There is a 10 - CD box set out there that is everything the NAt Cole trio did. It appears to be a European pressing and it doesn't have liner notes. I picked my copy up for about 35 bucks on eBay. There was also a Mosaic set out too but I could be wrong.
Just wanted to inform you guys looking for a GOOD cheap archtop that you can stop looking. I bought (and received) an Ibanez PM35 (Pat Metheny). This box is very very nice. It costs $800 but InstrumentPro.com has a 10% off sale going on so you can get it for $720. Shipping is free (for ground).
How is it? I rate it as good as my X-170 Guild that I got from Peter! However, this only has 1 pickup. I just can't say how surprised I was when I actually played this box (I wasn't expecting much from a $700 purchase). It is my "practice" box from here on out. My guitar teacher (bless his heart) would say "well, it won't get much use then"...but, that is going to change! I truly am enjoying this guitar.
As far as playing, it is not as smoooth as say a maple neck tele, but it is very easy neck to play. The radius is the same as on my Scofield 335 (same manuf, so I guess that is no surprise). Acoustically, it is not overbearing or powerful, but has a nice tone to it. I wouldn't play this box acoustically however. It just doesn't sound right that way.
I agree with you on using the bridege pup. I never use them on any of my archtops! I do on my tele, strat and Les Paul, but do NOT like it on an archtop. Also, maybe it is just me, but I think a single PUP on say a 175 sounds better than playing just the neck pup on a dual pup 175!
Has anyone ever felt the same way? Same guitar, same PUPS both playing the bridge pup, but the single pup guitar sounds BETTER!
============= Looks like a nice box ... how's it play .. how's it sound acoustically, to tell you the truth, with all my arch tops electrics with two pup, I hardly ever (never really) play the bridge pup ... it's just not jazz ... I prefer either a 1 (one) fixed pup, or a floater ... my L5 CES has the 2 pups -- and I forever play it using the neck pup ... it's just not jazz otherwise ...
John Amato Isaiah 55:11
--- On Sat, 7/5/08, awsey...@cox.net <awsey...@cox.net> wrote:
> From: awsey...@cox.net <awsey...@cox.net> > Subject: [jazz_guitar] Cheap Archtop > To: jazz_gui...@yahoogroups.com > Date: Saturday, July 5, 2008, 9:45 AM > Just wanted to inform you guys looking for a GOOD cheap > archtop that you can stop looking. I bought (and received) > an Ibanez PM35 (Pat Metheny). This box is very very nice. > It costs $800 but InstrumentPro.com has a 10% off sale > going on so you can get it for $720. Shipping is free (for > ground).
> How is it? I rate it as good as my X-170 Guild that I got > from Peter! However, this only has 1 pickup. I just > can't say how surprised I was when I actually played > this box (I wasn't expecting much from a $700 > purchase). It is my "practice" box from here on > out. My guitar teacher (bless his heart) would say > "well, it won't get much use then"...but, > that is going to change! I truly am enjoying this guitar.
> Andy > Has anyone ever felt the same way? Same guitar, same PUPS > both playing the bridge pup, but the single pup guitar > sounds BETTER!
> Maybe it just me.
... no, no.... I definitely agree ... a single fixed pup puts less stress (and more wood) on the top which helps produce a more "acoustic" sound ... although the "floater" is the best (which is actually not an "electric" guitar)...
>>I bought (and received) an Ibanez PM35 (Pat Metheny). >I wonder if that is the same factory that makes the Artcore stuff? Is >it made in the states or china?
I have NO idea, probably China (due to the cost).
Andy
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Looks like a nice box ... how's it play .. how's it sound acoustically, to tell you the truth, with all my arch tops electrics with two pup, I hardly ever (never really) play the bridge pup ... it's just not jazz ... I prefer either a 1 (one) fixed pup, or a floater ... my L5 CES has the 2 pups -- and I forever play it using the neck pup ... it's just not jazz otherwise ...
John Amato Isaiah 55:11
--- On Sat, 7/5/08, awsey...@cox.net <awsey...@cox.net> wrote:
> From: awsey...@cox.net <awsey...@cox.net> > Subject: [jazz_guitar] Cheap Archtop > To: jazz_gui...@yahoogroups.com > Date: Saturday, July 5, 2008, 9:45 AM > Just wanted to inform you guys looking for a GOOD cheap > archtop that you can stop looking. I bought (and received) > an Ibanez PM35 (Pat Metheny). This box is very very nice. > It costs $800 but InstrumentPro.com has a 10% off sale > going on so you can get it for $720. Shipping is free (for > ground).
> How is it? I rate it as good as my X-170 Guild that I got > from Peter! However, this only has 1 pickup. I just > can't say how surprised I was when I actually played > this box (I wasn't expecting much from a $700 > purchase). It is my "practice" box from here on > out. My guitar teacher (bless his heart) would say > "well, it won't get much use then"...but, > that is going to change! I truly am enjoying this guitar.
Andy, I just acquired an AFS75T Artcore. It is the thinner version Ibanez's true hollow body. It strikes me that it produces excellent sound quality with adequate distribution of pickup sensitivity, (though the top E is a little weak). It's not in the same league with their PM35 but for intermediate players these Artcores offer a chance to learn on an instrument that approaches professional quality. I think these Ibanez Artcores archtops have the edge over the Epiphone Dot counterparts. Many arguments can be made against the outsourcing products, but its unlikely we could purchase guitars of this value and quality if they were produced domestically.
Albert
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For my money the bridge pickup is there only to prevent feedback and for that reason I probably would not have an archtop that only had a neck pickup. Most guitarist forget that a humbucker has no way of truly reproducing the acoustical properties of any guitar since they work almost entirely by sensing the magnetic field movement of the strings and are in no way a microphone that can reproduce whatever it "hears".
It is true that everything the strings are attached to affects the way the strings move in front of the humbucker and you will definitely hear a difference between a spruce top and a maple top because each of them is affecting the way the strings move in front of the pickups but just how much the acoustic characteristics of an archtop are an essential part of the final sound of an amplified archtop guitar is something less than what most people believe, I think. One of the best L5's I ever heard in my whole life had the worst acoustic sound of any guitar I ever heard. The difference between what it sounded like unamplified and amplified was sort of an eye-opener for me. My own L5 doesn't sound so good acoustically but when you plug it in look out!. It's like Instant Nirvana.
