Shopping for a new fiddle...

Started by fulltone1989, June 04, 2013, 07:46:06 PM

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fulltone1989

Hey all, looking to expand the stable now that funds can afford to do so - and I am thinking of staying within the semi and hollowbody range. My co #1, a ES 339, is extremely comfy to play so something around that size would be preferable. Custom builds are a bit out of the question unless they're used, but like I said I am looking for a quality piece of wood. I don't have the trey style hollow yet nor a guitar with coil tap options, or single coils, so that'd be kind of cool too. Right now I am interested in the Ibanez AM255 or a PRS HBII from work, any of you guys have experience with those? Any of you looking to thin out the extra hollowbody?
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Heady Jam Fan

The PRS was on the top of my list when I was getting my hollowbody. Hard to find one less than $2200 or so. There is one on GC used I think at  decent price. The only thing is I've heard people complain about the pickups - nothing a set of SD's wouldn't fix. Also, its 25" fret scale (so it my Artinger).

You just missed a used Equator on eBay for the same price as an HBII.
There is an Artinger on eBay at a good Buy It Now price (with Best Offer) - I wouldn't be surprised if he was a TGPer, probably give you a better deal through TGP.

I also think there's a used Bruton on TGP.

I would just search eBay and TGP for some of the well-regarded luthiers. If nothing pops up, you have the option of a PRS or other big-brand.
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

fulltone1989

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 04, 2013, 07:59:44 PM
The PRS was on the top of my list when I was getting my hollowbody. Hard to find one less than $2200 or so. There is one on GC used I think at  decent price. The only thing is I've heard people complain about the pickups - nothing a set of SD's wouldn't fix. Also, its 25" fret scale (so it my Artinger).

You just missed a used Equator on eBay for the same price as an HBII.
There is an Artinger on eBay at a good Buy It Now price (with Best Offer) - I wouldn't be surprised if he was a TGPer, probably give you a better deal through TGP.

I also think there's a used Bruton on TGP.

I would just search eBay and TGP for some of the well-regarded luthiers. If nothing pops up, you have the option of a PRS or other big-brand.

I saw the Equator, I like the design and a lot of people have nice things to say. I see those Artingers, a hair above my price range at the moment though. TGP has a shitload of nice stuff right now! I'm not totally opposed to buying before trying I guess though, I'll dig into it more. There's an HBII at work that's seen some usage that I may try to get at a fair price (less than 2g's) There's an HBII in GC in Cali that is 1,899 which looks nice, I'll call them tomorrow. We also just took in a Ibanez Artist AM255 that I want to try out, seems like a brighter, somewhat more gigable ES339. There's an RM Olson 'Doc clone up on Ebay, but I dunno man....
What are some other small Hollowbody brands to search for though?
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

sour d

I have some great guitars, including  a resurrection  phishy hollowbody that i would recommend , but if we are talking budget , i would say strat. If you cant say it with a strat, you need to work on your technique . If it must be a hollow body, AO has what you need.
Phiga bolt or Resurrection phishy hollowbody>bc rich emp 45 5 loop switcher. LOOP1: Emma discumbobulator>RMC joe walsh wah>'82 ts9>silver mod od9>ross compressor. LOOP2: add mid '80's proco rat LOOP3: add whammyII> digitech ex7. LOOP4: add microverb X2> dm2000> boomerang> digitech JML2. LOOP5: guitar into amp. '76 fender twin or a '64 fender deluxe

TheSeeker

I would definitely go with the PRS HB if you can get it at a good price.  I do agree with Heady though...throw some SD's in there and it will play like a dream!!  I myself always wanted one, but could never afford it.  I am very happy with my PRS SE Semi-hollow though. I put some SD 59's in it and it sounds amazing!  Hopefully by the time I can afford it they'll come out with a HB III with a longer scale length....that would be heaven!!
PRS SE Semi-Hollow>Korg Tuner>Whammy ii>TS-9 Silver>TS-9 Silver>Ross Compressor>Delay>Ditto>Microverb>CAE Black Cat Vibe>Fender HRD (Weber Blue Dog)

Heady Jam Fan

Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 04, 2013, 09:41:01 PM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 04, 2013, 07:59:44 PM
The PRS was on the top of my list when I was getting my hollowbody. Hard to find one less than $2200 or so. There is one on GC used I think at  decent price. The only thing is I've heard people complain about the pickups - nothing a set of SD's wouldn't fix. Also, its 25" fret scale (so it my Artinger).

