The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Why isn't the Gibson SG more popular in jazz?


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Thanks for the link. Very nice. Very Pat Martinesque to me, both for the playing and the sustain given by the solid body.

    Cheers

  4. #3

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    This goes to show that all guitars are jazz guitars. Some are just misused for other styles.

  5. #4

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    Fantastic playing and the electric tone is "the tone" that my ears enjoy for the be-bopish style.

    Thanks for posting the link.

  6. #5

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    Superb. Tone, chops, phrasing. It's all there.

  7. #6

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    Nice!
    [It would be funny, too, if he were playing through a Marshall stack!]

    I recently saw Corey Christiansen gigging with his Buscarino and an SG -- he sounded great on both!

  8. #7

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    The guitarist in Magnus Örström's band uses an SG and gets a really cool modern jazz tone.


  9. #8

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    A great Australian jazz guitarist, George Golla sometimes uses an Epiphone SG and he gets a very nice sound out of it.

  10. #9

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    Fantastic playing. And it's nice to see an SG getting used this way. Angus Young would be mortified.

  11. #10

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    Looks like Andre has posted his CD on youtube. He indicates he used a 1970s ES-175. Some good ES-175 tones and great music.


  12. #11

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  13. #12

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    Whoa, Andre the Giant (Steps)! That is really good and the SG is perfect for it.

  14. #13

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    Bill Frisell sounds like he's playing a steel guitar using that SG and a volume pedal. The tone setup he has, his hands, and the SG contribute to a pedal steel sound--especially via the volume pedal. It's like listening to Buddy Emmons or Doug Jernigan.

  15. #14

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    Great!
    Now I regret selling my SG...

    Life can be so hard sometimes...

    There was just this voice in my head that said I had more than enough guitars and could easily be without the SG.
    There was also another voice, not inside my head, but waking up next to me every morning, which also said sporadically that I had more than enough guitars. They probably had some kind of conspiracy against me.

    I think I need to go buy me a new guitar (or amp or something) to feel better about it...


    Why no love for the Gibson SG?-gibson-sg-jazz-jpg
    Last edited by orri; 12-01-2015 at 05:46 AM.

  16. #15

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    Another former SG'er here. Mine was a 72 or 3 Special I got as a HS graduation/18th birthday present. It had mini humbuckers with black plastic covers. The neck pickup was exceptionally weak - the sound faded completely if you bent a string. I was playing rock and blues and thought you only needed a bridge pup at first. I wound up replacing it with one from LP Deluxe a shop had lying around. In those days, LP Deluxes were mostly re-routed for full size HB's, so there were lots of minis around.

    It was my only electric guitar for many years, and what I first played jazz on. I eventually traded it for a Samick archtop ca. 1995, at the time both were worth about the same.

    It wasn't a great guitar - every SG standard I've played sounded better
    I can't say I miss it, but seeing Derek Trucks videos does ignite a little temptation. ...

  17. #16

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    John A.

    I used to own a SG Custom. It sounded and played like a great SG...with a cotton-picking pickup in the middle, getting in the way of my right hand.

    I would have gladly exchanged it, at the time, for a good SG Special--but one from the 60s that featured P90 pickups--like the instruments that Pete Townshend and Carlos Santana played. Those guitars both played and sounded superb, to me. (No, I never played _their_ guitars, but I played period-correct Specials.) I think the Specials from the 60s are perhaps the best SGs ever.

  18. #17

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    Greentone,

    I friend of mine had a 60s Special that I played a bit -- The only thing I really remember about it was that the neck was basically a whammy bar. Between that and the wrap tail, it was untunable.

    John

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    Greentone,

    I friend of mine had a 60s Special that I played a bit -- The only thing I really remember about it was that the neck was basically a whammy bar. Between that and the wrap tail, it was untunable.

    John
    Yet another SG fan here! The only Gibson I ever cared about. If I saw this clip back in the day, I wouldnt sell mine!

