The Concept of a Jazz Guitar Amp

[SuperFour00]

No, I think that everyone has to follow whatever path they think works for them given their needs and wants but there are a lot possible solutions that most of us are unlikely to find unless we take a chance and try a few things that we have to buy blind. I can certainly understand not wanting to do that but if that's the case and you choose not to take the risk then there are other disadvantages that will likely have to be accepted instead, such as more limited options and more effort that must go into the search. I can rack up a lot of miles and spend a lot of gas money searching a 50 mile radius in a place where gas is about $5.60 a gallon.

Fair enough. I sort of enjoy the search, like cruising little joints for unknown players, and discovering hip local artists, rather than living in front of the computer glaring at youtube links. True, you might have to drive a ways and spend a few bucks on drinks, but when you find the hidden gems (is Tommy O's still having Tom Grant on Sundays?), it's worth the adventure. Different strokes.

[Jim Soloway]

Fair enough. I sort of enjoy the search, like cruising little joints for unknown players, and discovering hip local artists, rather than living in front of the computer glaring at youtube links. True, you might have to drive a ways and spend a few bucks on drinks, but when you find the hidden gems (is Tommy O's still having Tom Grant on Sundays?), it's worth the adventure. Different strokes.

I'm more than a bit anti-social, so I don't really enjoy the search but now that we're in Canada, I'm learning to put up with it lot more just because it's so much harder to get things shipped across the border but I think the real point is that whether you're willing to take a chance on having things shipped to you or you take the extra effort to find it locally, for most of us we're trying to find products that work for a small niche taste and it's going to take some extra effort no matter which approach you take.

[Hammertone]

You can keep your cowboy amps and plank guitars.
Random navy flair rewlz (with a little blue check for good measure).

[Hammertone]

Helmethead also rewlz for jazz, blooze and rawk:

[Patrick2]

Everytime I enter a thread like this one, I thank the heavens above that I'm not a tone freak. In my time playing guitar, whether gigging or hobbist playing, I've owned the following;

Ampeg VT22, Fender Vibrosonic Reverb, Roland JC50, 1963-ish black face Fender Princeton Reverb, Evans JE150 . . all in the past and all sold.

I currently own a 1970 Fender Pro Reverb and a 1970 Fender Princeton Reverb. With these two, I'm pretty much set for life. Unless of course I come across a good deal on a vintage Fender Vibroverb with a 15" JBL speaker and the AA763 circuit. :-)

[iim7V7IM7]

Patrick,

I am with you on this.

There is always "something" better/different out there (at least there has been over the last two + decades for me). I suppose that's part of the "fun" of tone "grail hunting" isn't it?

Like yourself, I have had some great tube amps from Fender, Mesa Boogie, Allen, Lil' Dawg and now Redplate and solid state amps from Polytone, Acoustic Image and now Evans (+ too many pedals to even begin to describe). I am very happy with my guitars and amps (dear God, I said it!). As I get older, I care about size, weight and reliability as much as I care about the last 5% of tone optimization. Particularly when the I have 50% of playing optimization to address and many more tunes to learn.

But I do understand why others constantly seek it (I have for decades).



Bob

[eddy b.]

L4 I like your initial question, is the concept of a jazz guitar amp about uncoloured,flat response or is it about an ideal tonal color that the amp imparts on the overall tone of the guitar. I think we are in an unprecedented era of amplifier choices from diy kits of many vintage tonal circuits to amazing 5lb,200 watt class "d" solid state amps. There are so many choices available now, even for the niche market of jazz guitar than there were even 10 years ago. If there were an amp that did the fender clean,the polytone dark,mufflies and the Acoustic Image open,clear,articulate sound. Well if that amp existed it would sound AWESOME...of course everyone would complain about it's size,weight,reverb etc. I don't know that there is an ideal concept that manufacturers are going after, it seems that most are copying previously existing circuits or going for sounds that can be easily described as "fenderish" or "polytoneesque" etc. I have played through a lot of amps and pa's solid state and tube and have yet to find the "one amp that will rule them all". Though I will say that playing my Heritage H575 through a Bose Tower PA was absolutely incredible, it was like being inside the body of the guitar and quite beautiful. Also it seems that the nuskool of Jazz Guitar has drifted from the Traditional no effects tone, by that I mean players that have been most influenced by Scofield, Metheny,Frisell,Rosenwinkel etc. seem to embrace the use of outboard gear like effects pedals as a set it and forget it part of their tone. Of these players I am in LOVE with Kurt Rosenwinkel's Tones on the CD's East Coast Love Affair, Reflections and Intuit...for me Kurt's tone on these CD's is my new standard for what is possible tonally with the electric guitar.

[jzucker]

kurt is currently using a kemper for amp models and an axefx for effects.

Metheny's using an axefx.

I heard Dweezil Zappa a few years ago. Using an axefx.

You can easily make a fender amp sound dark and muddy like a class d amp but you cannot make a class d amp sound big and open and transparent like a fender. Not even the pierce, quilter, axefx nor mambo can do that.

The demeter pedalboard amp seems like the best solution but currently it doesn't have reverb. He told me he was going to make a jazz guitar version with onboard spring reverb at some point. He hates digital reverb which is unfortunate because personally, i'm so done with spring reverb...

[lpdeluxe]

Thank you. And btw, I like your Carvin.

Thank you. I bought it from another member of the Jazz Guitar Forum. It's a couple of years old and has the cedar top, which I greatly prefer over the quilted maple (see example, belonging to a friend, below), a Bigsby B7 and the magic element, Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazzmaster pickups. I took part in a review of the guitar pictured below on this forum in 2010, and I loved the shape and the feel but not the sound of the standard Carvin pickups. My other guitar is a Gibson ES-335, and the SH550 easily hangs with the more expensive axe -- in fact, the Carvin sounds even better through the DR/Weber rig than the Gibson.



What the heck, here's a shot of the 335:

[zigzag]

Yes, I enjoyed reading the review. I love my SH550. I also have an ES-335, and prefer the Carvin. I also agreed with your post that I quoted, and tried to express the same sentiment in another post only to get a lecture from a couple of members.

[lpdeluxe]

How is your 550 configured? They are widely customizable. Not to derail this thread! -- but I find the SH550 close to perfect ergonomically (my Les Paul was too small and heavy, the 335 can feel a little cumbersome and doesn't balance well on a strap). Its design is quite clever, combining modern construction methods with traditional appearance. If I changed one thing, I would want Carvin's "traditional" headstock shape, which is more like the Gibson's.

Back to the topic: here's another great jazz amp:



'63 Silvertone 1484.

[zigzag]

How is your 550 configured? They are widely customizable. Not to derail this thread! -- but I find the SH550 close to perfect ergonomically (my Les Paul was too small and heavy, the 335 can feel a little cumbersome and doesn't balance well on a strap). Its design is quite clever, combining modern construction methods with traditional appearance. If I changed one thing, I would want Carvin's "traditional" headstock shape, which is more like the Gibson's.

I agree with everything you said. It is all stock. I should have gotten SS frets and traditional headstock (too). Stop-tail bridge (no Bigsby), quilted maple, deep green/black burst, ebony fretboard. Love it. Run it thru an Express 5:50 or Cube 80XL. I play jazz, fusion, blues, and RnR on it, though I can't touch most of these guys.

Sorry for the hijack. Please carry on.