-
-
04-01-2026 01:56 PM
-
I'd bet when you are in the room with her, she's pretty LOUD
Sounds good, a little squeaky maybe from new strings.
-
John is a great player but to me he struggles playing this guitar acoustically it seems. It is a very bright guitar and my guess has plenty of volume. My guess is John is not used to playing pure acoustic archtops but I could be completely wrong.
-
Sounds like he gets used to it after a few minutes. Which is how I feel with a new guitar.
Originally Posted by deacon Mark
-
How do you differentiate between struggling to play an instrument acoustically, and struggling to play in a style that you don't play every single day? Originally Posted by deacon Mark
There was nothing about his performance that struck me as John Is Uncomfortable With This Instrument ...and lots about it that made me think John Hasn't Played This Tune In A While.
-
Well I disagree but these are just off the top of my mind opinions. My experience of John is probably very different. Acoustic archtop guitars played completely acoustic for that particular sound require a different set of parameters. Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
-
I don't see much struggling, he's just playing a tune arrangement off the cuff, probably a tune he haven't touched in a while, but the tone is fantastic, and the groove is 100% there. And btw this is how chord melody should be done if you are a real jazz player, not made up pretty arrangements, especially with rubato, that celebrated so much on here, and to me just boring. John is the real deal.
-
He's obviously playing a guitar type he is not over familiar with playing, which is very different from his normal guitars, but he wants to play it.
Who wouldn't want to play a 1951 Stromberg in a shop/collection.
-
I tried one briefly once. Man, it was a handful! Those players must have pumped iron every day.
-
Rob, I also have an eighteen inch acoustic Archtop, but I'm over 6 foot. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
-
I’m 6’3”, but it’s more about the old cricket-bat neck, high action and heavy strings.
-
[QUOTE=Rob MacKillop;1457074]I’m 6’3”, but it’s more about the old cricket-bat neck, high action and heavy strings.[/QUOTE
I have my Gibson Super 400s with bat necks. And I love them beyond description. But my 18-1/2" 1951 Epiphone Emperor acoustic is the champion for heavy fingerpicking blues. It seems to have no dynamic ceiling. I have it strung with 13s and it has a full-handed neck. I'm also 6'3" with arms that feel no obstacles in its girth. Voice is distinctly different and more robust than any 18" Gibson I've played. I would love to have a 19" Stromberg but until that day comes, the Epi Emp is a unique cannon I appreciate for its blues power over and above the jazz voices of its 18" and 17" counterparts. But that's just me. In a gaggle of guitars I probably don't deserve, the '51 Epi Emp is it's own thing.
Phil
-
Scofield sounds like a vintage, virtuoso player grokking an unfamilar instrument for the first time. We should all sound so good getting an armful of Stromberg with no electrification for a moment in the acoustic realm. He's doing more than just fine here. Originally Posted by deacon Mark
Phil
-
I"m curious what kind of microphone was used to record the guitar and where was the microphone located?
-
Scofield is a 74-year-old professional musician, a reference on the instrument with a globally recognizable sound. In my opinion...when playing any guitar model or brand, he will still sound like John Scofield. This is called style...it's called personality. Some people might not understand this...but...nobody knows who those people are...
-
All due respect, but those of you who hear him as struggling there are hallucinating.
-
This is probably a cellphone recording. I wouldn't say he's struggling, but the playing is kinda angular. Some of the chord changes are fantastic if they come from the top of his head on the spot. I once attended Sco's concert in Helsinki. Even there, he looked like he was struggling at start, and this was observed by a newspaper critic as well. He wasn't - I was, because my seat on the balcony was precisely at the intersection of the treble peaks of the two angled AC 30s. No PA in those days.
-
This reminds me I really need to play "What's New?" more often.
John sounds great. The guitar sounds...honestly...just ok to my ears, but there's a lot that could be affecting that.
-
He has his own unique solo guitar style, he's been playing with a looper pedal for a while.
-
Oh, it took him about 30 seconds or so to get to grips with it. And then he sounded better than I ever would with the same guitar... Originally Posted by John A.
Nice sound on the treble strings announcing the melody, making it stand out clearly against the chords.
-
That's someone who doesn't take anything for granted in every note he plays. I love it when he plays standards and tunes. I hear him going for something that is the opposite of "smooth" or "casual", but really getting to know that instrument and tune. He manages to make every note, chord and space breathe in a very personal way. Listen to the thought he puts into the attack of each phrase, no two are alike and he manages to get melodic nuance, harmonic support, counterpoint and his twist on melody out of a first encounter on a guitar that, it's obvious was strung for anything but melodic nuance through bends.
What's new old man?
Pretty cool.
-
Ok I went back and listened to this a number of times and I was harsh. I do think he needed a few chords to adjust but then it fell in place and frankly my ears heard some nice things for sure. I guess certainly the style of bending notes in the chords is his own and many like this, it can show definer in the player's sound. So hopefully John won't give me any bad thumbs down if happens to ever check here. John certainly is a world class player that is not of any dispute for sure.
It sounds like to me the guitar's action is probably medium and not lower for sure. Stromberg's, at least the ones I have played generally have more relief in the neck than modern made acoustic archtops. But they were made to rattle the windows or at least make sure the rhythm section heard the guitar. I am going to post another thread on a Super 400 that I find sounds great and really played well.
-
Not about Scofield
I think that particular guitar sounds ghastly.
I have 8 acoustic archtops including 3 NY Epiphones, Two 1950s Maton Mayfairs, Two superb customs by Gary Rizzolo and Garry Albrecht made in the past 20 years and a Reissue Gibson 1934 L5. They each have their own voice but if any sounded like that Stromberg it would be nothing but a wall hanger.
-
This I don’t get at all. The phone mic doesn’t really do it justice, but I can assure you that guitar is killer. It is completely capable of rhythm work and not many archtops have melody notes that will sing like that. Originally Posted by Chezdeluxe
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Maybe it is the Mike but the wound strings sound like a washboard.
Reply With Quote
“Shearing style”
Today, 05:26 PM in Comping, Chords & Chord Progressions