And yes, I'd agree, you CAN get a nice jazz tone on Franz pickup equipped guitar. It will take a good amp, and some tweaking, sure! But I said "it's not IDEAL", meaning that HB-1 or SD '59 will get you there so much faster and basically through any amp, without almost any tweaking. It's just my experience though. I have to confess, it's a shame, but I don't have a good tube amp. It's simply not practical for me to lug it around on public transportation, when sometimes I have to play 2 gigs in different parts of town on the same night. My main amp is ZT Lunchbox, and I tell you it's sooo much better sounds with Starfire with SD-1, than NS X175 with Franzes. I mean for any style, but especially for jazz. Come to think of it, the only time X175 sounded really good was through some Fender tube amp. But The Starfire sound consistently good through anything. I think it's pickups, am I wrong?