You just missed a used Equator on eBay for the same price as an HBII.
There is an Artinger on eBay at a good Buy It Now price (with Best Offer) - I wouldn't be surprised if he was a TGPer, probably give you a better deal through TGP.

I also think there's a used Bruton on TGP.

I would just search eBay and TGP for some of the well-regarded luthiers. If nothing pops up, you have the option of a PRS or other big-brand.

I saw the Equator, I like the design and a lot of people have nice things to say. I see those Artingers, a hair above my price range at the moment though. TGP has a shitload of nice stuff right now! I'm not totally opposed to buying before trying I guess though, I'll dig into it more. There's an HBII at work that's seen some usage that I may try to get at a fair price (less than 2g's) There's an HBII in GC in Cali that is 1,899 which looks nice, I'll call them tomorrow. We also just took in a Ibanez Artist AM255 that I want to try out, seems like a brighter, somewhat more gigable ES339. There's an RM Olson 'Doc clone up on Ebay, but I dunno man....
What are some other small Hollowbody brands to search for though?

I saw the Olson on there as well. Will probably end at a reasonable price. Would also need new pups I think. People turn their nose up at those cheaper hollows, but I don't know anyone who's tried one. If I had the cash, I would pick it - I think amps (and speakers) play a bigger role in tone than guitars anyway ;) Although there is probably a lot of 'craft' in getting the most resonation out of a hollow while the simplest solidbody (strat) sounds good.

If you looking at Olson, I suspect Phred guitars are ok (more for the look of a 'Doc than the actually construction - can't tell, but they might be chambered rather than a real (semi) hollowbody kinda thing).

What Ibanez did Trey used to use? IIRC he used it on the White Album - I think he did have a brighter tone with the Ibanez, but also more mids dialed into the amp maybe.

For under 2Gs I would probably go for the HBII, especially if you have one locally - great guitars and will keep their value. I'd be tempted to toss in a Babicz full-contact bridge too.
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

fulltone1989

#6
Quote from: sour d on June 04, 2013, 10:03:13 PM
I have some great guitars, including  a resurrection  phishy hollowbody that i would recommend , but if we are talking budget , i would say strat. If you cant say it with a strat, you need to work on your technique . If it must be a hollow body, AO has what you need.

Strats are cool and all, and I've owned a few nice ones but it was just something I was able to get out of my system relatively easily. If something similar to Jerry's Alligator popped up, I'd try to snatch it up. The differences between Ash/Alder are negligible IMHO though; We have a wall of used Strat's at one of my jobs so I'll spend more time with them. Thanks for the response!

Quote from: TheSeeker on June 04, 2013, 10:29:02 PM
I would definitely go with the PRS HB if you can get it at a good price.  I do agree with Heady though...throw some SD's in there and it will play like a dream!!  I myself always wanted one, but could never afford it.  I am very happy with my PRS SE Semi-hollow though. I put some SD 59's in it and it sounds amazing!  Hopefully by the time I can afford it they'll come out with a HB III with a longer scale length....that would be heaven!!


The thing is, it was on a consignment sheet I saw for a decent price. I just hope it holds true until I can see the guitar again and play it. Insurance companies take so long to do that though. To be totally honest, the scale length and the neck in genera was extremely comfortable - Do they have the same neck carve? Haven't played the SE.

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 12:10:00 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 04, 2013, 09:41:01 PM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 04, 2013, 07:59:44 PM
The PRS was on the top of my list when I was getting my hollowbody. Hard to find one less than $2200 or so. There is one on GC used I think at  decent price. The only thing is I've heard people complain about the pickups - nothing a set of SD's wouldn't fix. Also, its 25" fret scale (so it my Artinger).

You just missed a used Equator on eBay for the same price as an HBII.
There is an Artinger on eBay at a good Buy It Now price (with Best Offer) - I wouldn't be surprised if he was a TGPer, probably give you a better deal through TGP.

I also think there's a used Bruton on TGP.

I would just search eBay and TGP for some of the well-regarded luthiers. If nothing pops up, you have the option of a PRS or other big-brand.

I saw the Olson on there as well. Will probably end at a reasonable price. Would also need new pups I think. People turn their nose up at those cheaper hollows, but I don't know anyone who's tried one. If I had the cash, I would pick it - I think amps (and speakers) play a bigger role in tone than guitars anyway ;) Although there is probably a lot of 'craft' in getting the most resonation out of a hollow while the simplest solidbody (strat) sounds good.

