The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #201

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    I have a g&l blues boy, solid body with Humbucker in the neck. It definitely gives me a great jazz tone so I'm really happy about that but it can be used for most styles of music. The nut is 1 5/8 on most of them so that's something to be aware of, but I don't even notice it. It's also pretty sturdy and heavy like a regular tele, and it feels like a custom shop guitar. I think it's great for the price to, although the owner of the store that I bought it from sold it to me for about 200 dollars cheaper.

    my teacher has a Gibson es 339 and it feels and sound great. He doesn't even need an amp for most lessons

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #202

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    It was mentioned that comfortability of play is important. I couldn't agree more. The easier it is to play, the truer the chords when played.

    I have ONE gripe about my Heritage guitar: I find playing drop-3 chords at the nut crowded and uncomfortable. From the second fret on: plays like a dream. Now, that's my hands and the way I must cause my fingers don't bend backwards like so many guitarists' do. So, I need room to hit the minor 7.

  4. #203

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    Hello, I am sorta new at this, happy this forum exists...I am late to the guitar (68), started taking weekly lessons a couple of years ago through a "Music 4 Veterans" outreach program in Erie, PA...I am a twisted Jazzman (Montogomery, Pass, Emmanuel, Rosenberg Trio)...I currently play a Fender Kingman, but have access to a couple of Gibsons (a Les Paul Studio, 335 & 347) and a Fender"Eric Clapton" Strat...am thinking about buying a more traditional jazzbox (have been looking at Ibanez, Epiphone, Gretsch) leaning toward a new Gretsch G100CE. Have played an older Gretsch G100 acoustic and liked the tone and play a-bility. Any suggestions, short of geez guy play what you got and settle down! All help appreciated. With limited funds, "what is the Best Jazz Guitar". T'anks.

  5. #204

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    Gakilgore, if you don't ming asian made guitars you should try the Eastman and the Peerless.
    I suspect many recent so called "Made in the USA" guitars are mostly made in China anyway and maybe setup in the USA.

  6. #205

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    Thanks Gibouile...will check Eastman out, thought they might be of my league price wise, but will check their website and a local Guitar Center...

  7. #206

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    I agree. I own an Easrman 403 CE and it is by far the best sounding and playing guitar in my collection. GC does not carry them. I purchased mine from a small higher end guitar shop in Albuquerque near my home. The cost was about $750. Good luck!

  8. #207

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    Ibanez has its cheaper Benson model out now....nice looking guitar, in the 1k price range....I would have to buy sight unseen, no dealers in my area....There is a lot of choices in that 1K range....and I have no way of knowing if one is better then another...quality wise...

  9. #208

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    Hello Gakilgore,
    I too am late to the guitar (63). I have been playing about 4 years and learning jazz for the last 2.5 yrs. I reasoned that aspiring to be a competent jazz guitarist is for me kind of like a hamster wanting to become a top-gun fighter pilot. It's been a heck of a ride though and it's been much more gripping than just learning a few power chords and rock riffs .
    Best of luck with your studies!!
    And now

    I play an Ibanez Artcore AFJ-85 Perfect Jazz Guitar?-imag0055-1-jpgand I have been very pleased with the sound and build quality of this low-cost guitar. I also play a Gibson Les Paul Traditional, which makes an excellent jazz guitar (both played through a basic Ibanez WT-80 jazz amp).
    I found the best improvement in sound, for both guitars, was to fit flat-wound Tomastik-Infeld guitar strings. Strangely, the Ibanez jazz box came with flat wounds on it, but the sound improved out of sight when I changed for the Tomastik strings. I use the lighter ones on the LP.
    Another low-cost improvement in the sound of both guitars came when I changed to Jim Dunlop 205 jazz picks.
    By far the best improvement though will result from me putting in more practice.
    Cheers
    No10shovel,
    Melbourne
    Australia

  10. #209

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    No10shovel I Agree a lot to your post.

    I'm going to address an issue regarding guitar necks but first, setting objectives :

    A hamster wanting to become a top-gun fighter pilot : That would be me, except that I'd be happy just taking that plane off the taxiway for a gentle little grasshoper flight.
    And even if I can't do anything but taxi, I decided I'm going to enjoy the ride no matter what. Kenny Werner's "effortless mastery" is a great help in allowing me to enjoy my modest practice in spites of the frustration.

    Improvised music helps prevent Alzheimer, so let's do our little (expensive) occupational therapy.

