Playing jazz: any guitar will do!

[Little Jay]

Well, any guitar is maybe a bolt statement that needs some relativating, but - after comparing several of my own recordings made with my various guitars (and amps for that matter) - I discovered that on every guitar I sound nearly identical!

And the guitars differ from an Epiphone Sheraton with SD humbuckers, to a cheap Condor ES175 with a burstbucker, to a Framus Missouri laminated archtop with P90-like pickup to a Furch archtop with floating Kent Armstrong....

So I have seen the light, since tonewise it hardly matters what guitar I play, I will just settle for the cheapest one that's comfortable and reliable enough. (haha, no I will not yet sell the rest... owning several guitars is part of the fun for me )

Of course feel, handling and playability are maybe just as important as the sound of an instrument, but I now think that on every guitar I might unsubconsiencely create te same sound by adjusting the controls on amp and guitar... and maybe also by adjusting my picking-force, fingering, etc.

So in the end it all does come down to what notes you play....?

And I will take Pierre's advice: time on the instrument! (Not time spent in the local guitar-shop....)

[franco6719]

No, you can't play jazz unless you own a hollowbody (perferablly Gibson or Ibanez) and a Jazz Chorus amplifier. You also need Thomastic Infeld flatwound strings (at least 12 gauge) and thick picks. Otherwise, it is NOT REAL jazz. You will be a poser.

[franco6719]

Notes do not matter.

[fast1]

what do you mean by notes do not matter?

[Little Jay]

Well, I know my post is maybe stating the obvious, but for me it was a real eye-opener (or ear-opener LOL) to hear myself sound the same on different equipment, while I was realy under the assumption I was creating different tones....... not so, as it turned out.

[Paul Dillon]

Hi,
I assume that franco was joking - you can play jazz on anything you like. It may sound a little unconventional but that's what innovation is all about. I own 20 guitars, some of them resonators, 12 string, 7 string, lap steel etc. and I will play jazz on any of them if I want - and I'm still calling it jazz

[franco6719]

it was a joke.

[mr. beaumont]

i think the most important thing is that the guitar works for you...

let's say you have a telecaster--hey, so do I, and i play jazz on it...but with your amp and your attack on the strings, you are simply not getting the tone you want with your tele...that guitar is not right for you...it may be right for someone else...

while i don't think there's a "right" guitar for jazz, i do think that not every guitar will work for everybody...and that's why the "quest" continues for so many!

[Banksia]

For me music is about ideas. I'd rather hear Holdsworth's and McLaughlin's ideas than Joe Pass' tone anyday!

[Paul Dillon]

Apologies to mr Franco - I am off to see my doctor about having a sense of humour fitted !!!!!

[Dystonian_Mode]

Let's just say I'd rather have a 300 dollar guitar and 1500 dollar amp, than a 1500 dollar guitar and a 300 dollar amp.

[Little Jay]

Let's just say I'd rather have a 300 dollar guitar and 1500 dollar amp, than a 1500 dollar guitar and a 300 dollar amp.

I think I can agree with that! The amp is an instrument of it's own!
Though for jazz, most amps that can deliver a clean, neutral tone where no frequencies overwhelm others, will do for me.

My Cube 30 delivers me just as good (or should I usefull?) a tone as my Twin Reverb, just not on the high volume- and pressure levels the Twin can do. So obviously I don't take the Cube when I play with a loud drummer, a Hammondplayer and an electric bass. I do like amps to be over-powered though, so in my jazzduo I do like to use the Twin, although the volume then don't come above 2 or so. If it wasn't for those down-town gigs in bars you can't park your car in front of, I would do all gigs with my Twin!

[Stackabones]

Jazz is music, not gear.

[Paul J Edwards]

Let's just say I'd rather have a 300 dollar guitar and 1500 dollar amp, than a 1500 dollar guitar and a 300 dollar amp.

I agree with that!
Well actually that is what I use to try and play jazz. Got other stuff for blues and rock but the amp rules.

[Little Jay]

Jazz is music, not gear.

... and that concludes pretty much what I tried to say!

[Bertrand tB]

Jazz is music, not gear.

I like this one and I like to add: Music will be completely different for anyone!

[FWBO]

Can we have a listen Little Jay?

It would be really interesting to see if other people thought the same from the recordings. I like the idea that you might be compensating

I really do agree though, that if the amp isn't right, you can plug any guitar into it and it still won't sound right.

A Cube or a Polytone won't cost a fortune though - and for a lot of people they give a good tone. (Thank God - 'cos I haven't got $1500 for an amp )

[Little Jay]

On my myspace (www.myspace.com/jasperkuper) you can hear recordings that are done with at least 3 different guitars en 3 different amps, not counting the song Black Orpheus that was played on a classic nylonstring.

Especially the guitars vary form single coil to humbucker, both floating and deck-mounted.

Even in the song Blue Bossa, that features me on a Framus thinline with singlecoils and Olaf Tarenskeen (the second solo, he realy plays superb and is a great teacher!) on a handcrafted Heeres handcarved-archtop, there is not that much of a difference between the guitars, I think because we both persuit the same type of tone....

Well, take a listen and judge for yourself.

[FWBO]

Little Jay,

nice jazz. I like your music.

You have quite a dark tone so it does make it difficult to tell which guitar is which. The differences are subtle between the guitars.

To my ear the guitar/amp combo in Tenor Madness sounds the best - I'd be very surprised if that wasn't the Kent Armstrong loaded archtop. Is Green with Envy the P90 guitar?

Impressions the thinline/single coil?

It's so difficult to tell

[Little Jay]

Tenor Madness was done on a Condor ES175 (humbuckers), Green With Envy on the Framus thinline (somewhat like a ES330) with single coils that are very P90-like indeed. Impressions was also on the Condor, but on a different amp. Blue Bossa was the Furch with Kent Armstrongs I think (not sure, could also be the Framus again). Difficult to hear the difference... my pont exactly! If it wasn't so much to own more guitars, I would see no need to have more than one that I would use for everything.

Thanks for seriously taking a listen!

[giannifive]

Difficult to hear the difference... my pont exactly!

As the previous poster said, your tone is very dark. For a tone this dark it's hard to distinguish between archtop/semi-hollow/solidbody, etc. For that tone I think any guitar will do.

If you're trying to get a Joe Pass-type tone, I agree with some of the others that the only thing that'll do that is an archtop. There's an acoustic attack and timbre that you can't get from a semi-hollow.

Of course, we all hear differently, so to each his own.

[virtuoso]

As the previous poster said, your tone is very dark. For a tone this dark it's hard to distinguish between archtop/semi-hollow/solidbody, etc. For that tone I think any guitar will do.

If you're trying to get a Joe Pass-type tone, I agree with some of the others that the only thing that'll do that is an archtop. There's an acoustic attack and timbre that you can't get from a semi-hollow.

Of course, we all hear differently, so to each his own.

Agree!

I play Variax 600.

[Lester]

Let's just say I'd rather have a 300 dollar guitar and 1500 dollar amp, than a 1500 dollar guitar and a 300 dollar amp.

Not me, I would rather have an $1,146.56 amp and $653.42 dollar guitar than a $1,146.50 guitar and $653.42 amp....anyday!