Jim Hall's Iconic Gibson ES-175

[neatomic]

jims wife bought him the d'aquisto that the sadowsky is modelled after..they were there right after jimmy D put the finish on it..and when they saw it without the finish scraped off the binding, they asked him to leave it like that!!

cheers

[jbucklin]

Odds are high that the "Live" album you speak of was done with a MiniBrute II.

That album was recorded in '75 though. It may have been the house amp, which would mean Ed Bickert used it, and can be heard on his own incredible live album with the same rhythm section. The thing is, it doesn't sound like the GA 50, but it does sound like a Polytone.

[neatomic]

incidentally...back to my original post....jim initially got the les paul because he said he was playing small clubs with chico and he was having trouble with feedback..especially as they were set up next to each other

here's a good pic...(you don't see pics of jim with this gibby too often!)



cheers

[jbucklin]

Jane is a sweetheart! Quite the composer too, as Jim recorded several of her tunes.

[jbucklin]

I have never seen a photo of Jim playing that guitar! What Gibby model is it?

[wintermoon]

I haven't seen that pic before either.
looks like a Gibson Byrdland.

[Greentone]

Sure looks like a Byrdland, doesn't it?

[jbucklin]

I does indeed look like a Byrdland. Funny, Jim has never mentioned it in any interviews.

[Cunamara]

I wish there was a way to find out what amp he used on the "Live!" recordings with Terry Clark an Don Thompson.

I'm pretty sure he had not started playing his D'Aquisto yet.

Does anyone else have the live Artists Share set with three discs? Packed full of mind-blowing performances from that same week in Toronto.

My father in law gave me that set for Christmas a few years ago (followed the next year by the Tal Farlow biography and then this past year with the Johnny Smith biography. Does the guy know me or what?). It's fantastic, amazing, so far beyond the first Jim Hall Trio Live! album- which is an amazing record in its own right.

The photos in the booklet show Jim playing the ES-175. I think this was right around the time he got the D'Aquisto electric- he took both guitars to gigs for a little while, I have read. Not sure what the amp is- no photo evidence that I've seen- but it sounds to me more like a Polytone than the GA-50. Although he might just have borrowed an amp there.

FWIW I much prefer Jim's sound with the 175 over either the D'Aquisto or the Sadowsky. There is a high end "ping" to both of the later instruments that I just don't like. It's really evident on "These Rooms." But there's a late video from Jazzbaltica or something where he plays with his trio and some guests; his tone is excellent there with the Sadowsky and a Polytone MB III or IV.

Also, jim Hall mentioned in an interview that he had an L-5 when he started with Chico Hamilton and sold it to get the Les Paul. He didn't like that one because he couldn't feel it vibrate against him, so he traded it for Howard Roberts's ES-175 (as mentioned at the beginning). I've never seen a picture of him with the L-5. Could this be it?

[PMB]

I have read 1954.

I have read '1984' but I don't boast about it!

[PMB]

before jack webb went "law & order" via shows like dragnet, adam-12 & emergency..he was a badass smokin coronet playin' jazzer...long time webb radio show, then film-pete kelly's blues


Attachment 33987Attachment 33988

cheers

The interesting connection there is that Arthur Hamilton wrote Cry Me A River for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in Pete Kelly's Blues. It didn't make the cut and Julie London recorded the tune instead.

[wintermoon]

"I've never seen a picture of him with the L-5. Could this be it?"

I thought of that too, maybe over the yrs he forgot it was a Byrdland and not and L-5, it's possible I suppose.
aside from the tailpiece and thinner body/short scale, a Byrdland is otherwise pretty much like an L-5 in build and cosmetics.
I believe he referred to the guitar as 'tubby sounding'

[KirkP]

I suspect Jim Hall had similar feelings for his guitars and amps that a fine carpenter might about his favorite woodworking tools. He needed good tools, but in the end it's all in the hands, mind, and heart.

[oldane]

I haven't seen that pic before either.
looks like a Gibson Byrdland.

With that tailpiece, it could also have been a 350T which was kind of a less fancy Byrdland made with laminated woods. BTW the 350T were quite popular with blues and R&B people back then (both Chuck Berry and B. B. King used one). But this one seems to have a flower pot inlay on the headstock (I can't see the fretboard inlays) and not a crown, so I agree it's a Byrdland.

[oldane]

I suspect Jim Hall had similar feelings for his guitars and amps that a fine carpenter might about his favorite woodworking tools. He needed good tools, but in the end it's all in the hands, mind, and heart.

A patron in a club once said to Stan Getz: "That sax plays wonderfully". Getz put the horn close up to his ear and replied: "Strange, I can't hear it make any sound at all."

[whiskey02]

If you find a really great Les Paul, you can feel it vibrate against your body.

[Sam Sherry]

A patron in a club once said to Stan Getz: "That sax plays wonderfully". Getz put the horn close up to his ear and replied: "Strange, I can't hear it make any sound at all."

I heard it slightly saltier: Getz handed her the horn and said, "How does it sound now?"

[MarkRhodes]

I heard it slightly saltier: Getz handed her the horn and said, "How does it sound now?"

I've heard that about Barney Kessel and his guitar too. During a set break, a member of the audience tells Barney his guitar sounds great. Barney looks up onto the stage, where it rests on a stand. "How does it sound now?"

I get that (to paraphrase Hamlet), 'the player is the thing', but a fine instrument ain't chopped liver...

[MarkRhodes]

Attachment 33983

btw thats bobby troup (route 66) with hr..he was married to julie london..who's big record around that time was cry me a river...with barney kessel

Nice to see a pic of Bobby Troup. Kessel's playing with Julie on "Julie is Her Name" is incredibly good. I'm especially fond of their version of "I'm In The Mood For Love."

[Flat]

I've heard that about Barney Kessel and his guitar too. During a set break, a member of the audience tells Barney his guitar sounds great. Barney looks up onto the stage, where it rests on a stand. "How does it sound now?"

This is getting funny, Mark, because I heard the guitarist was Chet Atkins!

Chet Atkins was in a Nashville studio warming up for a session with his Gretsch. A young technician came into the studio and stood watching open-mouthed until Chet finished. “Gee, Mr Atkins, that guitar sure sounds fabulous!” Chet placed the guitar on its stand, smiled at the tech and said, “Well, son, how does it sound now?”

https://gorehound1313.wordpress.com/...ul-guitarists/

Who knows? It's such a perfect line that probably a lot of players have said. If anyone ever compliments the sound of my guitar, I plan to do the same!

The site linked above has a few gems. Here's a couple of my favorites:

“We didn’t have any instruments, so I had to use my guitar.” – Mother Maybelle Carter

"All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song." - Louis Armstrong

Now, back to the eminent and illustrious Jim Hall...