The Unique Arch Top Jazz Guitar

[Lester Mcmahon]

The first ever jazz guitar was made with the intention of making it
capable of being heard distinctly, amidst other instruments like
trumpets, saxophones etc., and long before electric guitars were
conceived. The typical jazz guitar is the arch top type with the F-
holes, which produce a louder sound. However, the player had to
sacrifice sustain for volume. The present day jazz musician uses a
jazz guitar that has floating or no pickups for clarity of sound.
Rather than use parallel bracing, these guitars use a cross, so that
sustain is maintained, making the guitar sound like a steel string
acoustic guitar. Some jazz guitars have embedded pickups for higher
sustain.
How An Arch Top Jazz Guitar Is Made
An arch top jazz guitar has a spruce wood top, with the most expensive
being the European spruce. Spruce is durable and light and is ideal
for the jazz guitar. The cut on a jazz guitar is quite distinctive.
The top wood is quarter sawn, so that when the top is finished, the
growth rings are very compact, to ensure strength. The back of the
jazz guitar, made of maple, is also quarter sawn from a single piece
of wood so that the curl of the wood is visible, making the back stiff
when finished. Both European maple and big leaf maple are used for
making these guitars. The back greatly influences the tone of the
instrument as it decides the lower range frequency response. If the
back is thick, you get a treble instrument that does not have low fat
tones.
While conventional guitars have a hole on the center of the top,
causing the vibrations to stop there, the jazz guitar has 'F' holes.
The arch top jazz guitar's neck is constructed from hard maple, which
is sturdy, enabling the neck to withstand the high tension of the
heavy gauge strings used in jazz guitars. Though mahogany is also used
for its stability and lightness, maple is preferred because it is more
attractive. The neck of the jazz guitar is usually strengthened with
an adjustable truss rod. The fingerboard is made from ebony. There are
inexpensive guitars that have fingerboards made of rosewood or
synthetic resin.
An arch top jazz guitar's frets are made from copper, nickel or zinc
alloy. Some guitars have bigger than the usual frets for longer life.
They also make it easier for techniques like string bending. The
bridge of the guitar, which has the foot and the saddle, can be from
ebony, maple or boxwood. The foot fixes the bridge to the surface of
the guitar, with two posts that fit in the saddle. The saddle is
adjustable since the posts are threaded. Generally, metal adjustable
saddles are not used. The bridge stays in place through the string
pressure.
The pickup of the jazz guitar is installed under the finger rest,
which is made from ebony. It is fixed to the neck with the help of an
aluminum bracket and screws. Bigger finger rests are not provided as
they interfere with the F hole and affect the sound.
The jazz guitar's tailpiece is also made from ebony with an aluminum
rear bracket that is covered with wood veneer for making it
lightweight. This lets the output jack pass through it. String
mounting is done in six holes.
As such, there is no such thing as a 'jazz guitar'; it is just that
the arch top guitar was most conducive for playing jazz in earlier
times. With the advent of electric guitars from various manufacturers
and most jazz players preferring those, it is more a question of
playing the jazz style of music, than using a specific 'jazz' guitar!