Generally speaking you can play any musical genre with most guitar rigs. No matter what sound you are hoping to achieve most setups will have a basic clean sound for pop and roots based music and some form of overdrive or distortion for punchier, “rockier” styles. Many entry level “bedroom” amplifiers offer so much more these days than just two basic channels with onboard effects and even connectivity to handy apps helping you to produce your desired sound.

As you develop your playing and move into more specific sounds and styles you may find you will want to personalise your rig to suit a particular genre of music. The good news is putting together a genre specific rig to suit a certain style does not have to mean spending major dollars and the advantage being not only will you get the sound you want, you will also start to feel you have invested in and connected to your chosen musical style. We assembled a panel of dedicated Musos Corner product demonstrators who are very serious about their respective musical styles and asked them to put together two rigs, one for under $1000 dollars to suit someone who is upgrading from their first basic all round set up the second is most or less a dream rig where money is no object just to see what is possible. The caveat here is we are not just spending money for the sake of it rather putting together a pro rig that will deliver the right sound, feel and aesthetics and stand up to the rigours of playing night after night.

All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication. (July - 2022)

Budget Rig

For the “budget” set up we have tried to make this as close to your first upgrade to your rig as possible, with this in mind we are not really specifying a professional rig meant for stage use. We are concentrating on getting you a rig with the sound, playability and vibe of your chosen style. As upgrading all of your rig in one go is a rare thing due to budget we suggest you swap out your equipment as necessary to your requirements. You will find depending upon the style that amp wattage (volume) will vary considerably as required by each style.  

Dream Rig

For the “dream” set up we have specified no budget, however, as specified earlier we are not just looking to burn money here like a rockstar but just meet our favourite requirements based on sound, playability, reliability, durability and vibe, this can be often achieved without just going out and buying the most expensive equipment available. As we are “the people’s music store”, you won’t find any boutique or overly exotic gear on these lists, just easily readily available classics that have stood the test of time. 

What's in a rig?

Hypothetically included in each rig:

  • We have hypothetically included all the leads and patch cables you will need for each rig
  • We have hypothetically included a clip-on tuner for the budget rigs and a pedal tuner in the dream rig. We have also included a power supply or power brick for all pedal setups.
  • The other proviso we have is we are hypothetically supplying a road crew for the Dream Rigs so space and weight is not a factor in these decisions as you don’t have to lug it so you can knock yourself out.
  • All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication.

Budget Jazz Rig

for under $1000 (spec’d by ID)

Guitar - Ibanez AF75 Hollowbody in Brown Sunburst ($779.00)

Ibanez has a very strong history of producing jazz guitars most famously for giants like George Benson, Pat Metheny and John Scofield

Jazz is a very wide genre and many styles of guitars are used in the style, both solid and hollowbody. Traditionally a single neck pickup is all that is required as a warm, fat sound is desirable for swing, however, the AF75 is a great choice at this price point and the bridge pickup or middle position could be used if you want to be more adventurous. Both of the classic elite pickups are ceramic which will help with a round and mellow sound and the Nyatoh neck provides a rich mid-low end. The Gibraltar bridge will provide stability and playability and also will allow you to fit some flat-wound strings if you want to get traditional. 

Amplifier - Cort CR15R ($139.00)

This amplifier was also spec’d for the funk rig due to its round warm clean tone and its outrageously low price point. There is reverb onboard for space and depth and an overdrive channel which will never be used. I have spent all my budget on the guitar, however, you can always upgrade the amp later and keep this one as a great practice amp. The most important thing is the guitar and the ability to produce scales, arpeggios and extended chords cleanly and smoothly.

The Dream Jazz Rig

+$1000 (spec’d by SS)

Guitar - Eastman AR905CE ($4999.00)

Ok this one is rather tough, my initial thoughts would be straight to something like a Gibson L5 or similar with a single cutaway and pickup. To my surprise I realised that Gibson has stopped producing anything like this and does not offer anything similar in their famed ES range. Ibanez and Yamaha both make exceptional jazz boxes from their Japanese factories and I have always wanted a George Benson GB10 Signature model due to the less “boxier” size, however, I don’t really need that level of responsibility when I step up on the bandstand. So we are going in a new direction with a brand you may not be that familiar with, Eastman Guitars. Eastman was founded in 1992 and have since developed a reputation for high quality instruments throughout their range of guitars, strings, brass and woodwind. The AR905CE is a traditional jazz box design with a venetian style cutaway which is spec’d up to the hilt with an ebony fingerboard and tailpiece, solid hard carved maple back and sides and a solid spruce top. Eastman also uses trusted brands for pickups and hardware and this guitar boasts a single Lollar Floating Johnny Smith pickup, Schaller machine heads and a Switchcraft jack. The maple may be a little bright at first, however, the more this guitar is played overtime the warmer it will sound and feel and it’s definitely built to last. .

Amplifier - Roland JC120 ($1579.00)

Universally recognised as the cleanest of clean amplifiers, the JC120 is a stereo transistor amp with loads of headroom and for this style will easily accommodate swing band volumes. I will lose some dynamics without valves, however, I am looking forward to a huge sound onstage via two 12” speakers, built-in chorus for organ style comping and true stereo. The JC120 does have a distortion option which needless to say will not be used. This amplifier is notoriously large and subsequently heavy so I will be calling on our hypothetical road crew to lug this one around while I smoke cheroots and drink whiskey sours. .