    As for strings, Thomastik flatwound are great, so are la Bella, and for a different experience newTone Archtop (roundwound)

    Picks do a lot of difference, the carbon ones by Vladimir Muzic "The Reniator" is really a must try.

    I personally like fingerpicking a lot more than using a pick but I could never grow those nails.
    One more challenge.

    About necks, my first experience with guitars was a beginning with classical.

    So I tend to keep my guitar pretty much vertical like John Stowell, keep my thumb well in the center and back of the neck, do a lot of barrés and NEVER use the thumb to fret or mute a string.

    In this perspective the slightly broader neck of the Eastman was a plus.

    Then I came across Gypsy style that is... just the opposite.

    If I'm going to use my thumb for fretting or even muting strings, the Eastman neck is way too wide for me and I definitely need to hold my axe in a different way.

    I'm still confused and undecided.
    I'm considering buying an unexpensive squier telecaster just to have a narrower neck to fiddle with and allow me to compare both approaches.
    Last edited by Dirk; 06-05-2018 at 04:05 AM.

  11. #210

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    Perfect jazz guitar, hmmm, my journey has come full circle.

    Rewind, 1999. Fender Telecaster swapped for hollow bodied Korean jazz guitar and amp.

    Happy times. Thomastic strings and chops! Many years of learning music theory and such until an on going condition started messing with my left fretting hand. I changed the nut spacing to get a bigger separation at the 1st fret which helped there, but the 8th fret and higher proved to be tight for extended chords with the numb fingers.

    So now, 2013, a Squier Telecaster with Charlie Christian pickup and Thomastic strings! Wow, it works really well. Plenty of room for those old sluggish fingers.

    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-img_0342-640x478-jpg

  12. #211

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    For me the perfect jazz guitar is still the Gibson 175. I think a few jazz guitar legends thought so as well, though you will need a clairvoyant to ask them.

    Here I am playing one of mine on a gig last weekend:

    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-64681930_10157431031106543_1159374890537582592_o-jpg

  13. #212

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    For me the perfect jazz guitar is still the Gibson 175. I think a few jazz guitar legends thought so as well, though you will need a clairvoyant to ask them.

    Here I am playing one of mine on a gig last weekend:

    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-64681930_10157431031106543_1159374890537582592_o-jpg
    There is good reason for the success of the ES-175. The proportions of body size, depth and short scale make it a pleasure to play for extended periods of time. Also, the laminate body imparts a pleasant warm tone which is faithfully delivered through amplification.

    A near perfect design for the professional jazz guitarist.

  14. #213

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    I just traded my hollow body for my new jazz guitar, aptly called a Jazzmaster. The first time I picked one up I played the neck pickup and said ‘why is this not used for jazz?’. It was warm, clean, articulate. My other electric is a G&L ASAT semi-hollow with a humbucker in the neck. Okay, I don’t exclusively play jazz, but the two of them will take care of 69% of my “needs”. (That’s not a misprint, I’m a guitar player and you always need more. 69%, roughly 2 out of 3, ain’t bad.)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  15. #214

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    Quote Originally Posted by QAman
    There is good reason for the success of the ES-175. The proportions of body size, depth and short scale make it a pleasure to play for extended periods of time. Also, the laminate body imparts a pleasant warm tone which is faithfully delivered through amplification.

    A near perfect design for the professional jazz guitarist.
    Maybe Joe Pass' version of the 'perfect 175'. would be it for me
    a 175 but slightly thinner (2.5" ?)
    with the neck pu moved forward to the L4 position .....

    Gibson/Epiphone really should make some more of those ....
    (sorry if this is a repeat )

  16. #215

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    Has to be the Gibson ES 175

  17. #216

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    For me something like a 175 in true neck position with Series /Parallel /Single coil switch ...

    Then a middle position PU for other combinations ( probably a Rails or Narrow Humbucker ) also with a switch for other combinations...

    Maybe a bridge Humbucker...I never use them by themselves ...

    So a H-S-H 175 with a Stoptail maybe slightly longer scale...

    Kind of like the *John Kriesberg Signature ES 175 Stoptail ...

    *No longer made
    *Never made in the first place

  18. #217

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    For 35 years I thought the ES-175 was perfection. Then, I discovered that I actually preferred the 25-1/2" scale.

    Now, I am back in the L-5/L-5-style guitar camp. I find it difficult to improve upon the L-5CES.

