The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26
    Thanks again for all the advice. I spent the weekend on trying to dial in tone only.

    What I’ve learned.

    1. A Telecaster will *never* sound like an acoustic archtop. It’ll sound like a Tele with the tone rolled off. Not bad but definitely not traditional in my ears. I think the tone I am most familiar with is an acoustic, hollow, woody jazz tone. A Tele is not that.

    2. Same thing Les Paul.

    2. A 5e3 (Tweed Deluxe) can work but it might be slightly too boomy for that application. The single tone control is just a treble roll off. The bass in that amp is what it is and sometimes it is too much. Not really a ton of control.

    3. A 5f1 (Champ) in my case a 5f1 in a Deluxe size cabinet with a 12” speaker and a passive tone control will work but at 5W is pretty quiet.

    4. A thicker pick at 1.5mm worked well.

    5. 11-50 Flatwounds made a big difference.

    I am thinking of more appropriate amplifiers with more control over the tone options. I did try a Klone (KLON) to boost the mids by raising the gain and it was so-so.

    So thanks again and if you have any more advice, please feel free.

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  3. #27

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    Get a decent solid state amp. I don't like tubes for many reasons, especially Fenders. The boomy bass is one of the reasons, but there are more. I own a Fender tube amp, but I rarely bother to fire up my crane to lift it out of the closet. A decent amp that produces a flat response works much better for me. I really like the DV Mark Little Jazz. It's small, light, and relatively cheap, and sounds better than my Fender. But there are many, many other choices. And yes, neither a Tele nor a LP will sound like an acoustic archtop. If you want that sound, you need that guitar. That said, check out Tim Lerch, especially his video on how to get a jazz sound out of a Tele.

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike R.
    Thanks again for all the advice. I spent the weekend on trying to dial in tone only.

    What I’ve learned.

    1. A Telecaster will *never* sound like an acoustic archtop. It’ll sound like a Tele with the tone rolled off. Not bad but definitely not traditional in my ears. I think the tone I am most familiar with is an acoustic, hollow, woody jazz tone. A Tele is not that.
    Well...





    Quote Originally Posted by Mike R.
    2. A 5e3 (Tweed Deluxe) can work but it might be slightly too boomy for that application. The single tone control is just a treble roll off. The bass in that amp is what it is and sometimes it is too much. Not really a ton of control.
    Lots of classic jazz guitar recordings were made with Rudy Van Gelder's 5E3. I've installed Mission Amps "Humbucker I & II" mods in my 5E3, which allows you to plug into the bright channel and use the other volume knob to roll off the bass. Adding a parametric EQ before the amp might also be a solution.

    And as someone else mentioned, the great-uncle of Tele playing jazzers:


  5. #29

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    Some folks get caught up in honing that dream solo jazz guitar sound in the bedroom. Then they get a chance to play with others in another environment and realize it sounds all muddy and boomy because they've tweaked their gear for playing by themselves in the bedroom/living room.

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Some folks get caught up in honing that dream solo jazz guitar sound in the bedroom. Then they get a chance to play with others in another environment and realize it sounds all muddy and boomy because they've tweaked their gear for playing by themselves in the bedroom/living room.
    This is an excellent point. Every level of play has its own issues with sound. Bedroom, bandroom, coffee house, bar, larger club, big show. All different. Your gear. House gear. Different instruments and players, playing with different styles volumes and EQ. Each one is a new experience.

    What sounds good in one situation may not sound good in another. What sounds bad in the first set sometimes sounds good in the second set, IME.

    But, we don't often talk directly about which gear is the most flexible.

  7. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Some folks get caught up in honing that dream solo jazz guitar sound in the bedroom. Then they get a chance to play with others in another environment and realize it sounds all muddy and boomy because they've tweaked their gear for playing by themselves in the bedroom/living room.
    Exactly.

    What I am finding is that all that bass passing through *might* step on a bass player. It isn’t needed in a trio or quartet situation. Coming from the background I am (not jazz) my 5e3 is generally used with a light overdrive and other effects that cut bass but add their own tone. This is what I wanted to avoid here. I want minimal to no effects in between guitar and amp.

    I am thinking of a parametric eq to roll off that low end boom.

  8. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Some folks get caught up in honing that dream solo jazz guitar sound in the bedroom. Then they get a chance to play with others in another environment and realize it sounds all muddy and boomy because they've tweaked their gear for playing by themselves in the bedroom/living room.
    Precisely! Tonally, context is everything. As I have said before (and it bears repeating), your drummer has more influence with your perceived tone that you do with his or her choice of cymbal and its deployment. Always be ready to make adjustments on the fly.