So who plays acoustic jazz?

[rpguitar]

With the endless threads on here about the many instruments that might be suitable for jazz playing, and especially about electric guitars, I wonder how many of us play jazz or jazz-inspired music primarily on acoustic guitars.

I don't mean playing your laminated semi-hollow unplugged on the couch so as not to disturb the missus. I'm referring to acoustic music played on guitars designed to be played acoustically. Floating pickups are fine, but cut-in pickups imply a different design goal. Hopefully I'm overstating the distinction such that it's obvious.

Acoustic guitars for jazz are usually archtops, but could be flattops, Manouche guitars, or classical/flamenco. They can be vintage, modern, or vintage-inspired modern. They are often an acquired taste, and take a bit of finesse to play complex music on cleanly. The traditional repertoire is old, but nearly any contemporary music can find a new voice on these instruments.

So who plays 'em? I know a couple of names that'll pop right up. I'm curious who else is lurking.

[hot ford coupe]

Let me be the first to respond. Here I be. I've got a floating pickup on my 39 D'A which I use mostly but I still enjoy playing the guitar without it.

[Scolohofo]

i play my the loar lh300 on gypsy evenings

[JohnW400]

My three go-to guitars are:

Campellone Oval Whole Standard w/ floater
Colletti Oval Whole Custom w/ floater (loud guitar)
Alhambra CW7P cutaway classical

I haven't turned on an amp in so long....


I regret getting the Alhambra w/ the Fishman pup. The next Classical or Crossover will be w/o pup.

I am wondering if I would not have been better off getting one of those Shatman or K&K Archtop pups i/o a floater on the Campellone but....

I find myself looking at amps that will give me a more natural acoustic sound rather for these guitars. Problem is since don't really plug them in, what's the point?

[mr. beaumont]

I spend most of my time playing acoustic guitars these days...I have a Taylor flattop, a Gitane Jorgenson model "Grande Bouche" and a Kay archtop that does have a dearmond pickup, but I usually play it unplugged.

I like the sound of an electric for gigging, but at home and for recordings I'm leaning more and more to an acoustic sound.

[rpguitar]

Me too. Practicing on acoustic guitars 90% of the time. And if I play somewhere it's on an acoustic guitar with a floating pickup. But my point is that honing one's technique on an acoustic guitar really helps with one's overall skill, even if it takes a while and is frustrating at first. I started doing so about 4 years ago, and never would have predicted that if you had asked me a while back. But I'm grateful for it happening.

[stevedenver]

me
i play from time to time with a jazz guitar ensemble
all accoustic and i can actually cut through 4 other guitars with my spruce archtop (sans its floater) - i have to use a pick however and not my fingers

[Patrick2]

I'm with JohnW400 in not having turned on an amp in so long . . . I have various X braced spruce top arch tops with floating pups . . . and I recently acquired an X braced maple sound board arch top with a floater. I also have an X braced 17" arch top with a single mounted neck pup and an 18" parallel braced arch top with a single mounted neck pup which sound pretty good acoustically.

I'm not so sure that I'm in total agreement with rpguitar (unless I'm misunderstanding what he's saying) about honing one's skills by practicing and playing acoustically. I find that when I do plug in, I'm not able to get away with some of the sloppiness that I don't seem to hear when I play without the amp. The amp picks up all of the little buggers in technique that I wasn't even aware I was doing.

[rpguitar]

Patrick, for me, it's a lot easier to produce a clean tone on an electric guitar. One can pick very softly and let the amp do the work. On an acoustic, sometimes such soft dynamics are "clicky" and imprecise sounding. I find this phenomenon especially true on an archtop, which wants to be played especially carefully and makes you work for every note.

So that's why I can relax a bit on an electric, especially after I've got some acoustic chops (and calluses) under my fingers.

[msr13]

I play about half the time on my flattop. I love the sound of jazz on it. Eric Skye recently was in town and played a concert using my guitar. He sounds way better on it than I ever could. It's Eric's signature Santa Cruz 00. I got the guitar a year ago and have been enamored with it since it arrived. No pickup, and when I play out, the venues are small enough that I can be heard. Although, I am starting to experiment with a mic. Here's Eric playing it.

YouTube Video

[morroben]

I like to play jazz on my flattop. It's a Martin 000-15. Not the fanciest guitar in the world but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. It's mahogany and a bit warmer sounding than most spruce top acoustics.
I actually sold it once when I really needed the money but ended up running into the guy I sold it to and bought it back 5 years later. I won't let it out of my sight again!

[bohemian46]

The majority of my playing is on acoustics.

Skye also plays dreadnoughts. I believe he just got a Santa Cruz Dread.
Interesting player.

[rpguitar]

One of my very favorite ways to play is in a quiet room, either privately or on a type of gig that includes such a setting (such as an art gallery or quiet restaurant). I'll have an acoustic archtop with a floating pickup, and a small amp with a bit of reverb. And I'll dial back the amp's volume quite a bit so it's maybe 75% acoustic and 25% amplified sound in the space. It's a 3D kind of sound that I find really engaging. I also like the whisper of reverb from the amp and how it complements the natural vibrations of the acoustic guitar.

[Rick Kay]

I play an acoustic 90% of the time, mostly on a flattop dreadnaught. I have a Murphy archtop under construction (to be delivered around Christmas), and it is completely acoustic.

That said, I spend time 3-4 times a week on one of the electrics because I feel it sharpens my skills, plus I dig the sound. Why limit ourselves?

