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Lou Del Rosso of Guitars'n Jazz in Summit, New Jersey has a great line of new and used jazz guitars. Lou is a straight up guy, and will work with you. He has a brick and morter store with over 250 jazzers on site.
Originally Posted by Paul Jerome
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07-07-2023 08:48 AM
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the one that makes you want to get up, first thing in the morning and PLAY PLAY PLAY, so much that you can’t think of anything else.
I literally have more 8 string guitars than regular 6 string guitars, now.
Better fewer, but better.
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They are all good . There are so many styles of “Jazz” it all comes down to you. Jazz has been played on just about every type of guitar .
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12-08-2023, 08:46 PM #354joelf Guest
....is whatever sounds, feels and plays good to you.
And you needn't spend a lot of $...
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I have a few guitars but generally play only one of them - a 355 - at jazz gigs. However, when a particularly intimate restaurant gig came up with a really good sax player that I had played with previously, I decided to bring along a 'proper' archtop. After the first tune, the sax player turned to me and said 'you play much better jazz on that, than on your other guitar. Why don't you play that all the time?' I didn't think he'd appreciate a discussion on feedback tendencies etc., so I let it go. Originally Posted by Oscar67
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I am sensitive to that as well: the (type of) guitar I play seems to dictate what and how I play (more than I’d like to). I don’t really understand what causes that…… Originally Posted by Irishmuso
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Same here. That’s why I admire people who can play classic jazz things with a telecaster. For me it is a primitive percussive instrument that I played as young man in a rock band. Originally Posted by Little Jay
With an ES-175 I couldn’t play those things, but some jazz noise yes.
And still they both are called the same, electric guitar.
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With time, I have come to appreciate the guitars I have. In fact, I sold the expensive Gibsons and Fenders and have kept 4 "ordinary" guitars: a nylon strings La Patrie (Godin), an Eastman AR503CE (single pickup spruce top), an Ibanez AF95 (twin pickups laminated) and a PRS SE Hollow Body.
Those guitars cover all the styles I enjoy to play. I find that the older they get, the better they get. I know them intimately, like old slippers. I can't explain why I bonded with those. Hence, they are "my" perfect jazz guitars.
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The perfect Jazz guitar, does depend upon the volume I'm playing at.
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This is so subjective, but here is what I have settled in with, in part due to budget, versatility, and experience:
I like my Epi Emperor Regent (Peerless 2004) with stock pickup, it delivers sweet warm and clear jazz tones. The 1989 ES-175 with its mahogany sides and back has more warmth and the PAF full size humbuckers have a wide range of sound that can do not only jazz, but blues, surf, and rock. TI flatwounds make a difference, and bigger is better, when it comes to tone, but you trade-off ease of playing. Amplifiers are half of your sound, and another good percentage is how close to the neck you pick because if you play near the bridge, you will never get the jazz sound.
For some of us, resting a pinkey on the pickguard helps with this, while others can free hand it with ease, I envy those guys!
I always thought a Fender Super or Twin Reverb was great for Jazz until they re-issued the 65 Deluxe Reverb; much lighter and has the same character as you don't need all the power of a Super, or Twin for Jazz, and the Deluxe Reverb with 22 watts has plenty of clean headroom. Using this amp, even a Tele, Paul, or an Epi Sheraton will get you that Jazz sound, it's pretty remarkable.
If I had nothing but money, a Johnny Smith, or L-5 CES, or Wes Model would be very nice. Of course an L-5, or a Super 400 CES would also fill the bill quite nicely...in my dreams!
In summary, there is no "Magic Bullet" guitar in of itself that gets you your ideal jazz tone, it is a combo of the guitar, it' set-up, pick-ups, amp, amp set-up, and technique that creates the perfect storm. And the road goes on forever.......
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Congrats, Resocone!
I am pleased that you have found your tone!
All the time I lost chasing mine could have been spent more wisely practising instead... I would be a much better guitarist.
My younger years as a musician where spent doing mostly covers. We were doing our best to sound like the popular bands. Obviously, that was hardly possible as we were playing live, and the sound we were trying to emulate was a studio sound. Even the bands themselves don't sound like the record when they play live... Anyways, that was an expensive undertaking. There was constantly new equipment to get, be they guitars, pedals, amps, keyboards, etc., and that was rarely satisfying.
Same thing for those great jazz guitarists of the past. Joe Pass was sounding nowhere like the Virtuoso records when performing in front of an audience.
Later, I have wasted more time exploring amp sims and modelers. How many times did I intend to practice, to find myself lost into fidling the knobs, trying to "perfect" that sound that was ok the day later?
Too many options is a sure way to kill your practice time.
I have pruned the gear down to 5 guitars (on my way to max 3), one amp - Fender Blues Jr. - and 4 pedals: tuner, eq, transparent overdrive and reverb/delay. I limit myself to one absolute basic amp sim with few knobs to tweak, for recording.
My rule is: if I want a new guitar or amp, I have to sell one that I have, first. No more gear accumulation and studio cluttering!
