Using a Gibson Les Paul for Jazz

**gcb** · 07-17-2016, 11:34 PM

Ulf Wakenius

**Thumpalumpacus** · 07-18-2016, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by vinlander

Both my Lester and SG benefit from having their 490R neck pup set lower into the ring and I get a very descent jazzy tone without too much mud.

I didn't do that with my 'Paul -- it had minihums -- but my SG, I dropped the body of the neck 490, and then raised the poles back close to spec. Sweet, breathier sound, to my ears. Cleared it up quite a bit -- and that benefitted blues and rock as well as jazz playing, for me.

**wolflen** · 07-18-2016, 02:48 AM

I have a 2006 antique classic..wine red..with the cream binding .. stock PAF 57's the neck pu with tone rolled high gives a nice "jazz" flavor..not muddy at all..and that is through a $50 practice amp .. going through a Blues jr w/ 12" jenson..its a monster..through a Twin..almost illegal..the scale length is good for me..I get clean chords without any trouble..but then I practiced a lot with voicings...for twangy stuff..thats tele country..

**Greentone** · 07-18-2016, 11:48 AM

Benson sounds good on that old 'burst. Can you imagine how expensive that guitar is today? I'd bet the bank that the Bigsby is no longer on that guitar. I would also bet that if the guitar is ever pulled out of its storage locker it is to play 'In Memory of Elizabeth Reed' or something like that...not what you hear in the clip above.

**wintermoon** · 07-18-2016, 04:28 PM

Pat Azzara [Martino] w/the Jack McDuff quartet [Al Hibbler vocal]

**goldpark** · 07-19-2016, 03:21 AM

I cheat, with regards to dealing with LP weight. Took me years of experimentation. I have a sofa-chair and have a bed-back-rest behind me. The body rests on the back-rest arm. This way, there's no weight issue. Standing up would be out of the question, so my thinline Tele with humbuckers and 12's has to be used if I don't have my sofa-chair.

**Doctor Jeff** · 07-19-2016, 12:30 PM

Benson gets quite a bit of thunk out of his LP--very little sustain--wonder if it's all technique and damping, or if he has it set up a certain way? Low output pickups? Thick strings?

One is tempted to say Benson could make any guitar sound like Benson, but there's certainly not much overdrive there. Carlos Santana he ain't.

**Hammertone** · 07-19-2016, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by Lionelsax

I've got a Gibson Nighthawk built in 1995, it's lightest solid body guitar I know, a little bit heavier than a good Spanish guitar.
I don't know if the sound can be compared to a good LP but it works well.

'95? Should have a 25 1/2" scale - very different from a typical LP - more Fenderish.

**fws6** · 07-19-2016, 02:38 PM

Heres my answer to the ideal Les style

Using a Gibson Les Paul for Jazz-image-jpeg

**jamieh** · 10-16-2016, 01:42 PM

Hi all

Just thought I'd share this short recording of the type of jazz tones I like to use a Les Paul for. Funny thing is that I have never really been into Les Pauls full stop, but I am playing them a lot more as of late.

**aboutIt** · 10-16-2016, 01:54 PM

Sounds great, Jamie. There's a quality to the sound of a Les Paul vs. a hollow body that lends a bit of melancholic distance. It's hard to put into words, but thank you for putting it into music. Really nice touch.

**citizenk74** · 10-16-2016, 02:04 PM

Nice tones. Are you playing through the Music Man in the background?

**pants** · 10-16-2016, 02:29 PM

Sounds great. Makes me more excited about the LP kit I'm planning to build. What are the pickups on your setup there?

**jamieh** · 10-17-2016, 07:13 AM

Thank you for the kind words. This was just the hall reverb on a Boss ME-50. The only reason I used was this is because its the only pedal that would allow me to record into the PC as well as hear myself. Generally not a huge multi effects guy, but this unit has great reverb, delay, distortion, etc...

**agentsmith** · 10-17-2016, 08:52 AM

I love les pauls but not the weight. I was playing one for a while but it was hard on my back when standing.

**GNAPPI** · 10-17-2016, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by agentsmith

I love les pauls but not the weight. I was playing one for a while but it was hard on my back when standing.

