Other Gibson Models (in order of popularity) Though these guitars come with a hefty price tag, the L-5 is still the Gibson guitar that many players save their pennies for as they search for the perfect (Wes Montgomery inspired) tone. Other players that have chosen the L-5 as their guitar of choice are Tuck Andress, Lee Ritenour, Pat Martino, and Eddie Lang. Having been in continues production since 1922, the L-5 is the pinnacle of the Gibson archtop collection, in no small part to the fact that Wes Montgomery made it his guitar of choice during his short, but highly successful career. King, Larry Carlton, and others.ĭesigned to provide a middle ground between the Les Paul and Gibson’s archtop models, which back in the day had issues with feeding back at high volumes, the ES-335 bridges the gap between an archtop and the ability to reign in feedback and create a warm tone at high volumes. Its playability, its consistent clean tone, and its durable nature make it the go-to choice for many legendary players, including Pat Metheny and Joe Pass who played this guitar at different points in their careers.įirst built in 1958, the Gibson ES-335 is a thinline, semi-hollow body guitar that has worked its way into jazz through the work of great players such as B.B. Debuted in 1949, this guitar was designed to be a laminated alternative to the L-5 and an amplified version of the L-4. The Gibson ES-175 has long been one of the most popular and famous jazz guitars on the market. Here are the most popular models of our survey.
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Therefore it is not surprising that Gibson guitars landed at the top of our survey, as they continue to be the guitar of choice for jazz guitarists of all backgrounds and experience levels. Played by some of the most legendary jazz guitarists of all time (Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel), Gibson archtops have long been associated with the classic jazz guitar tone that many guitarists strive for in their playing. Take a look through the survey results and see where your current (or dream guitar) landed in our ranking of the best jazz guitars as chosen by you, the JGO community. This result shows a healthy variety of options for jazz guitar players looking to explore quality guitars in a variety of price ranges. Though it is not surprising that Gibson guitars are the most popular brand chosen by readers, what might come as a surprise was the variety of other brands that made the list and the fact that as many people played “other” brands as they did Gibson.
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In order to find out exactly what jazz guitarists are playing these days, we set out to conduct a survey of JGO readers and asked them about their best jazz guitar.Īfter getting back over 5000 responses from jazz guitarists all over the world, we’ve put together the results in this list that you can refer to the next time you are wondering what other jazz cats are playing, or are looking for a new jazz guitar model to add to your collection. Guitarists in all genres love their gear, especially their guitars of choice, and jazzers are no different.