The justjazzguitars collection of
vintage and rare jazz archtops.
Rare, Vintage, Jazz, Archtop, Guitar, Gibson,
Byrdland, D'Angelico, Guild, Hofner, Benedetto, Guitars for Sale,
Guitar Collection,
Rare, Vintage, Jazz,
Archtop, Guitar, Gibson, Byrdland, D'Angelico, Guild, Hofner,
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The Jazz Café was
conceived as a full acoustic in the grand tradition,
just the sort of guitar Hofner might have made in the 50's
and 60's. You can see the full write up of
this instrument by going to #003 in the Hofner Collection.
Unfortunately its
integrity was lost when a pickup was fitted very badly by
its second owner. I bought
back the Jazz Café in order to re-work it the way I would
have done had I intended it to be electric at the outset.
You can see its conversion by looking at a dedicated
page "In the Workshop" (see Site Map). |
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The
Shadow AZ pickup now sits neatly into carefully carved
nacelles either side of the neck. The design was
inspired by the very
neat shaping on my '65 Gibson Byrdland. Refinished with
nitro- cellulose it could have always been this way! |
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My favourite jazz pickup
for a Hofner, the amazing Shadow Attila Zoller. |
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The Rosewood pickguard
has been modified to take the AZ and its mounting bracket had to
be re-positioned slightly but it still
shows no visible means of support (no ugly brackets) and it
rises and falls with the bridge, keeping its relationship to
the strings at a constant height. Nice!
A Schatten thumbwheel volume control
is hidden beneath the pickguard and coupled to a Fishman
endpin jack.
These AZ pickups are
so rich and mellow, I don't want to add a Tone control.
I prefer to let the pickup speak for itself and set up my
Amp for any small tonal adjustments. |
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Neat, tidy and hidden
- the thumbwheel is completely out of view.
The wiring disappears into the f-hole when the pickguard
is attached. |
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Finished, at last!
Quite amazing how the tone has mellowed over the years.
Played acoustic, it is rich and sweet, even majestic.
Amplified, it is still rich, sweet and
majestic but now sounds just like an amplified acoustic,
just the way we all hope for and seldom achieve.
It has bell-like tones,
great voice, very articulate and with massive ringing sustain.
Harmonics were always good on this guitar -
it can sound like a Harp!
I shall not ever let it
go again!!! |
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Back
to - In the Workshop |
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