The Les Paul ES is a perfect solution to LP lovers. They're under 6 lbs. I miss the fret nibs though, I can see all the "It was refretted" complaints down the road on resales.

**Stringswinger** · 10-17-2016, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by agentsmith

I love les pauls but not the weight. I was playing one for a while but it was hard on my back when standing.

I have used Les Pauls for jazz for 35 years now, but find that I take my Les Paul out less and less these days due to the weight. They are great jazz guitars (that is what they were designed to do), but for those of us approaching 60 years of age (or older), weight does cause some fatigue. A friend who has been a Les Paul fan as long as I have, recently sold his 10 pound Les Paul and bought a Custom Shop chambered Les Paul that weighs under 7 pounds. He loves it. One of these days, I may go that route as well.

**oldane** · 10-17-2016, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by GNAPPI

I miss the fret nibs though, I can see all the "It was refretted" complaints down the road on resales.

I wouldn't miss the nibs. I don't like nibs. I have one guitar with nibs and they'll have to go at the first refret. They have no practical function (well, they may have for the manufacturer, but not for the player) and they are a potential risk for nib/binding cracks if the fretboard shrinks and swells at a different pace from the neck wood. Fixing that is medium sized surgery. Without nibs, protruding fret ends can be filed down in less than an hour including rerounding the fret ends (provided one has the needed files).

**Thumpalumpacus** · 10-17-2016, 02:48 PM

I could get passable jazz tones on my old 'Paul, but you both sound so much better tonally than I ever did.

It goes without saying that both y'all's playing is superb ... but I'll say it anyway.

Originally Posted by oldane

I wouldn't miss the nibs. I don't like nibs. I have one guitar with nibs and they'll have to go at the first refret. They have no practical function (well, they may have for the manufacturer, but not for the player) and they are a potential risk for nib/binding cracks if the fretboard shrinks and swells at a different pace from the neck wood.

And worse yet, expansion/contraction can open up a crevice between the nib and the fret, causing hang-ups.

**jamieh** · 10-17-2016, 03:23 PM

Thanks for the kind words all and LOVE your playing Jack.

My favorite LP player is Clint Strong, he used that custom for years.

**Greentone** · 10-19-2016, 03:11 PM

Every Les Paul I've played or owned was just super for jazz. My preference, however, was not to string them too lightly. Much more so than with a Fender I find that the Les Paul just poops out when you string it up with deedley strings and play with any sort of medium to heavy touch.

When I play jazz, I tend to adopt some of the habits that I picked up while playing acoustic archtop guitar for years and years. This kind of right-hand approach to chording and single-string playing just overwhelms a Les Paul strung with 10s or 9s. I once played a Les Paul strung with 8s and couldn't even get it to play in tune...unless I played extremely lightly. Of course, the Les Paul is so hot that you can still burn an amp up while playing lightly.

However, I'd rather _attack_ a guitar strung to give me some pushback, and have the volume rolled off a bit. The Les Paul, strung with at least 11s (preferably 12s) will do this in spades. The tone you will get from the guitar is sensational, too. With 11s you can still deedley-dee to your heart's content. (At least, if you also play bass gigs you sure can. 11s feel like dental floss if you play upright and electric bass very often.)

Two of my favorite Les Pauls for jazz, and often overlooked by many: Les Paul Custom and the 40th Anniversary Les Paul with the much maligned P100 pickups. Another good jazz guitar, often left on the GC wall: the Les Paul Recording Guitar.

**mr. beaumont** · 10-19-2016, 03:27 PM

I don't particularly mind the weight as I can usually choose to sit and play, but they feel so tiny, body-wise! And that's coming from a tele player.

I dig a Les Paul though, and really like Jamie's tone with it here.

**ESCC** · 10-19-2016, 04:52 PM

I've been suffering from horrible GAS lately. To deflate it I've been buying various picks, changing strings, etc., etc., One of my next moves was to put TI Swing 12s on my Les Paul (which I haven't played very much), this has inspired me to do so. . . maybe tonight.

Nice playing and tone Jamie.