11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
A guitar that can make you sound better.
Date of Review: Jul 10, 2006
The Bottom Line: This is as good a jazzbox in it's price range as you'll find, and it keeps a better resale value than Ibanez and others.
The Joe Pass II was essentially a retitled
Emperor II model, endorsed by jazz legend
Joe Pass. He posed with one in an instruction
booklet, but really used guitars like the
Gibson ES-175.
The Joe Pass also isn't a true hollow body,
it's sort of a semi-solid, and thus it's
tone (if misunderstood) can be mishandled
and the jazz tone greatly changed. This
construction, however, does reduce feedback
more than the average archtop, and give
it a slight sweet ES-335 flavor.
The construction is solid, the finish also,
maybe too much so, but it is a laminate
anyway so it probably doesn't matter much.
This model has undergone years of being
available, and probably has been refined
as much as any Epiphone guitar has.
The neck is thick, jazz style, and rock
guitarist will find that getting it's
tone will take a little more work, but
it's the nature of the beast. These
guitars often are strung with extremely
heavy string sets, and need to be
beefed up. Others will find the neck
perfect for jazz (remember, bends aren't
a common feature in jazz playing).
It's a handsome guitar. Those interested
in future resale value should know that
the natural finish is the most sought
after, although personally, I like the
almost gaudy red sunburst finish. Brings
out the gold plating better.
Also, you can almost always resell a Joe
Pass II in the 350-450 range, something
you can't always say for an Ibanez or
other lower end jazzbox.
The pickups are Epi versions of Gibson
'57s, which are one of the definitive
jazz pickups. The quality can vary, so
play the guitar you buy if at all
possible. The front tends to be rich
and full, the bridge rather thin, but
the middle position seems to do OK with
this pairing. Most jazzers are going
to just use the front pickup anyway.
You can made the bridge pickup louder
and fuller by raising it up right below
the strings, just below what would
make it too magnetic (about 1/8 inch).
You'll give up a bit of tone, but the
volume will be a lot more in balance.
For those playing fusion jazz, this
adjustment should actually improve
things.
For example, I got a second new one,
and the pickups weren't as good as
my old one. Just a bit on the thin
side like an X-155.
Do keep in mind, on Epi's, the quality
of the pickups can vary, as it's a
company that does superb construction
for the money, but the electronics
can be all over the map. Adding a Gibson
'57 to the front neck position would
give you a guitar you'll be happy to
keep until you decide to move to the
next price bracket. Some like this
one so much they never do.
The key thing to keep in mind is that
this is a pure jazzer, it won't rock
well (except in the studio maybe) without
feedback, it does do smooth blues well,
but it does jazz, period.
Also, remember, do some research, play
a lot of guitars and find out what
type of jazz you want to play. If you
want to play a more acoustic type, you'd
be better off with the Regent model,
for example. For fusion, you would be
better off with an ES type semi-solid.
My personal feeling is that for the
money, this is the best jazzbox you
can get in this price range.
Ibanez made quite a splash a while back
with a line of low cost boxes, and it
caused a mini-craze of buying by those
who wanted a jazzer for a second guitar.
Look at EBay or in my case, Craigslist,
and you'll find those selling for 250.00
or less now. That wave is pretty much
over, although that line still does have
some gems mixed in and are worth at least
a look.
But for that sweet jazz tone, that
in particular lets the beginner enjoy
an intro to jazz without excess effort,
and lets the intermediates enjoy a
guitar they don't have to sell right
away, this is the guitar.
I own a Joe Pass, and have owned both an X-155
and Ibanez Artcore in the past. Both of the
latter were good in their own right, but I
found the DeArmond a bit thin, and the Artcore
frankly sounded a bit cheap and bright. The
Joe Pass, like any overseas guitar, can vary in
quality, with the Korean being better than the
Indonesian, and that's not an absolute. Also,
the pickups can vary, the newest models sound
thinner than some of the older Passes. My main
hollow body is actually an old '65 Gibson ES-125T,
but I like the Pass for it's more 60s electric
sound, more like the Wes stuff, so to speak.
Even one single jazz guitar isn't the end-all
for all sounds. But this one comes the closest
for me.
