Getting close to Wes Montgomery's tone on a budget

[Kman]

Trying to get that Wes sound with just an Ephiphone dot running through the amp simulator of a cheap multitrack recorder. It's all the thumb IMO.

07 The Way You Look Tonight.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

[63Bigsby]

Simply not true--lots of jazz players use solid state amps. We're not talking about $75 line 6 practice amps here.

That said, in this VERY old thread, Wes did use tube amps--I'm pretty sure the Standel model he used was tube as well...but I've been wrong. But that reflects more of what was available and good. Solid State Amps have come a long way...that's why you'll see some of the biggest naes in jazz using Acoustic Image, Henriksen, Polytone and the like--because they're top quality great sounding amplifiers.

Tube sniffings for those rock players who like the sound of their amp malfunctioning.

The Standel Wes used was a solid state, incidentally the same model was also a favorite of many of the pedal steel guitar players of the time. And no wonder why; big fat tight low end response, smooth mids and clear highs. A friend of mine owns one like Wes' and I've used it on gigs and recordings ( I own a tube one myself ), all I can say is that Standels are the best kept secret in the jazz guitar amplification. And while they were and still are the state ofthe art in quality, you can still get those 60's solid state models for a real bargain. If you have a chance to grab one, go for it, probably won't make you sound like Wes but the amp sounds great. This here is the amp in question:

[VitalSigns]

I came across this thread while I was doing a search about pickups. It may be old, but then Jazz - or Wes - will never die! It made me think about Terry Smith, a UK Jazz guitarist, who came to prominence 40 odd years ago with the fledgling Jazz-Rock group, If, and has always been active on the London Jazz pub scene. He always had a bluesy style and I can remember hearing him several times over the years. A few months ago I took my nephew to check out Jim Mullen - a good role model for a beginner in Jazz. As is often in pickup gigs, there was a dep instead. It took me a minute or two to realise who it was. TS now plays with (this was a while back, but I think it was) Barney Kessel's type of instrument - the ES-175. He didn't play with his thumb, but with a couple of finger picks. He used a Fender amp thro' a little mixer. He did Wes's repertory and he had it down pat (excuse the pun). Very interesting how somebody would decide to more or less copy another player's style. I once saw - I think his name was - Fepy Lepertin - who really had Django's style down. So the answer is: a) an awful lot of transcription/listening/copying/focus on repertoire b) technical approach of guitar/amp/strings/picking and finally c) a decision to give up a search for your own approach and pursue the coat-tails of the master. Terry Smith is an artist who has produced great music over many years and has decided to follow this path now, however, I don't think it's healthy for a young player for example, to follow one star exclusively, tho' if he comes thro' this period using it as a temporary template like Pat (the previous reference was to Martino!) Metheny, that would be good!

[VitalSigns]

I read this back - of course the BK guitar had a rounded cutaway. TS's had a pointy 175ish one, but I think it had the CC pickup. There's the answer. Guitarists are all - obsessive about detail!

[bohemian46]

Not an uncommon story; shop condemning gear to take advangtage of an uninformed customer. A shop tried this on me with a 9.5 condition 1977 hardtail Strat with a one piece ash body, original case and all the candy.
Long story but after 4 months I got it back. I repaired it myself in 30 minutes and sold it for $2750. The shop offered me $700 and would wave the repair costs. On the second try when they returned it they had taken out the original pots and replaced them with new....when it still had the original problem I made them remove the pickguard in front of me... aha ! says I...

Know thy dealer.

Glad you got it back and have someone upon whom you can rely for amp repairs.

Good luck on finding "your" tone.

[Jazzman301]

According to Danny over at Standel Wes used a SS Standel with a 15" JBL and it had about 35ish watts. The last Standel Wes used was in the 50 watt range. Again this is according to Danny, the current owner, of Standel.

The fact is to even get Wes's setup you need to pick an era. The later years was a SS Standel with a 15" JBL and an L5 with a single humbucker. Some of his earlier stuff was a Fender tube amp and an ES175 with a P90. Wes was also known to play Ampegs as well as a variety of Fenders. The Wes loar is that his wife claimed that there was a room filled with amps that Wes had collected over the years in his quest for tone that were just collecting dust.

Also Bob Standel did not believe in endorsements...as in giving away free stuff. He felt the best endorsement was a guy purchasing his product with his own money. Again this is from Danny over at Standel.

'Mike