le pompe on an Archtop Electric

hooligan

Hello all,

So when I'm apart from my selmer styler guitar, I play on a Gretsch electromatic archtop guitar. I've found that a couple of groups (hot club of Cowtown to name one) get a really good sound out of the electric doing the pompe. But I'm having a lot of trouble getting anything decent soundwise whenever I try gypsy stuff on it. It's really clanky on the chop, like the strokes are too heavy handed. Or maybe the pick-ups are just way too hot, although I only really use the bridge pick-up. Maybe that's the problem? Anyone have any ideas?

Much obliged!

dennis

setup will definitely play a big role in how you play the instrument, but you should be able to GJ rhythm on just about any kind of decently set-up guitar... I've seen people do it on solid body electrics (we're talking strats here)! you just have to very slightly alter your touch

norumba

first post here , but ive been lurking for a while...

im familiar with gretsches, both the prolines and the electromatics. The pickups have changed on the electromatic archtops over the years, do you know exactly what model and year youre using?

electromatics or not, a bridge humbucker by itself is the wrong tone for this... any bridge bucker will likely be way too mid heavy and round and crunchy for this kind of chordal rhythm work. Use both pickups on at the same time, which will cut the mids but also add some top end definition plus some low end fullness. Find the tone you want by how you balance and set the two volume controls -- they act as an interdependent tone set up in a lot of ways with both pickups on, especially depending on how theyre wired (theyres all kinds of circuits for a two bucker set up). Get a treble bleed cap across the master volume so that what you dial in on the two individual volume controls stays intact tone wise.

The stock buckers on the electromatics arent great shakes, though the new 'blacktop' pickups are a little better. Replacing the Electromatic buckers are often the first mods people do Look at TV Jones for some pickup options and how to remount his replacements. In the meantime, lowering the pickup height and raising the individual pole pieces will help.