Topic: Big Hollow-Bodied Electric Guitar for Country Blues--Anyone?

[uncle bud]

O'Muck beat me to mentioning Big Joe, but here's that guitar in action. (BTW, what kind of guitar is it?)

[Mr.OMuck]

Here ya go, or maybe here i go.....


http://www.gbase.com/gear/penzel-think-hofner-kli-cats-eye-archtop-redb

[Mr.OMuck]

Ahhh.... STROMBERG!

[Mr.OMuck]

Gretsch

[Mr.OMuck]

I'm pretty sure Big Joe is playing a "customized" Gibson L-5

[Mr.OMuck]

Epiphone Emperor...oooooohhhhhhhhh

[Kokomo O]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Muddy Waters. Talk about country blues played electrified. I don't know what he was playing when he first plugged in, but I'll bet it was no Tele, since I don't think Leo had invented it yet.

Taj Mahal has played some big archtops, and I'm pretty sure he plugs them in. Check out his album An Evening of Acoustic Music. He once told me the guitar he plays on the record, but I don't remember what it is, just that he described it as a big jazz guitar. I confess to liking the performance a whole lot more than I do the tone he gets, and I think that's probably a function of the amplification.

Like Frankie, I sometimes play electrics for my own amusement, in my case my son's Strat and Fernandez Strat knockoff (a fantastic guitar, by the way). But their necks are really too narrow. Or I've been hanging in Lark Street and Steve will put an electric in my hands and I'll play it. It seems to go over.

And I've heard folks like Jimmy Thackery, Derek Trucks, John Mooney, John Hammond and Gatemouth Brown play straight up country blues on solid body electrics and it works great. To my ears, what they all have in common is going for a "meaner" tone rather than a fat tone like the jazz players seek, and that I think is what works best.

[tmylet]

I had a National Archtop similar to Memphis Minnie that I now regret selling!

Tom Mylet

[harriet]

Also Precious Bryant -


I tested playing fingerpicking on all sorts of electrics, hollow and not, in the local store but I could not play softly - I ran into a problem with the bass overwhelming the treble through the amp on lower volume settings and abandoned the approach.

[nobocaster]

A timely thread..  I happen to be stringing this up today.  It's my first archtop build.  I used an L5 for the basic design, and the Benedetto book to help me figure out the details.  It's still due for set up, final polish, etc.  It doesn't look as red in person as is does in these pics..

  John, if you have time this week, you should stop by and take it for a spin before I hand it off to it's new owner.  Of course it's not electric, but I'd still love to have your input.

  As for the original question.. I haven't had the pleasure of playing a big hollow body electric, but like Frankie, I also have a Harmony Holiday and play it out occasionally for solo shows.  I put it through a '62 Airline tube amp and the sound works great for my instrumental ramblings.

[unezrider]

hello friend,
i don't have much to add that Franke hasn't already said. but in regards to an amp, lower watts will do you just fine. & i think you'll find an amp with 6v6 power tubes to be a necessity for that late 40's early 50's type of tube amp breakup sound. el84 amps (or 6bq5) probably will be too tight & harsh sounding when driven. play a few. it's pretty fun!

[blueshome]

I've got a large body f-hole Silvertone (a la Big Joe, but blonde) with a neck pick up slapped on. Sounds great.

[nobocaster]

   like Frankie, I also have a Harmony Holiday and play it out occasionally for solo shows.

  I just realized Frankie said he has a Hollywood, not Holiday.  The Holiday is very much like the stratotone.  It's a flat top, thin hollowbody.

[uncle bud]

Hey Devin, that's a beaut. Nice job.

[Slack]

Yeah Devin, your archtop looks great!  Building an archtop is a tour de force!