If you looking at Olson, I suspect Phred guitars are ok (more for the look of a 'Doc than the actually construction - can't tell, but they might be chambered rather than a real (semi) hollowbody kinda thing).

What Ibanez did Trey used to use? IIRC he used it on the White Album - I think he did have a brighter tone with the Ibanez, but also more mids dialed into the amp maybe.

For under 2Gs I would probably go for the HBII, especially if you have one locally - great guitars and will keep their value. I'd be tempted to toss in a Babicz full-contact bridge too.

Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

fulltone1989

Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Heady Jam Fan

Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 08:38:39 AM
Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.

Babicz worked for Steinberber before they were bought by Gibson. The bridges he makes have more contact with the body and increase the amount of energy (resonance) transfered from the strings to the body. A lot of the nicer custom built guitars have a really nice bridge while the larger companies use a typical tune-o-matic. I just figured if you got a great price on a guitar, that would be a personal preference for something I would like to upgrade - especially because I like Babicz's work.

I think the Olson pickups are low-quality. Most hollowbody guitars don't have a backplate, you just pull the electronics out the pickup holes. Some guitar shops charge you and arm and a leg for that, but the last time I had work done inside my Artinger, it was $40. If you want the Languedoc setup, you gotta expect to have someone work on the electronics, plus a lot of the options out there might not have the pups you want. The only thing to really consider if you want the 'Doc setup is whether the guitar has enough holes for 2 knobs, 3-way toggle and the 2 other switches - I'd hate to buy a guitar and go right to a tech to have him drill more holes!
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

fulltone1989

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 09:53:22 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 08:38:39 AM
Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.

Babicz worked for Steinberber before they were bought by Gibson. The bridges he makes have more contact with the body and increase the amount of energy (resonance) transfered from the strings to the body. A lot of the nicer custom built guitars have a really nice bridge while the larger companies use a typical tune-o-matic. I just figured if you got a great price on a guitar, that would be a personal preference for something I would like to upgrade - especially because I like Babicz's work.

I think the Olson pickups are low-quality. Most hollowbody guitars don't have a backplate, you just pull the electronics out the pickup holes. Some guitar shops charge you and arm and a leg for that, but the last time I had work done inside my Artinger, it was $40. If you want the Languedoc setup, you gotta expect to have someone work on the electronics, plus a lot of the options out there might not have the pups you want. The only thing to really consider if you want the 'Doc setup is whether the guitar has enough holes for 2 knobs, 3-way toggle and the 2 other switches - I'd hate to buy a guitar and go right to a tech to have him drill more holes!

Oh yeah you can do that on a hollow haha. Damn you center block.  I like the idea of bridge but to be honest I'm not sure if it would fit the stoptail already on there. My first point of action would be to get a case that fit. I know what you mean about drilling holes though, I was thinking of getting a harness w/ push/pull pots for coil splitting options if I wanted to go that route. That'd be replacing the HBII pups that are already in there though as I suspect they're only two wire leads.  What are some other HB brands to look into?
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

picture_of_nectar

#10
Do you have a TGP account to view the classifieds?

I'm going to make a recommendation for the Jim Soloway Loon Contour T Hollowbody listed in there for $1,900.

I owned one of these, it's sister actually. Fantastic guitar. Worlds more character in the tone then a PRS HB (I've also owned several of those).

That would be my recommendation in a Sub 2k hollowbody.

Guitars: Paul Languedoc, Matt Atringer, David Myka, Ron Thorn

Amps: '65 Princeton Reverb, Clark '59 Bassman clone

Heady Jam Fan

Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 10:39:40 AM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 09:53:22 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 08:38:39 AM
Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.

Babicz worked for Steinberber before they were bought by Gibson. The bridges he makes have more contact with the body and increase the amount of energy (resonance) transfered from the strings to the body. A lot of the nicer custom built guitars have a really nice bridge while the larger companies use a typical tune-o-matic. I just figured if you got a great price on a guitar, that would be a personal preference for something I would like to upgrade - especially because I like Babicz's work.

I think the Olson pickups are low-quality. Most hollowbody guitars don't have a backplate, you just pull the electronics out the pickup holes. Some guitar shops charge you and arm and a leg for that, but the last time I had work done inside my Artinger, it was $40. If you want the Languedoc setup, you gotta expect to have someone work on the electronics, plus a lot of the options out there might not have the pups you want. The only thing to really consider if you want the 'Doc setup is whether the guitar has enough holes for 2 knobs, 3-way toggle and the 2 other switches - I'd hate to buy a guitar and go right to a tech to have him drill more holes!

