Samick Greg Bennett Design JZ3 Electric Guitar, Antique Natural

Okay, take my review with a grain of salt- I am an amateur jazz guitar player, not a professional. Huge fan of Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Howard Alden, Wes, Kenny, and so on. That's where I'm coming from. For years I've sought the warm jazz tone of a well played Gibson L5, etc. It's elusive. You can break the bank trying. But this guitar changes that. The JZ3 is my third archtop, which I've now owned for about a year, and I love it! I quickly changed the strings to some fairly heavy flat wounds, and the result is a very playable warm, clean tone. It's not perfect- the pick guard has some issues (flexes and can make noise,) and I'll probably remove it or look into a remedy. The pickup (I only use the forward) seems to favor the bass, but that can probably be adjusted. But the overall quality, finish, and action of this guitar, along with the tone, are all very, very good. This guitar is a great value. Now, sure wished I'd practiced more way back when....!

I had been looking at a $3000 guitar I could never afford at a shop with a carved top.This one is even better!I've been playing for 25 years and I was ready for a real jazz box instead of the Gretch-knockoff (Country Gent style) I had adapted to playing since 1994ish. Primarily a finger-picker, I needed a better neck and the electronics in the '71 Ventura just always seemed to hum and go out and the pots had a bad connection and no luthier seemed to be able to correct this permanently.This Samick Greg Bennett guitar is a lot like the Gibson L5 and I can see why the Gibson was the guitar of choice for many jazz guitar greats. The Samick is every bit as good - IF NOT BETTER!Check the wiki on the company and the youtube videos. They played a huge part in my decision to make the leap the order this one online. So glad I did.THANK YOU, SAMICK!!!