Semi-acoustic and Jazz Guitars at Forsyth Brothers Manchester

Over recent months we've been improving our range and numbers of Jazz and semi-acoustic guitars and we've now got such a lot they deserve a page of their own.

Pre-eminent amongst them are our D'Aquisto jazz guitars - Japanese, hand built tributes to the master of the archtop jazz guitar - James D'Aquisto. We also carry Hofner, Gordon Smith, Gibson, Epiphone, Aria and Crafter. Whatever style of music you want to use it for, be it jazz, blues, rock or anything else we'll have something suitable in our large showroom.

See our stock of D'Aquisto guitars here:
D'Aquisto

We keep (almost) the entire range of these fine, incredibly tough, English made hard cases in stock. ProII-GS - designed for most slim bodied semi acoustics without Bigsby tremolos. £109 ProII-GJ - will fit larger bodied semis (Super 400 etc.) and those with Bigsbys fitted). £109
Dell'Arte - Gypsy Jazz guitars. Nice.
Dell'Arte Angelo Debarre signature £759.99	Dell'Arte The Homage £599
Instruments currently in stock:
G400JV Jimmy Vaughn signature Japanese made £2399 OFFER PRICE £1999	G6122-1959 Country Gentleman Japanese made £2349 OFFER PRICE £1999
G6120DSW Chet Atkins Japanese made £2099.99 OFFER PRICE £1899	New President £1895 OFFER PRICE PRICE £1610 View the specifications here.
Verythin John Stowell model £1950 OFFER PRICE £1657 View the specifications here.	ES 335 Diamond in Pelham Blue OFFER PRICE £Call
Epiphone Broadway £685 OFFER PRICE £585	Electromatic G5127 £699 OFFER PRICE £499
Electromatic G5122 Black £599 OFFER PRICE £499	Electromatic G5122 Walnut £599 OFFER PRICE £499
Electromatic G5120 £599 OFFER PRICE £499	Epiphone Sheraton with case £599 OFFER PRICE £499
Hofner J5 Red £450 OFFER PRICE £399	Verythin £425 OFFER PRICE £359
Verythin £425 OFFER PRICE £359	Verythin £425 OFFER PRICE £359
Aria FA70 £449 OFFER PRICE £359
Zenith Super Cutaway Deluxe c1957 Zenith guitars were German made instruments manufactured by Framus and marketed by Ivor Mairants. The most famous Zenith owner was a youthful Paul McCartney, so this is the instrument to blame for inflicting the Frog Chorus and Heather Mills on an unsuspecting public. Its only previous owner purchased this particular instrument new in Manchester in 1957, and now it’s back here waiting for a new home. The body is huge - 17 1/2 “ across the lower bout – and made of laminated plain maple. The neck set is perfect, and it’s currently set up with flat wound strings and a slinky low action. No issues to speak of, just the usual laquor crazing, a missing pick guard and screw holes where a floating pickup had once been installed. £325
Hoyer late 50’s arch-top guitar A great-looking old Jazz box; unlabelled but we’re pretty sure made by the Hoyer company in Germany. Maple ply construction with a neck that must have been carved out of at least half a Maple tree, and a loud, bright tone that works well for skiffle and choppy Parisian chords. The cosmetics are kept to the minimum, with a light coach-line stripe around the top the only nod toward binding, but the devilish f-holes and dark sunburst make this a striking creature indeed. The tuners are a recent replacement. Comes with a horrible end opening cover, so buying a nice case might not be a bad idea. £229
Instruments, now sold, that have previously graced our walls:
Gibson es-335 c2006 The classic Gibson thin-line in sumptuous cherry. The wooden bits are absolutely immaculate – we can’t find a mark on it. The hardware is suffering from the common problem of Gibson’s nickel plating dissolving when it comes into contact with human sweat, but it doesn’t look too bad and the nicest flamed Maple we’ve seen on a 335 for a fair while more than makes up for it. Includes the original hard case, also in immaculate condition. SOLD
Hofner Jazzica Custom £1975 SOLD Well, this is a marvellous strange guitar and no mistake. A 24 fret jazzer with contoured body to bring the player 'closer to the guitar' apparently. It also comes with ebony bungs to fill the soundholes and reduce problems with feedback. Hofner currently have no production schedule for more of these instruments so come and get yourself a rare old thing from us. View the specifications here.
G6136 White Falcon. Japanese made SOLD	G6120DSW Chet Atkins Japanese made SOLD
Electromatic Country Classic £599 SOLD	Electromatic G5120 £599 SOLD
Dell'Arte Robin Nolan signature SOLD	Dell'Arte Pigale SOLD
1958 Hofner Senator Many years ago, when ownership of a Gibson or Fender was as unlikely as putting a man on the moon for aspiring British Buddy Hollies of the day, Hofner were the instruments which came closest to the unobtainable US brands. This fellow is an early example of the venerable Senator, resplendent in a nicely aged honey blonde and still baring its original funky pickup. Most Hofners develop neck angle problems as the result of the simplistic mortise and tenon neck join: we’re happy to report that this particular guitar is set nicely with a lowish action. Early Hofners lack an adjustable truss-rod but the chunky C profile neck is nice and straight. It’s on its third set of machine-heads and the bridge, although Hofner made, is unlikely to be the one it left the factory with. The maple top, although plywood, is lightly constructed and consequently the guitar sounds excellent, very loud with more bass than many we’ve played. SOLD
c. 1953 Gibson ES125 Gibson's entry level jazz box throughout the 40s to the 50s and, if you're after the full, mellow tone of a 50s Gibson jazz guitar, can live without a cutaway and don't have the requisite £5000 plus for an early 50s ES-175, this is going to be the one to look for. The acoustic tone is sweet and lively, if a little quiet in comparison to a carved top guitar. The guitar has suffered a (long since reglued) loose treble side brace, resulting in a small amount of table sinkage. It's not particularly noticeable, and there's no risk of it getting any worse. It also looks as though a previous owner has learned the hard way that it's a good idea to loop the end of your lead through your strap to avoid any disasters when you step on the lead mid solo - the jack input is mounted into an oversized plate that hides a missing piece of mahogany where the jack was originally mounted. Other than that, the usual Gibson laquor checking and a set of decent replacement tuners, condition is good and it's set to go many more years into the future. SOLD
G6120 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman. Japanese made SOLD	ES 335 Lightburst. Yum. SOLD
Gretsch G6119 Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose Japanese made SOLD	Stonebridge A17 D40 Solid cedar and mahogany archtop with Kent Armstrong pickup. SOLD

We stock a wide range of guitar accessories including strings, cases, cloths, cleaners, stands etc. & etc.

If your instrument needs a service, overhaul or any sort of fix from the major to the minor then our repair service can help.

We are also pleased to offer a 10% discount to music students, teachers and professional musicians or musicians union members on all our accesories and otherwise undiscounted instruments.

Please phone or email the instrument department for further details on any of our instruments, accessories or with any other queries you may or may not have.

Telephone 0161 834 3281 extension 606

Fax 0161 834 0630

instruments@forsyths.co.uk