Oh yeah you can do that on a hollow haha. Damn you center block.  I like the idea of bridge but to be honest I'm not sure if it would fit the stoptail already on there. My first point of action would be to get a case that fit. I know what you mean about drilling holes though, I was thinking of getting a harness w/ push/pull pots for coil splitting options if I wanted to go that route. That'd be replacing the HBII pups that are already in there though as I suspect they're only two wire leads.  What are some other HB brands to look into?

Yea, Babicz might back a stoptail version. He makes Fender ones too. Most of the guitar I have seen come with OHSC.

Good call on the Push Pull pots. The one thing I added to my Artinger beyond a Languedoc is a 3-way toggle for humbucker, single (coil-tap) AND parallel.

I thought SD pups were good. I had a set of 59's, but a lot of people like a JB in the bridge - it apparently balances better with the 59 in the neck. I have Lollar's now and the big improvement is the balance between the pups IMO. I had a set of Schaller Golden 50's until recently and those were identical to the SD 59's (SD 59s are clones of the Schallers). Wolftone pups are popular around here as well.
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

fulltone1989

Quote from: picture_of_nectar on June 05, 2013, 11:02:51 AM
Do you have a TGP account to view the classifieds?

I'm going to make a recommendation for the Jim Soloway Loon Contour T Hollowbody listed in there for $1,900.

I owned one of these, it's sister actually. Fantastic guitar. Worlds more character in the tone then a PRS HB (I've also owned several of those).

That would be my recommendation in a Sub 2k hollowbody.



I do, same handle as here. I've been looking at that one, I wonder if he'd hold it for me while I scrape the rest of the bones together. Did you only own HBII's? Are you Lambone on there?

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 11:19:40 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 10:39:40 AM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 09:53:22 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 08:38:39 AM
Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.

Babicz worked for Steinberber before they were bought by Gibson. The bridges he makes have more contact with the body and increase the amount of energy (resonance) transfered from the strings to the body. A lot of the nicer custom built guitars have a really nice bridge while the larger companies use a typical tune-o-matic. I just figured if you got a great price on a guitar, that would be a personal preference for something I would like to upgrade - especially because I like Babicz's work.

I think the Olson pickups are low-quality. Most hollowbody guitars don't have a backplate, you just pull the electronics out the pickup holes. Some guitar shops charge you and arm and a leg for that, but the last time I had work done inside my Artinger, it was $40. If you want the Languedoc setup, you gotta expect to have someone work on the electronics, plus a lot of the options out there might not have the pups you want. The only thing to really consider if you want the 'Doc setup is whether the guitar has enough holes for 2 knobs, 3-way toggle and the 2 other switches - I'd hate to buy a guitar and go right to a tech to have him drill more holes!

Oh yeah you can do that on a hollow haha. Damn you center block.  I like the idea of bridge but to be honest I'm not sure if it would fit the stoptail already on there. My first point of action would be to get a case that fit. I know what you mean about drilling holes though, I was thinking of getting a harness w/ push/pull pots for coil splitting options if I wanted to go that route. That'd be replacing the HBII pups that are already in there though as I suspect they're only two wire leads.  What are some other HB brands to look into?

Yea, Babicz might back a stoptail version. He makes Fender ones too. Most of the guitar I have seen come with OHSC.

Good call on the Push Pull pots. The one thing I added to my Artinger beyond a Languedoc is a 3-way toggle for humbucker, single (coil-tap) AND parallel.

I thought SD pups were good. I had a set of 59's, but a lot of people like a JB in the bridge - it apparently balances better with the 59 in the neck. I have Lollar's now and the big improvement is the balance between the pups IMO. I had a set of Schaller Golden 50's until recently and those were identical to the SD 59's (SD 59s are clones of the Schallers). Wolftone pups are popular around here as well.

I bet that sounds cool! Do you have any other builder recommendations?
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Heady Jam Fan

Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: picture_of_nectar on June 05, 2013, 11:02:51 AM
Do you have a TGP account to view the classifieds?

I'm going to make a recommendation for the Jim Soloway Loon Contour T Hollowbody listed in there for $1,900.

