The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    The Strat seems to have less mids in it than say a Tele. Almost like the eq of a good flat top guitar. I always gravitated to a Tele especially with a humbucker or mini HB for a good Jazz type of tone.
    Perhaps a Strat with that same pickup? But I gave up on Strats 20 years ago and haven’t looked back!

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Where I end up is thinking about the definition of "jazz tone".

    If you want to sound like Wes, that's one thing. I've never heard his tone out of anything but an L5, played his way.

    Some of the other classic players are, arguably, a little easier to approximate and have a lot in common, tone-wise.

    But, does "jazz tone" end there? What about Metheny's processed sound on Bright Size Life. Not jazz?

    Or Scofield? Or the overdriven tone I heard Mike Stern use when touring with Miles Davis?

    Or, what would be so terrible about playing jazz standards with Mark Knopfler's tone?

    I understand that an L5 won't sound like a Strat, or the reverse, but which tone to use depends on how you want to sound.

  4. #28

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    I guess now it's time to start another thread: what folks think of jazz on a... jazzmaster.

  5. #29

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    I play jazz FUSION on my strat. I can’t play bop on it unless I overdrive it, which is fun. I played a nice gig last night and had some stray screaming opportunities.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

  6. #30

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    Most metal guitarists play pointy guitars, but Jim Root of Slipknot plays a Telecaster. He is no less of a metal guitarist for it. I suspect many guitarists choose their instruments to observe convention, rather than to achieve a particular sound.

    Similar rules apply to dress.




  7. #31

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    I love a strat for jazz. You have to know how to play it right and set your amp right for it, but it's just a killer guitar.

    For jazz i think they sound best with 12s.
    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-img_9408-jpg

  8. #32

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    What has not been mentioned yet at all is that a real Strat has a tremolo which affects the tone -- even if the metal block is fixated there are still the springs in the body that might resonate a tiny bit on their own.

  9. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bop Head
    What has not been mentioned yet at all is that a real Strat has a tremolo which affects the tone -- even if the metal block is fixated there are still the springs in the body that might resonate a tiny bit on their own.
    I have a whammy and I use it. Goes without saying.

  10. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Look, in the beginning, he keeps adjusting that tone knob, turn it down... a little more... maybe just a lil bit more... until it sounds like completely all the way down lol. Ok if you do that you get this fake impersonation of an archtop, cool. Again my question, why bother, when you can plug in a tele, or a semi, or hollowbody and get the tone right away, no tweaking?

    Beautiful playing nonetheless though, no arguing about that.
    I have not ever found any guitar on which I got "the tone right away, no tweaking." My Strat, my Teles, my ES-175, my carvetop (which took more tweaking than all my other guitars put together, trying about eight different pickups over a decade to find the sound I wanted), my GB10, my nylon strings; all of them required tweaking to get the sound I want. Now I can pick up any of them and know exactly how to get the tone I want out of them in a matter of seconds. Most of that is touch, and each guitar wants something a bit different.

    10/14/24 update: Editing this after some consideration, I do have to say that the guitar that took the least tweaking of all of mine to get a jazz sound I really liked was my ES-175. I guess that's no surprise to most of us. That one was pretty much "plugged it in, twiddled the knobs for 10 seconds and there it was." My GB10 took a fair amount of study of how to use the volume and tone control to best advantage to get a good sound, but I've had that guitar nearly 40 years and found that sound along time ago. My carved archtop with floating pickup, on the other hand, was the most difficult guitar to get a sound I really liked of any I've ever had; I went through I think five or maybe seven pickups over 16 years before nailing it. Getting a good sound with my Telecaster or my Stratocaster was far simpler.
    Last edited by Cunamara; 10-14-2024 at 09:35 PM.

  11. #35

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    I loved my strats. I think it's a great jazz sound. Some guys make em sound great stock but me I liked to mod em. I played hard tail swimming pool warmoths with 12s. Then I'd make my own pickguards with 2 neck pickups right next to each other. Wired with a switch to select either pickup and a knob to roll the other one in in series. Nice and fat.

  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bop Head
    What has not been mentioned yet at all is that a real Strat has a tremolo which affects the tone -- even if the metal block is fixated there are still the springs in the body that might resonate a tiny bit on their own.
    Phooey on that. IIRC, hardtail Strats have been in production since 1955. Mine are a bit newer. Great guitars!

    Attached Images Attached Images How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-img_1354-jpg How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-strat-lpb-hardtail-rawk-_2537-lo-jpg 

  13. #37

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  14. #38

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    I've played jazz on a Mustang (which I prefer because of the shorter scale length) and on a Yamaha SF 400 (solid body with humbuckers). On the Mustang I've tried to get the most "Fendery tone" I could... "shiny and sparkling" (what was the point, otherwise!?). Though, at the end of the day, I still prefer an archtop tone and feel, so I've sold my solid bodies... but I regret having sold my Mustang.

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
    I love a strat for jazz. You have to know how to play it right and set your amp right for it, but it's just a killer guitar.

    For jazz i think they sound best with 12s.
    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-img_9408-jpg
    I was waiting for you to show up in this one. Beautiful strat Juan. What pickups are you using in it?

  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Look, in the beginning, he keeps adjusting that tone knob, turn it down... a little more... maybe just a lil bit more... until it sounds like completely all the way down lol. Ok if you do that you get this fake impersonation of an archtop, cool. Again my question, why bother, when you can plug in a tele, or a semi, or hollowbody and get the tone right away, no tweaking?
    What if a person already has a strat, wants to play ""jazz,"" can't afford another guitar.

