read in a rare Q&A session on a Japanese fan site for Joe Pass, that in later years, he used the T.I. Swing in 13 - and knew the guy behind the company. I like the fact that 13s just don't move sideways even if you grab a chord clumsily , and of course that wonderful firm feeling under the fingers in general.
As one who is gradually building an understanding and repetoire for solo, duo or trio work, the idea of string noise is undesirable ( as there will be nothing around me 'blasting ' loud enough to drown it out ) so flatwounds are my weapon of choice. They do of course tend to sound less '3D' that the corresponding Thomastik or Newtone Roundwounds, but rich and lush, instead of rich and 'springy'.
The idea of unpotted Stormy Mondays sounds brilliant ! I use the potted version in my modded Ibanez AF75 - and it gives a sound ( even in this relatively cheap guitar ) that I could happily use for many years to come. A close call between the Manhattans and these, but the Manhattans I have are Gold plated, whilst the Ibby has Chrome fittings.
Today's 'Google' time must include another look at the Peerless Sunset, not for credit card battering, but for the appreciation of a lovely thing . 8)
Cheers !
