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Back when I studied with him, he encouraged me to stuff my L5 with 8lbs of upholstery stuffing (cotton). With that and .016 - .058 strings I had almost the identical tone from his early CDs. I'm thinking of setting up my Heritage Eagle Thinline up with that setup. If I do, i'll do some demos...
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04-17-2011 09:51 PM
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Not to be a total Martino fan-boy, but did you ever have one of his instruments in your hands? I'm wondering how low or high his action was, with those heavy strings? And what kind of pick did he favor?
Thanks for any info you'd care to share.
You're not really going to stuff your Heritage, are you?
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he was using a piece of sea shell for a pick and his action was very high. Not sure I understand the joke about the heritage.
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Ha! Now it's my turn ... a seashell? That is a joke, right? (I can be so gullible.)
Originally Posted by jzucker
Regarding the Heritage: no joke! I'd be very worried about reversing my decision, after I stuffed the thing and later decided to sell, etc.
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No joke. I think he was just switching to a mind-pick at the time but still preferred the sea shell because it was ridged. Originally Posted by M-ster
I've stuffed and unstuffed guitars several times. I use a plastic coathanger that I cut into a rod with a curve at the end. However, the last few guitars I stuffed were plywood. The heritage eagle thinline I have already has a sound somewhat like Martino's early sound so I think with roundwounds it would get a very close approximation to his early tone.
Regarding the Heritage: no joke! I'd be very worried about reversing my decision, after I stuffed the thing and later decided to sell, etc.
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So, with experience, you have less trepidation. I see ...
Was/is Martino using round-wounds? I always assumed flat - perhaps because of his dark, blunt tone. The one time (how embarrassing that I've only seen him once) I saw him live, he was playing a solidbody, Gibson L5S, and he was quite loud for the small club. This would have been mid-'70s.
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he was using rounds back in the day. I think he uses flats now. was that the joyous lake band?
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Did you ever get to check out his oval hole Koontz? Do you know what all those buttons were for?
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yes, he had a TI synthesizer built into it. Originally Posted by JohnW400
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I'm a fan of stuffing myself
But I used upholstery foam (which is v light)
Not for tone although it did de- brighten the guitar a bit
and halve the acoustic volume too
It was mainly so I could play at a decent volume without howlrounds
(feedback)
BTW It works
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Was that the one were each fret was actually six frets and that neck had a tunnel of wiring runing thru it. It was his synth controller guitar? Originally Posted by jzucker
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Jack,
I'm with you, I love Pat Martino's tone. With all the guitars you've played you can't find that sound short of stuffing a carved archtop? I ask because I notice that for a while he played a Parker Fly and now it seems like he's using a semihollow with inset pickups and a fixed bridge. For those less adventurous than you maybe there are more convenient ways to approach this...
By the way, where does one find 16 flats? The heaviest strings I see around are 13s. Also, wouldn't 16s rip the neck off?
Thanks,
Rustic
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his tone now is nothing like those classic recordings. I really don't like his current sound. You can't get the sound of those older recordings without stuffing a carved top , stuffed guitar.
However, you can get some of the vibe by buying a set of daddario heavy strings (13-56) and replacing the top 2 strings with 15 and 18.
As for flatwounds, buy a set of thomastik 14s and replace the top 2 strings. However, flats won't get the martino sound.
16s won't rip the neck off .
Originally Posted by Rustic
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Interesting. I thought he was playing flats.
Which D'addario heavies are you referring to, the "pure nickel jazz" or which? I'd like to give it a try.
Thanks,
Rustic
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Pat Martino has big hands ...so he has this set up.
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no he doesn't. He's very small. He probably weighs 90lbs. Originally Posted by kris
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I saw Pat in Warsaw.Fantastic guitarist!!!!
I think he use GHS strings.
...so he has powerfull fingers...:-)
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I was watching some Pat vid's last night, where he's using his signature Benedetto model, and I was thinking the same thing: He didn't sound like the classic Martino, and I'm not sure particularly liked the sound. Originally Posted by jzucker
... they rip your fingers off!16s won't rip the neck off .
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his tone sounds like jimmy bruno's now...
Last edited by jzucker; 04-23-2011 at 02:42 PM.
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I think the easiest way to achieve that sort of sound is to use a semi-hollow (I use 11 gauge) or a solidbody (10 gauge will do) but to use a very thick pick. I bought 3mm Dunlop (made in USA) online, they are expensive as hell, but still a lot cheaper than an expensive hollow-body, and easier on the fingers. Pat Martino was one of the first jazz guitarists to embrace solid-body guitars. Originally Posted by jzucker
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Not to be discouraging but my initial reaction was that if you need to add 8lbs of stuffing to a guitar, you’re using the wrong guitar. Not saying it won’t necessarily work, but just on a philosophical level it strikes me as modifying a particular tool to perform a job that a different particular tool was specifically designed to do.
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Sure, but that's the point of Jack's post. Originally Posted by whiskey02
Pat stuffed his carved top guitar back in the day to combat feedback when playing with loud groups (damn organ players)
As a byproduct of that action, he arrived at a very specific sound. Jack's after that sound.
I like the idea of trying it, but I hate the idea of adding that much weight to a guitar. I suppose standing will be out of the equation!
Jack, my question to you would be, have you tried the heavy strings/high action on the Eagle already?
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I like this sound /12 strings:
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