  20. #19

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    I have a chance to acquire Gibson SG (61 RI) - basically swap it for one of guitars I rarely use.
    I borrowed it and despite lighter gauge strings (10s) I quite like it. Skinny neck and shorter scale
    agrees with my hand - some chords I can barely reach on on Tele are easy in SG. Enough string
    separation to be comfy for both fingerstyle and pick. Very even and true sounding pickups - every
    note in the chord is there. Tonewise - it could be tad darker - I still look for proper EQ - just play it
    with with just Diamond compressor straight into Evans RE150. Maybe with 11s on it it will be better -
    10s do not have enough support it is too easy to bend them. Yes - it is a bit neck heavy but I
    use short leather strip and place it a bit like classical guitar with neck at a sharper upward angle.
    So it stays in the position better and gives me access to neck - easy to play large stretches.
    Overall I quite like it - it may become my next Jazz/Bluesmobile.

    Anybody else out there living life of shame behind close door and jazzing on Satan's axe?
    What strings (brand/gauge) do you use? Amp? Effects (if any) ?

    Cheers

    JT

  21. #20

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    Not my main jazz gitar, but I have have a '91 SG special and it has some jazz in it. I use the neck pickup and roll the tone down to 6/7. I play through an original 1965 deluxe reverb or a Polytone Mini Brute. Overall, I like the versatility of the SG - good little guitar.
    Last edited by Engine Swap; 12-20-2015 at 11:46 PM.

  22. #21

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    Right on man! I don't have SG anymore, but I did a few years ago, before I even jazz. I think it's ultimate solo guitar, it cuts through the mix in a band like no other. I' m not sure it would be my first choice for a regular jazz gig, but you might make it work. I know Bill Frisell used to use it early in his career, and it's my favorite tone of his.

    Yet, if like myself, sometimes you just want forget about complicated jazz things and feel like an excited adolescent again - grab the SG, crank it out, and channel your inner Angus! It feels good, doesn't it? Just like you said though, behind closed doors does it- nobody have to know

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Engine Swap
    Not my main jazz gitar, but I have have a '91 SG special and it has some jazz in it. I use the neck pickup and roll the tone down to 6/7. I play through an original 1965 deluxe reverb or a Polytone Mini Brute. Overall, I like the versatility of the SG - good little guitar.
    My current two amps are older Evans with reverb - RE150 I believe - brighter amp than Polytone by a mile - at home I typically just roll off the treble completely. Used to have MiniBrute and sold it to get Evans (it was 115 and that was big issue - it was waaaay too bassy when loud). When I got Evans my 1st reaction was "what have I done!?" - suddenly all the uneven picking was out there plain to see - Polytone was somehow masking it. Other amp is Hot Rod Deluxe - I like it a lot (me and George Benson - only he knows how to use it ;-) ) I need test SG with it. I also have Blues Jr but I am considering selling it - it is bright at home - ok when loud but a bit "boxy" sounding for my taste.

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Right on man! I don't have SG anymore, but I did a few years ago, before I even jazz. I think it's ultimate solo guitar, it cuts through the mix in a band like no other. I' m not sure it would be my first choice for a regular jazz gig, but you might make it work. I know Bill Frisell used to use it early in his career, and it's my favorite tone of his.

    Yet, if like myself, sometimes you just want forget about complicated jazz things and feel like an excited adolescent again - grab the SG, crank it out, and channel your inner Angus! It feels good, doesn't it? Just like you said though, behind closed doors does it- nobody have to know
    Thanks for the Frisell pointer - great player - good to know that he was not anti-SG.
    To be quite honest - I never "channeled" Angus - my guitar hero when I was younger was
    Rory Gallagher - a Strat guy. But I always liked idea of SG. Even owned 61 RI briefly several
    years ago. Then foolishly sold it. What I really like about it is that it works very well both with
    fingers and pick. And when you dig into it it nicely accepts the stronger attack and remains round
    - sortta like electric piano - I like that quality in guitars a lot. My d'Angelico Excel is not like that - the
    force that you can exert on it falls in narrower range. Beyond it it just gets buzzy.
    Bill Frisell |

  25. #24

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    Have a listen to the tone that Angus gets on the intro of rocknroll aint noise pollution:


  26. #25

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    i have an gibson sg. its a mediocre guitar, but it does the job. doesn't stay in tune for bollocks. sounds alright with some flat 12s and through a drri.