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Hello there,
Interesting gear demo of guitars and amps in the Charlie Christian style:
There is nothing like a real prewar ES 150...
Best to you
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01-05-2016 06:24 PM
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Both the Tremblay and the Gibson ES-150 sound OUTSTANDING--through both the Kalamazoo and the Gibson EH-150 amps. Wowsers, we are talking about THE sound of early jazz electric guitar, here.
My favorite electric guitar of all time remains the Gibson ES-150 from the '37-'39 period. I had a '37 at my house for about six months about 15 years ago. I have never been able to duplicate the experience of playing and gigging with that guitar. I came close when I had a '38 Montgomery Wards Recording King (Gibson) M-5 guitar with a Roy Smeck pickup that had been added (the Smeck pickup is the Recording King version of the cobalt magnet/Charlie Christian pickup, right down to the 3 screws). I also had the RK for about six months, and I might have even preferred it to the 150...splitting hairs.
No other electric guitars have exhibited the tone of those guitars. More importantly, no other guitars in my experience have come anywhere close to the 150/M5 in terms of sheer dynamic range. Those guitars could play from a whisper to being driven as hard as you could possibly strum. They were '30s acoustic guitars that were meant to be strummed vigorously and strung with medium-to-heavy gauge strings. These instruments have great power. The upshot is that they respond to your touch much as a concert grand piano does. From pppp to FFFF there is a great range of volume options. With a smaller piano, and with a lesser guitar, the instrument just gives up. If you dig in to a Steinway D (9-foot grand) on a Rachmaninoff piece, it soars. Try that on, say, a 7-foot Steinway and you will sometimes hear the strings slapping against the bridge--the range just isn't there. The same is true with most guitars, but not with the ES-150.
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If this is going to turn into a CC-lover's thread, here is a picture of a somewhat unexpected fan...
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And judging by the video, there's nothing like an EH-150 either.
Originally Posted by Fred Archtop
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if you really want to go the extra mile, try an ES-250 through an EH-185 amp.
it's like an ES-150/EH-150 on steroids.
lordy....
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Love that sound!
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What I really love about the ES-150 and EH-150 combination is the way it distorts slightly when the player digs in. It sounds organic vocal quality to it, like a good horn (sax).
Here's another whose tone I really like and inspired me to go check out the CCUK repro pickups:
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What big knobs you have, grandpa! Originally Posted by icr
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Oh geez, icr, I love your 1937 L50 conversion and the EH-125 amp and it sounds very nice tonally and all but fusion, man? Supermarket jazz-lite? Seriously? I couldn't get past 40 seconds of it. Man, I tried. I admire your chops. Really, I do. I just gave it another 5 seconds past 40.
Sorry, man, I hate fusion. Fusion is like dating a 50-year old in leg-warmers, Spandex/Lycra, big hair, glitter and hair-band in 2016.
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that's not con-fusion Jab, it's smooth jazz. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
that was gonna be what Charlie Christian would be playing had he lived.....
not.
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I had the chance to try a real ES 250 last April (see pic attached), though not through an EH 185, but a more conventional Fender amp. It was a great guitar, but not greater than my 1938' ES 150. The acoustic sound was less open and responsive than the ES 150. Maybe it had gone a little. When electrified, it was great, punchy, perfectly balanced, with a little more low ends as compared to the ES150. Sure that the 17'' format helped for that. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Cheers.
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Hey Jab, don't be coy, come out and say what you really think..............!
Last edited by bananafist; 01-06-2016 at 06:21 AM.
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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
I'm just learning guitar, that background is from the "Play Guitar Today--Jam with Joe" instructional CD I got for Christmas. So I'm way past that now. In fact I'm up to lession 3 "Cool Rock Beat" and "Notes on the B-String..."
In fact I even got a shiny new solidbody Rogue guitar and new Rogue Rocket 15 SS amp for Christmas. I read on Amazon that these are pretty good, so I stopped playing that old crappy guitar and amp....Last edited by icr; 01-06-2016 at 02:51 PM.
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Jab, if icr had a photo of an ES335 and a Mesa Boogie your expectations would have been different and your response probably less . . . less . . . descriptive of things that are not pleasant. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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I don't know, man. Depending on one's state of mind (and hers), that could have serious possibilities. Personally I dug the funky trax. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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Don't get me wrong; there are hot 50-year olds of whom I would be very lucky if they even gave me a sidelong glance but not in Spandex or leg-warmers. I got a lot of that in West Hollywood...just sayin'. Originally Posted by rpguitar
I don't know, man. Depending on one's state of mind (and hers), that could have serious possibilities. Personally I dug the funky trax.
The funky trax is kinda nice; I was just winding icr up a bit. I would have much rather heard disco-revival though. I'm sure that is around the corner. We are just about done with the 60s-revival now. The 70s will be next.Last edited by Jabberwocky; 01-07-2016 at 02:58 AM.
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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
just for you Jab
70's hair, check
fringe top, check
can't dance a lick, checkLast edited by wintermoon; 01-07-2016 at 01:07 PM.
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Rupert Holmes "The Pina Colada Song"
When the '80s revival rolls around.
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Cheers, fellas. Love ya all.
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I've been getting into the smooth jazz on my sirius car radio (watercolors station). I think that guitar sounds awesome for it. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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Crazy ending on that. Originally Posted by Greentone
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