I want to buy a nice jazz guitar for my studio. Since I don't play or know Anything about guitars, I need some advice. All the jazz guys I have played with have used a hollow or semi-hollow body guitar. The guitarist I play with most frequently keeps trying to point me to a $2500 Gibson but I don't want to spend that much for a studio instrument that's only there for 'guest' guitarist that might happen to drop in. Truth is, I only want to spend in the 500-700 dollar range; less if possible (probably not for a semi-hollow body).

First of all, is a semi-hollow body the way to go (for Wes Montgomery-type jazz guitar) and if so, what's the cheapest decent-quality instrument of this type I can get? Oh, and should I consider 'used'? Any warnings about 'used'?

Any help, tips or buying advice will be much appreciated.

chas