I owned one of these, it's sister actually. Fantastic guitar. Worlds more character in the tone then a PRS HB (I've also owned several of those).

That would be my recommendation in a Sub 2k hollowbody.



I do, same handle as here. I've been looking at that one, I wonder if he'd hold it for me while I scrape the rest of the bones together. Did you only own HBII's? Are you Lambone on there?

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 11:19:40 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 10:39:40 AM
Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on June 05, 2013, 09:53:22 AM
Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 08:38:39 AM
Heady, I want to say that he used a Ibanez Musician. The AM series of the musicians are semi-hollows while most musicians (at least the one's I've seen) are all solid. Of course I've never seen a semi-hollow w/ a trem until I saw the AM255 at work last week. Scofield usually plays an AS200 if I am not mistaken, which is similar to a 335. The AM 255 is similar to my 339 in body size and will fit the case. Both of these have he Super 58's which is Ibanez's take on the PAF, I asked about it over on TGP and got some very positive responses. Scott from Max Creek has played his Musician since the 70's, I've played a few and they're really nice guitars and both highly collectible. The AM225 was only made for one year so I'd be inclined to pick that up and just stash it until the time is right, but who knows.

Great point about the HBII, despite the dingage II think it'll remain valuable. I enjoyed the tone of the pickups though, hot. Similar to my Lester Polfus. I was playing through a DRRI w/ a Weber California though. What's that bridge though?

The Olson is interesting, but after looking around for specs I can't find the pickups he used. There's switches on it though! No backplate either for swapping electronics. I emailed the seller and he said it was spalted maple back and sides. 

Any other suggestions out there? Any SD'ers got a HB they arent using and willing to sell?

Thanks for your post everyone.

Babicz worked for Steinberber before they were bought by Gibson. The bridges he makes have more contact with the body and increase the amount of energy (resonance) transfered from the strings to the body. A lot of the nicer custom built guitars have a really nice bridge while the larger companies use a typical tune-o-matic. I just figured if you got a great price on a guitar, that would be a personal preference for something I would like to upgrade - especially because I like Babicz's work.

I think the Olson pickups are low-quality. Most hollowbody guitars don't have a backplate, you just pull the electronics out the pickup holes. Some guitar shops charge you and arm and a leg for that, but the last time I had work done inside my Artinger, it was $40. If you want the Languedoc setup, you gotta expect to have someone work on the electronics, plus a lot of the options out there might not have the pups you want. The only thing to really consider if you want the 'Doc setup is whether the guitar has enough holes for 2 knobs, 3-way toggle and the 2 other switches - I'd hate to buy a guitar and go right to a tech to have him drill more holes!

Oh yeah you can do that on a hollow haha. Damn you center block.  I like the idea of bridge but to be honest I'm not sure if it would fit the stoptail already on there. My first point of action would be to get a case that fit. I know what you mean about drilling holes though, I was thinking of getting a harness w/ push/pull pots for coil splitting options if I wanted to go that route. That'd be replacing the HBII pups that are already in there though as I suspect they're only two wire leads.  What are some other HB brands to look into?

Yea, Babicz might back a stoptail version. He makes Fender ones too. Most of the guitar I have seen come with OHSC.

Good call on the Push Pull pots. The one thing I added to my Artinger beyond a Languedoc is a 3-way toggle for humbucker, single (coil-tap) AND parallel.

I thought SD pups were good. I had a set of 59's, but a lot of people like a JB in the bridge - it apparently balances better with the 59 in the neck. I have Lollar's now and the big improvement is the balance between the pups IMO. I had a set of Schaller Golden 50's until recently and those were identical to the SD 59's (SD 59s are clones of the Schallers). Wolftone pups are popular around here as well.

I bet that sounds cool! Do you have any other builder recommendations?

Don't really have any other recommendations from personal experience, but other builders have gotten a good rep around here - flipping through some old threads might give you a few ideas.
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

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Quote from: fulltone1989 on June 05, 2013, 11:46:10 AM


I do, same handle as here. I've been looking at that one, I wonder if he'd hold it for me while I scrape the rest of the bones together. Did you only own HBII's? Are you Lambone on there?


yeah, and I've owned lots of hollowbodies, currently have a Languedoc, artinger and a Myka, and a Soloway Loon Fingerstyle. The Soloways are really good.
Guitars: Paul Languedoc, Matt Atringer, David Myka, Ron Thorn

Amps: '65 Princeton Reverb, Clark '59 Bassman clone