I practice a lot more that way. I don't try to get "their tones" anymore. I have "my tone". When I play music that is not one of my compositions, I do my interpretation of that music and don't try to mimic or sound like those great artists anymore.
It took me decades to learn that.
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Jazz has evolved to incorporate so many styles and different genres. Therefore what began as a Loyd Loar creation in his time wouldn’t necessarily work for the more electric Miles Period of Mike Stern, etc.
I do however think the more affordable Tele is capable of so many tones,especially when hot rodded. And for those who prefer a more acoustic instrument the ES-175 would be a great alternative!
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That's a great rule. At least in the early years of musical growth sometimes I think it's easy to fall into the trap of gear aquiring to artificially fill a void that one's current playing ability just doesn't fill yet.... been there. Struggling with progress, lets put the guitar down and fiddle with that shiny new delay pedal....
After I got my 175 I just entirely stopped lusting for other gear. Perfect match. Down to one guitar, one amp, one passive pedal amd more focus
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@jads57
So true.
The Tele is the most no nonsense versatile guitar out there. Jimmy Page, Julian Lage, Keith Richards and a lots of country guitarists embrace a vast array of styles on that impressive barebones instrument. This is the desert island guitar of choice.
Another surprisingly versatile guitar nobody talks about is the PRS SE Hollowbody. Those birds, that headstock, I know... Nevertheless, it is deceptively easy to get a great jazz sound out of it. And with the bridge pickup, go ahead, crank the gain and this thing knows how to rock too.
Guitarists are a conservative bunch. What's written on the headstock is important, if one wants to be taken seriously. Most of the guitars these days are variations on Les Pauls, Tele, Strats, ES-335 or ES-175. Guitar conceptors that hear a different drummer have a hard time to keep their heads out of the water.
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So true about headstocks,
The D'Angelico and newer Guild pegheads have always been a turn off for me..too weird IMHO.
Everytime I pick up a different guitar,
it takes me to different places which inspires creativity. Same with amps, each has its own mojo.
Every jazz player has heard of, or experienced first hand, how TI swing series strings have a long life and change in tone after an initial break in. Well after a year of solid playing, I changed out a set on my Emperor Regent. Wow, what a difference, and although the old ones were OK, the improved clarity and intonation of the new set was remarkable. Close inspection revealed that the wound strings all had significant divets on the side of the string that touches the fret. This changes their intonation and also creates nodes that change how they vibrate.
The result of this is that the guitar now has a completely different sound and character, and is also easier to play. I'm going to be changing strings more often because of this, as I simply did not notice the drop off in performance as it is a very slow one. I have always observed this with my acoustic guitars, as the drop in volume becomes noticeable, but with electrics it is more subtle as we can turn a tone or volume knob and that masks the problem. Also TIs are expensive and I was trying to get too much life out of them.
The road goes on forever......
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TI strings are expensive. They last. They make the guitar sound great, but unfortunately, not for very long. They gradually become muddy. For that reason, I steer clear of strings that pretend to have a long life (Elixir and the like).
I like to change strings often. D'Addario's are readily available,where I live. They are affordable. And they sound ok to me. I like to try different gauges and combinations. Right now, I have an archtop set with 10-48s flat wounds, but with the B and high E strings 15 and 13 ga. The guitar is more balanced, less boomy et very easy to play with a light touch.
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Those are two excellent balance points. I think having one of each means your stable is well-stocked. Originally Posted by jads57
Teles are so super-crazy adaptable they can be just about anything you want them to be. And as ES-175 gives you a bit more "air-y-ness" (if not more of a traditional vibe) with its hollow body.
Hard to say what's "perfect" other than finding a guitar that just feels comfortable to hold and to play.
I guess it just shows, the majority of tone is in your hands, not in your gear.
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I've been watching a recent YT video by Rich Severson where he makes that point about TIs going dull very quickly. He uses Chromes and makes up and sells a custom set that he uses. Originally Posted by MCh
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ibanez gb10
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Jack Z unless you figured out how to suppress the feedback? Lol!
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packing tape works great Originally Posted by jads57
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I guess that kind of defeats the design of the instrument then. I always thought it had more to do with the suspended pickups on the GB10 model. Maybe the one I tried years ago had micrphonic pickups?
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No it doesn't at all. George Benson and Paul Bollenback and Rodney Jones have been doing this for years. Nobody would ever know the F holes were taped. Originally Posted by jads57
Here's a clip of George playing an FG100 with the f holes taped. There are literally hundreds of examples of him playing live with the tape.
Would you hear that and know without looking ?
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Jack, I am absolutely convinced that you are correct about GB taping his f holes.
However, in the clip you provided, it seems that one can see through the f hole to the back of the guitar beginning about 1:39...
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I guess maybe it’s a feel thing stuffing your guitar with foam etc.
For me I’d rather just find a model that works without that. My Benedetto Bambino has never had feedback issues at gigging levels.
I also think that why thinlines with center blocks were invented.
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