Did Joe Pass NOT care much for his Ibanez JP20??

**Archie** · 10-02-2023, 09:02 PM

What year (roughly) did he start playing his 175?

**wintermoon** · 10-02-2023, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Archie

What year (roughly) did he start playing his 175?

63 iirc

**dot75** · 10-03-2023, 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by wintermoon

63 iirc

I read an interview somewhere where he said someone left his first 175 on his doorstep (?) after hearing 'Sounds of Synanon'.

(They made the record using Synanon's gear)

**lawson-stone** · 10-03-2023, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by dot75

I read an interview somewhere where he said someone left his first 175 on his doorstep (?) after hearing 'Sounds of Synanon'.

(They made the record using Synanon's gear)

What I heard is that a guy heard him play and thought he needed the 175 and gave it to Joe as a birthday present. there are quite a few stories about how Joe Pass got his ES175. Legendary players generate lots of... legends!

**lawson-stone** · 10-03-2023, 07:33 AM

BTW here is a picture of Joe playing the 175 with tape over the Gibson logo

Did Joe Pass NOT care much for his Ibanez JP20??-joe_pass_-jazz-jpg

**sgosnell** · 10-03-2023, 10:35 AM

I've seen tape over headstock logos more than once. Howard Alden played a Sadowsky for awhile with tape over the logo, probably because he was a Benedetto endorsee. The Sadowsky didn't last that long, though. It's easier with some instruments than with others. Benny Goodman was endorsed by Selmer, IIRC (I don't have time to look it up right now) but played something else. Very hard to tell the brand of clarinet from a distance.

**John A.** · 10-03-2023, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by lawson-stone

BTW here is a picture of Joe playing the 175 with tape over the Gibson logo

Did Joe Pass NOT care much for his Ibanez JP20??-joe_pass_-jazz-jpg

That's a two-pickup version, so not the custom made one he played in his last couple of years. My guess would be that picture came from the era of the Ibanez endorsement?

**Archie** · 10-03-2023, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by wintermoon

63 iirc

I can’t see one featured on an album cover till after the mid 60’s.
A mid’ish 60’s cover has him still playing a fender.

I know the album pics aren’t always up to date.

**SandChannel** · 10-03-2023, 05:37 PM

Joe mostly played his Jaguar... when no one was looking. Just the facts, ma'am.

**lawson-stone** · 10-04-2023, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by John A.

That's a two-pickup version, so not the custom made one he played in his last couple of years. My guess would be that picture came from the era of the Ibanez endorsement?

I never thought Joe concealed the logo on the custom Gibson he played at the end of his life. I've only ever heard people talking about him covering the logo on his 60's ES175, probably related to an endorsement. I'm not aware that Joe ever had any dispute with Gibson, unlike Barney Kessel.

**customxke** · 10-04-2023, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by SandChannel

Joe mostly played his Jaguar... when no one was looking. Just the facts, ma'am.

That's not a Jaguar. It's a Bass VI.

**va3ux** · 10-04-2023, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by lawson-stone

For some reason I keep forgetting about that Epiphone endorsement. Other than instructional videos, was there ever any public performance where Joe played the Epiphone?

The first appearance of the Epi Joe Pass was in the 1991 catalog. I think the same guitar (more or less) was already in the Epi line-up prior to that.

**lawson-stone** · 10-04-2023, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by va3ux

The first appearance of the Epi Joe Pass was in the 1991 catalog. I think the same guitar (more or less) was already in the Epi line-up prior to that.

Yes it was just the Emperor or maybe Emperor II. Took the name of a classic world-rated guitar and applied it to a smaller factory built model, but one that was surprisingly good and consistently punches above its class in my opinion. A lot of guitar for a lot less money than some might expect.

**Richard1234** · 11-18-2023, 03:19 PM

I honestly think Joe Pass could play the Kazoo, and still make it sound like a guitar.

I've only recently found him, and cannot get enough of his sound. Good post guys, interesting to a new player like me.

**notablemusician** · 12-05-2023, 01:18 PM

I just modded my JP-20 and I'm delighted with the result.

I've been playing around for a while with floating pickups and it all started with the wreck of a washburn J6 I bought and installed a single Gibson 57 reissue hamburger at lack position.
Later I acquired a goodin fifth Avenue cutaway with the two P90 pickups (bad choice for me) so I took off the P90's and modified a 57 Gibson reissue humpback simply by snapping off the two doglegs and installing it as a floater on a bracket which I made from aluminium and which was fixed to the neck. It worked really well and of course taking off the P90's releases a lot of town but it's a cherrywood guitar and has its limits. I still have the guitar but I was looking for something else so I found a Joe Pass JP 20 1989 for a decent price in Lyon France. It is in really good condition although there could be some fretwork and neck adjustment which I got to yet.
The point is if you are assessing a guitar it's a personal thing and you don't want to generalise or put words into other people's mouths so I speak for myself.
Regarding the comments going around about the thinness of the Tone it it all depends what you do with the guitar. If you play on stage with a full-size arch top, very responsive acoustically and fitted with a floating pickup, then good luck with feedback and so on. I have found smaller guitars and also thicker varnish as on the washburn J6 and also the JP 20 give more realistic volume performance because they are more inert. With a good amplifier such as an acoustic image you got pretty much any sound you want to get and have it reliably.
So I now come to the modification that I just completed today to my JP 20 and I must say I'm pleased. I'd been thinking about it for some time and then a brainwave came to me how I could side mount the JP 20 Humbucker to the plectrum guard using some more of this lovely aluminium strip and plate which I have in stock. It's very easy to work and bend and strong enough for the purpose.
The whole pickup including its mounting ring has now been raised just enough so that it floats above the belly of the instrument and there are no attaching screws or pickup bring touching the guitar and damping or distorting it sound. I am quite astonished at the amount of tone and clarity and sustain that has been released by this operation.
I had been very critical about the neck and the fretwork which is absolutely brilliant of course but then I'm very hard to please! Some notes had strange resonances to them and I had the feeling that some frets had air underneath them (this can cause dead notes) and I could not get the homogenous attack ring and sound that I crave along with mid and low range. Since I began playing electric guitar in 1958 I have constantly searched for THE sound and I think that I may be near my goal.
This mod is completely non destructive and reversible in 1/2 an hour. There is just a small block of wood glued under the pickguard.

There remain some small tweaks but even as it is it's a wonderful improvement. I'm in the process of making a series of solo guitar jazz videos and whilst I'm an admirer of Joe forever and also highly appreciative of his teaching tips I do not copy his style or that of Jim Hall, I'm too busy following my heart which dictates my true sound in my true self.
I'll post something here very soon with pictures of the mod and also a quick soundbite until the videos are done.
Wishing you all a happy Christmas and that we all be kind and gentle with each other, the best present that I could hope for!

Alan