The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    The guitar Johnny uses on this album shared with Van Epps sounds amazingly plectrum clean like eddy lang sounding. He’s holding what seems to be a Guild?
    If so.. it sounds very acoustic, then again Johnny typically gets that warm sound from the same guitar? If so.. that’s the sound and versatility I want out of an archtop. Best of both worlds.
    Is that possible ?
    I guess what I’m looking for is that Kenny burrel warm sound , but also playing unplugged and get that plectrum sound .
    Possible?

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  3. #2

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    He recorded that album in his home, as I recall. It wasn't released until later. The picture on the album cover looks like a Gibson JS. I can't see it very well though. That doesn't mean he recorded those tunes with it though.

    I have listened to this album many, many times. It may be his finest work. He uses a pick. It may be solely an acoustic sound at times, a hybrid acoustic-amplified sound, and electric. It's virtuoso playing. It could be done on a classical guitar but likely is an archtop. This was recorded in the 1970s, so probably he used a GJS or perhaps his D'Angelico.



    Acoustic.



    Possibly a hybrid.



    Earlier and simpler electric version.




    I encourage all serious guitarists to listen carefully to this album more than any other as a standard for technically mastery.

  4. #3
    Yes, great music. I think there are some transcriptions out there on these recordings . Van Eps was a master too, I’m just not a big fan of the muddy “toned down” sound he uses. I prefer a brighter tone.
    All good stuff!!

  5. #4
    I guess I won’t get a heritage JS or Guild Artist award to sound like that openly acoustic ?

  6. #5

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    Johnny did very well with a Heritage JS when he visited Kalamazoo. I wouldn't blame the instrument.

    There is no magic in the build of the GJS. It's a fine design, but the Heritage design was subsequent and with Johnny's strict approval. I won't say it's better, but it's comparable IMO. I know that ruffles feathers, and I don't say that lightly.

    The problem I had with the Guild Johnny Smith Award was the very thick lacquer. Otherwise that's a gem.

    Everyone has an opinion. I know or knew the builders of the GJS and HJS. The amount of time creating each instrument and the substrate woods they assure me were the same. The pickup is definitely different, and that can be changed. The body length is a little different, but Johnny didn't ask for a longer length to match the GJS. Some of the same people carved both. So when it comes down to objective evidence, it's hard to call one brand superior to the other.

    The Artist Award is a different story. I personally hold that instrument in very high regard. I have owned three of them over the years, all very acceptable for acoustic use.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marty Grass
    Johnny did very well with a Heritage JS when he visited Kalamazoo. I wouldn't blame the instrument.

    There is no magic in the build of the GJS. It's a fine design, but the Heritage design was subsequent and with Johnny's strict approval. I won't say it's better, but it's comparable IMO. I know that ruffles feathers, and I don't say that lightly.

    The problem I had with the Guild Johnny Smith Award was the very thick lacquer. Otherwise that's a gem.

    Everyone has an opinion. I know or knew the builders of the GJS and HJS. The amount of time creating each instrument and the substrate woods they assure me were the same. The pickup is definitely different, and that can be changed. The body length is a little different, but Johnny didn't ask for a longer length to match the GJS. Some of the same people carved both. So when it comes down to objective evidence, it's hard to call one brand superior to the other.

    The Artist Award is a different story. I personally hold that instrument in very high regard. I have owned three of them over the years, all very acceptable for acoustic use.
    Is there a distinction worth making between a GJSA original and the later re-issue, that I assume you're talking about here?
    Unless you are talking about the original?
    I've had this issue recently, when someone said a player in the UK has a GJSA, only to link me to a re-issue, not the original. The two being very different guitars if I'm not mistaken?

  8. #7

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    The Guild Johnny Smith Award may be very similar in the very early version and the Benedetto version, but I doubt it. The Benedetto version had about a 25.5" scale length and a ton of lacquer. It also had a Seymour Duncan Benedetto humbucker.

    I stripped the lacquer off the Benedetto version due to the heaviness of it and because it checked extensively. It was very lively afterward as a natural with a few coats of clear. BigMike has it now.

    I've never played the original Guild version of the guitar.

  9. #8

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    MG,
    That's a very fair assessment of Johnny Smith's recording on the Legends album. It's one of my favorites, ever! And I can understand why Joe D has dedicated so much of his guitar mastery to it. It's absolutely incredible.

  10. #9

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    As a former classical guitarist who lost his right hand chops to focal dystonia, I find Johnny Smith's playing of solo pieces as on the "Legends" and "Man With The Blue Guitar" recordings to be quite astonishing. I am currently working on getting my plectrum chops to a similar level I had as a classical guitarist, and playing classical guitar pieces is the key, along with lots of arpeggio practice. There are many more pieces available if one uses a hybrid technique that maintains the same tonal clarity as a pick. Anybody interested in getting to a Johnny Smith-like level should practice the Etudes of Sor and Giuliani as well as the pieces that Smith recorded. Whether you play them on the classical guitar or the electric or a flat-top acoustic, you will find a world of challenges that will translate into jazz techniques and especially voice-leading moves that will be very useful in accompanying singers and horn players. And most of us having trouble with the plectrum technique can benefit from Troy Grady's Cracking The Code Series, which is well worth the $25 monthly fee, one month may be enough to find solutions, but it's very enjoyable, and I stayed with it for 3 months.

  11. #10

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    Johnny arranged his own fingerings to accommodate using the pick, which are probably different than those usually used by fingerstyle guitarists. He preferred piano arrangements rather than transposed guitar charts, using adjacent strings as much as possible to avoid the plunk of muted strings. And he often tuned the low E to D, which makes many of his voicings possible.

  12. #11

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    The guitar which JS is holding on the cover of the Legends album is the Gibson JS which they made for him and had a Citation body and JS neck. The story is well documented. Read Lin Flanagan's Biography:

    Moonlight in Vermont: The Official Biography of Johnny Smith: Amazon.co.uk: Lin Flanagan: 0888680090364: Books

    DG

    P.S. This one:

  13. #12

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    And here:





    This is probably the same guitar used to record Legends, although perhaps that was recorded prior to JS selling the D'Angelico.