Cheap Electric for a Gypsy Jazz Player?

MichaelHorowitz

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/125549#Comment_125549

Yes, it’s generally easier than a Gypsy guitar as the action is a lot lower and the scale length is much shorter. However, I don’t want it too easy as I’m used to playing strongly with both hands which is required for good acoustic playing and don’t want to totally change how I’m playing when on the archtop. So despite the low action, there’s still a fair amount of tension so I can dig in without the notes fretting out.

The moral of the story is that putting a magnetic pickup on a Gypsy guitar is a big compromise. All the things that make magnetic pickups sound good (i.e. heavy nickel strings, low action, perfect string balance, guitar body acoustically muted to avoid feedback, etc) are not present on a Gypsy guitar which is setup for good acoustic sound (I.e. high action, light copper strings, super resonant body, etc.) The acoustic setup really works against you when using a mag pickup as the tone ends up being thinner, super twangy, and the string balance is off. With that said Django and plenty of great artists have made great music with the Selmer/Stimer setup and it has a charm all of its own so still a totally valid artistic choice. Once you add a great tube amp to the equation a lot of these other issues tend to disappear.

The same exact thing happens when you take a great acoustic archtop setup specifically for acoustic playing (I.e. bronze strings, high action, etc.) If you the stick a DeArmond on it you get a really twangy, thin tone and the string balance is off. Again, has a cool aesthetic all its own but not as easy to work with as an archtop setup just for electric playing.

BTW, that recording was done on an iPhone and the Ibanez is plugged directly into the house PA with no EQ. About as primitive as it gets but works. I like simple and easy for gigs….

voutoreenie

The same exact thing happens when you take a great acoustic archtop setup specifically for acoustic playing (I.e. bronze strings, high action, etc.) If you the stick a DeArmond on it you get a really twangy, thin tone and the string balance is off.

This is largely why I used silver plated strings from La Bella on my Epiphone Triumph Regent with the 1100 floating pickup - bronze sounds pretty bad through any Rhythm Chief, imo.

I don't have much experience with the 1000 but in my experience, the 1100 is almost like a mic in how it reacts. I totally get why a lot of players prefer humbuckers/floating humbuckers, it's much more difficult to mess up your tone (and indeed, I love humbuckers too depending on application).