[Retroman1969]

I love to play acoustically and have done it on a number of acoustic guitars, usually cheapos that I found for near nothing on CL like Johnsons and low-end Epiphones. I sold them all because I want to find a nice guitar to play acoustically, or mostly acoustically. (Looking at a couple of Eastmans with floaters at the moment... Frankly, they seem to sound better acoustically than they do plugged in)
As for flat-tops, I haven't tried a lot of them, but so far the mahogany Martins seem to get the best jazz tones with their dark creamy sound, and they have such great necks that they play so nice-n-easy.
I also find that I can hone my skills better playing acoustically because I have to work harder at it and concentrate more. I have to raise the action a bit, pluck the strings harder and concentrate a little more to get a nice full, clean sound without buzzing.

[SOR]

I also play acoustic guitar ninety percent of the time. I use TI Jazz Swing flatwounds on both my acoustics and electrics, I find they really bring out the woody tone of the acoustics and creat a great jazz tone.

[mangotango]

My day-to-day workhorse, play around the house guitar is my Epiphone Orville electro EO-1. It's quiet enough that it doesn't annoy the family (in fact, I have to ask my daughter to give it back most of the time! ) or neighbours; and as others have pointed out, I have to work that little bit harder with it so that when I pick up my Vestax D'Angelico, playing seems so much easier!!

However, there's also a vibe that you get with acoustic that no elecric will give. Different attack and decay, the ring of the strings.....dammit, what you guys doing to me? Now I want an acoustic archtop!!

[rpguitar]

Originally Posted by mangotango

Now I want an acoustic archtop!!

Well, of course you do.

I feel that the acoustic universe, as it were, has its own special vibe. Learning to really play an instrument without the aid of amplification can be a humbling, but very fulfilling, Zen-like experience.

In 2007 I got the Flamenco bug. Those guys play a 2 lb guitar that is essentially a box of wood with plastic strings. And they play the living daylights out of it, eliciting more pure music per ounce of instrument than any other type of guitarist. They have no pedals, no pickups, no amps, not even a pick or a strap - NO ancillary crap. I took that to heart. I also stopped playing Flamenco because, frankly, I sucked at it.

BTW, I love electric guitars. So don't take this as a "one is better than the other" thread at all. Not my intention.

[kamlapati]

Well, that would be me! All I need is a an archtop and a mic.

Autumn leaves

[Retroman1969]

Nice video! Beautiful guitar too. What is it?

[kamlapati]

Thanks RMan, much appreciated.

That's my Trenier Magnolia Classic. It's very much in the style of D'Aquisto Classics, both aurally and aesthetically.

[Buster Loaf]

It's hard to imagine that anyone cares but, what the heck....
I don't play any acoustic these days, cause one of the tuners broke on my acoustic guitar.

Sometimes I play my start unplugged,> I know I know-that doesn't' count but that's as far as I go

[morroben]

Originally Posted by Buster Loaf

I don't play any acoustic these days, cause one of the tuners broke on my acoustic guitar.

Go to your local guitar shop and tell them the situation. The shop I do repairs at has drawers full of tuners leftover from projects over the years. Even if we can't give you a brand new tuner, or a tuner that matches, we can give you a tuner that works. And we're always looking to help musicians keep playing. We wouldn't charge you a penny. We'd just look at it as an opportunity to earn a customer down the road...like maybe when you get around to buying a set of tuners, you'll buy them from us.

[fws6]

me too, 99% of the time I play acoustically. When I play together with someone else I hook on the floater but home alone I just play all evening acoustically. There's an amp next to my chair but I hardly ever have the urge to plug in.

[Retroman1969]

Originally Posted by kamlapati

Thanks RMan, much appreciated.

That's my Trenier Magnolia Classic. It's very much in the style of D'Aquisto Classics, both aurally and aesthetically.

Cool... Funny, I was thinking D'Aquisto when I saw it.

[cjm]

Originally Posted by fws6

...When I play together with someone else I hook on the floater but home alone I just play all evening....

Look, we were all young once...I just don't think we need to go there...

[Keira Witherkay]

times have changed for me.......a few years back i was exclusively playing acoustic guitar , nylon string at all my gigs....(i'm a pro muso) and even billed it as "acoustic jazz and world music' obviously doing the flamenco thing as well ........ as well as all the jazz standards .....however in last while i've shifted to ES330 and ES175 type electric hollow body and telecaster although my acoustic goes to every gig and i still perform a few numbers on it ...........

so yes i loved being acoustic but i must say a descent hollowbody's tone is just heavan to my ears .......... and ever since i saw jim campilongo playing jazz and getting great tone on a telecaster i too use it at times.......... all 3(nylon acoustic(with lrbaggs system) /the hollow body's /the fender telecaster) very different tones but all can do the job well enough that i can take all or just one of them to any show and it sounds great ......

and yes i seem to fluctuate thru moods...where i prefer to be more "traditional jazz sounding" with the hollowbody, or more "edgy" with the tele or more "organic sounding " with the nylon string so least i have the options available to me and i use it

[stevedenver]

nice refereshing perspective

electrics are simply fun, and entirely different

i too go through moods, and i find different guitars are like a palatte of colors-but-im no pro

[Stevebol]

I started playing electric again after about 15 years. I wouldn't even bother if people where I live where into acoustic jazz like Django. Have to play murkan' jazz where I am. Acoustic jazz is too "foreign" in these parts.

I still reach for my Gitane first just in case I meet people that are hip. That's not likely though.