    Me, just the opposite. I have plenty of "jazz" guitars. Bought a cheap strat to fool around with for fun. Turns out it sounds fine for "jazz."

    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-strat-2-jpg

  17. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Look, in the beginning, he keeps adjusting that tone knob, turn it down... a little more... maybe just a lil bit more... until it sounds like completely all the way down lol.
    No, it really doesn’t sound like the tone is all the way down.
    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Ok if you do that you get this fake impersonation of an archtop, cool.
    Again, no that’s not what you get. You get a good demonstration of how to use a tone control.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Look Again my question, why bother, when you can plug in a tele, or a semi, or hollowbody and get the tone right away, no tweaking?

    I don’t try to make any of my guitars sound like the others. That defeats the purpose of having different guitars. I play my strat because I like it. It’s great ergonomically, it sounds and plays great, I like the whammy, and when I do play jazz with it in public I get a chuckle out of people’s reaction. But the relatively scooped sound doesn’t always fit, single coil buzz can be a problem, and not every amp works well with it, so I use it selectively.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Beautiful playing nonetheless though, no arguing about that.
    Yup.

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    That tone speaks for itself, very nice.

  19. #43

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    Just because you can play jazz on a strat, doesn't mean that you should!

    I have owned a '63 strat since the late '70's, about as fat and great sounding strat as there is, and sure, I suppose that I could use it for jazz- put heavy strings on it and set it up that way, but then it wouldn't be that great for all of the things that strats are fantastic for. (I hope I don't need to put up a list of all the great strat players, we all know them.)

    When I pick up a strat, it's to play it like a strat, in one of the genres that strats are great at, of which there are many.

    When I want to play jazz, an arch top, a Les Paul, a telecaster are all superior. IMHO, YMMV etc.

    Pics or it didn't happen!

    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-63-strat-jpg

  20. #44

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    DB was playing with .009 or .010 strings on the clip I posted. Fat strings are not necessary for a good jazz tone, as has been proven many times (Ed Bickert and Jim Hall, for example, both used .010 string sets).

    Although I do find some of my guitars seem to respond better to heavier strings than lighter strings, such as my 17" carved archtop. I just put .012s on it and I'm really digging how it sounds with those compared to the .011s I've been using for years. I think the issue there is the response of the individual guitar and not string thickness versus genre of music. Rock and blues do not equal light gauge strings and jazz does not equal heavy gauge strings.

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    What if a person already has a strat, wants to play ""jazz,"" can't afford another guitar.

    Me, just the opposite. I have plenty of "jazz" guitars. Bought a cheap strat to fool around with for fun. Turns out it sounds fine for "jazz."
    ps - Might try a cheap Jaguar, the short scale intrigues me. Might be able to put 11's on it.

  22. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    Although I do find some of my guitars seem to respond better to heavier strings than lighter strings, such as my 17" carved archtop. I just put .012s on it and I'm really digging how it sounds with those compared to the .011s I've been using for years. I think the issue there is the response of the individual guitar and not string thickness versus genre of music. Rock and blues do not equal light gauge strings and jazz does not equal heavy gauge strings.
    I have a guitar that sounds great with 10s, but it sounds like crap with 11s. Never experienced anything quite like that, but it was like that particular guitar just does not like 11s. I listened to it and put 10s back on. Sounds great again!

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by bluejaybill
    Just because you can play jazz on a strat, doesn't mean that you should!

    I have owned a '63 strat since the late '70's, about as fat and great sounding strat as there is, and sure, I suppose that I could use it for jazz- put heavy strings on it and set it up that way, but then it wouldn't be that great for all of the things that strats are fantastic for. (I hope I don't need to put up a list of all the great strat players, we all know them.)

    When I pick up a strat, it's to play it like a strat, in one of the genres that strats are great at, of which there are many.

    When I want to play jazz, an arch top, a Les Paul, a telecaster are all superior. IMHO, YMMV etc.

    Pics or it didn't happen!

    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-63-strat-jpg
    That's a good point. Can you play jazz on a strat? Can you cut a steak with a butter knife? Yes, you can! But it doesn't mean you should. If using the right tools for the right job is not an option then go ahead. If you're too broke to afford more than one guitar, and you're so attached to your strat, then go ahead. Otherwise, let the strat do what it does best, which is pretty much everything else but jazz.

  24. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    That's a good point. Can you play jazz on a strat? Can you cut a steak with a butter knife? Yes, you can! But it doesn't mean you should. If using the right tools for the right job is not an option then go ahead. If you're too broke to afford more than one guitar, and you're so attached to your strat, then go ahead. Otherwise, let the strat do what it does best, which is pretty much everything else but jazz.

    It is not about tools or money. Jazz is music, not work. What harm would it do to play jazz on a guitar that is not associated with jazz? What's wrong with having imagination, and a sense of adventure?






    Last edited by Litterick; 10-13-2024 at 02:26 AM.

  25. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by DawgBone
    I was waiting for you to show up in this one. Beautiful strat Juan. What pickups are you using in it?
    I put some Ron Ellis pickups that I got a great deal on but it came with some fender “fat 60’s” alnico ii pickups that I might even prefer for jazz with their extra bass and midrange. The corksniffer in my likes the extra high end in the Ron Ellis but the practical musician in me wants the honk so I can be heard in the mix.

  26. #50

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    Built for jazz…

    How many of you play Jazz on a Strat?-img_1466-jpeg