  19. #218

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greentone
    I find it difficult to improve upon the L-5CES.
    The Tal Farlow is a big improvement

    Seriously, I have tried out and even demoed a Wesmo side by side with my Tal and could not say it sounded better. Just different. I seem to prefer the thunk of laminates such as the 175 and especially the Tal Farlow.

    I used to own a few carved top guitars and traded them all in because they did not produce the sound I was hearing in my head.

    As gigging guitars the hollow body ES series is pretty much unbeatable, especially the 175 and TF.

    And in the end it's always the player and never the instrument. Never.

    Just my opinion.

    DB

  20. #219

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    Strings, that's a huge part too--knowing how to setup the instrument to make it speak best for your playing.

    You can have a stellar instrument and a shit setup. That guitarist I heard last night with the Artcore? I spoke to him thereafter. He plays with an 18 and a 15 for his B and E strings, and he played through a Quilter pre-amp to a ZT (I've never seen this type of amp setup before--like I said, it was loud). I thought you couldn't run strings that heavy on an Asian made guitar--I'm still scared of running a 14 on my high E (but I love the sound) because of the neck stability.

    I still want a Bennedetto, but I think I'd still spend the money on lessons and forgo getting a new archie... at least for the next...um...20 years

  21. #220

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    I have mixed feelings about this issue.

    I have heard a great player (a name you'd know) sound absolutely like himself on my Yamaha Cheapie and a Yamaha Silent nylon.
    Not the same tone as his usual extremely expensive instrument, but sounding great. So, I sort of think that any humbucker guitar, set up properly, is likely to sound reasonably good, at least up to the high D or so. (The last octave on the high E string seems to vary more among guitars).

    At some point, I'm going to make a recording of several different guitars, including that Yamaha cheapie and a boutique archtop. My guess is that people may be able to tell which is which, but that not everybody will like the expensive instruments better.

    Now, on the other side of the argument, I've never heard Wes' tone come out of anything other than an L5.

    For me, inspiration comes when the guitar sounds and feels like I think it should. At that point, I can forget about the gear and focus on the music. That's happened with my Yamaha Cheapie and with more expensive guitars.
    Last edited by rpjazzguitar; 06-25-2019 at 02:56 AM.

  22. #221

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    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-img_20190206_200214-jpg
    Hi ! This is my Gibson Solid Formed 17" Venetian Cutaway. My favorite jazzbox. It's a ES175 1959 neck in mahogany, a L5 body but more lightweight and resonant, a Jonnhy Smith pickup. For the record the solid formed is a 25.5 scale and not 24.75... This was a mistake even in the gibson describe section. Ununderstandable ! But I assure you. It's a gorgeous guitar with a marvelous acoustic sound. The pick is a little bright for me but the tone button is really efficient. So it's my favorite jazzbox with a 25.5 scale and maybe the best I've ever had especially for low volume ! The only real issue for this guitar is to play loud for concert...The feedback is really inconvenient. But I love this guitar which by the way is a mysterious model with an inappropriate name... so weird to call it that way, and somehow a kind of commercial flop ! But when you have the guitar in your arms, the carved or press wood and the name, you don't care, because it sings so marvelously nice... And it's a beauty ! In my opinion, this guitar which is I think a commercial failure, is going to have its reputation growing and growing over time. Because if you meet it, you'll be captivated ! Love this Gibson SF ! My second choice, is my gorgeous ES175 VOS 1959, and last but not least my wonderful Yamaha SA2200 more a 335 like, but so versatile ! And to be fair I have to talk about an other wonderful jazz guitar which is of course the telecaster... I own a wonderfull Maybach Teleman T54, much better than all the fender including custom shop and masterbuilt I've ever tried. With Amber handmade pickups (like the original telecasters) and sugar pine body (like the original fenders !), it sounds great for jazz and so more. Also a wonderfull jazz guitar !
    Last edited by Zzapata; 06-28-2019 at 01:01 AM.

  23. #222

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    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-l5sigfront1-jpg

  24. #223

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alter
    Perfect Jazz Guitar?-l5sigfront1-jpg
    oooo that's nice Alter
    what is that ? What scale ?

  25. #224

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    not mine Just chiming in on the thread, it's a random Gibson L5 pic from the net! Not so easy to find one of these left handed for a normal price where I live.

    I would put a 175 next to it though, for a gigging jazz musician..!

  26. #225

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    Normal size L5 huh ?

    Ok it looked smaller , sorry
    I'd kinda like a smaller L5 with a shorter scale