Fender Stratocaster for Jazz?

[gcb]

I have owned some Gibson Lps Custom, Standard and Studio, and a Fender American Standard 1997 sunburst Telecaster. All were stringed with flatwound 011s except the LP Standard, 0.13s. Never owned a Strat.

In 1982 my main guitar was a Super 400. My 3rd. brother was marrying and I took some days off. He is lefty, so he asked me in advance which of his guitars I would like to play, and string gauge, so to have one of them set up in advance before my arrival. My reply was to leave them all lefty until I came, play them as they were and decide.

Upon arrival, played all his nine guitars and selected three: a sunburst Gibson flat top with single coil (like John Lennon's), an Ibanez 175 clone and a grey/silver USA Fender 1979 annyversary Strat. Finally picked the USA Strat. During that stay played that guitar a lot and really liked it.

During that same stay another old friend invited me to his home to a party with many other friends. One of them was an Elvis fan. He wanted to sing Elvis' songs. Up to that point in the party I was playing a Fender USA Jazz bass and then they invited to play lead on the "Elvis set." My friend had a 60s Gibson J45, there were two Les Pauls, and a white USA American Standard Strat, among other guitars. Chose the white strat, and had a lot of fun. That was the last time (1982) I played a strat. But it felt/sounded so good I still remember it.

[D.G.]

A purely acoustic guitar or even a single coil equipped electric guitar does have more "snap" for playing without drums to be sure. But IMO, a 25.5 scale guitar with a humbucker can get the job done.

One of the things I do with any electric guitar for a snappy swing rhythm sound is to set the amp far brighter than seems good up close, turn down the bass to stay out of the bass player's way, and use a heavy, heavy, heavy -- did I say heavy? -- heavy pick. No lighter than a Wegen 3.5mm Trimus. And play rhythm on the side of the pick, not the point, i.e. standard gypsy technique.

Another trick I've been using lately in drummer-less ensembles is to make the vocalist play a cabasa during solos. It really adds to the snap of the rhythm, and for a bass/guitar/vocals trio, it works like magic.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Some guys do not like humbuckers, I understand that. And some humbuckers are dark and muddy to be sure, but I love the Duncan 59 neck PUP. The Alnico 5 magnet keeps the "edge".

A P-90 in a Fender neck slot is a great go-between, to my ears. Second to that is a minihumbucker.

[rpjazzguitar]

I've been gigging with a Strat copy with a Lil 59. I can't get a single note sound I like out of a single coil in the neck position. I like the single coil sound for some types of comping, including Freddie Green style. I use the middle single coil pickup for it occasionally. But, more often, I just use the HB to keep things a little simpler. The HB sounds ok for comping too.

I play a copy because the radius is near 14, not 9.5.

[neatomic]

nothing that a fender jazzmaster hasn't already taken care of

fender 25.5 scale solid body with leo's reworking of the p90 pickup...and 2 distinct voices/ electronic circuits (different pots 'n caps) for the neck pickup at the flick of a switch

the jazzmaster!



cheers

[marcwhy]

One of my favorite (strat) players: Chris Crocco. Nope, it doesn't sound like an 18" archtop, but it's not supposed to!

[Bach5G]

The other day I realized that nearly all the stuff on my music shelf had to do with chasing a Strat tone. Various pickups, wiring harnesses - all the result of trying to get a better sound out of my Strat. I’ve had humbucker, Clapton mid-boosts, Noiseless, pure vintage this and that, $400 a set Lollar modern and $60 a set Rose. Tex-Mex, Tex Specials, Biltofts, Lawrences. I priced out the Area 58, the Heavy Blues and the S Duncan stacked humbucker I found and figured they were worth $300. And I have a box for an Area 61 but the pickup in the box is a generic Strat pickup.

This is all Strat-related. I haven’t done anything like this on my other guitars. All I want is a nice, balanced tone. I’m not looking for SRV or Jimi, or any rock god sound. Just a balanced, musical sound.

I go to different guitar techs because I’m like some white collar middle class addict who goes to different doctors to get his drugs.

I need a program. Or just cold turkey on Strats.

[Jimmy Mack]

Count me as one who doesn't get it. I have had all the major guitar types, several of some, and when I think of a jazz tone, or want to achieve it, a Strat is my last choice.
I just don't hear much "guitar" sound that I would like to hear for jazz in either of the videos. Sure you can make a Strat mellow and full, but something about the woods and bridge keep a metallic thing constant. Fusion? yes. Rock and blues - all day long, but woody resonance - no.
My Tele's do a better job, but then, I'm a hollow body player because that's where the woodiness lives. And a semi-hollow would be my second choice. And not a "Thinline" Fender Strat, I had that too. Still a no for jazz tone.

[Bach5G]

This is my favourite Strat sound:

All I need is Big D’s fingers.

[jads57]

While the Stratocaster might be the Swiss Army Knife or electrics, it lacks the complex mids that other guitars have. It always pairs well with a flat top guitar in a mix, due to it's lack of mid range. But that's exactly why I quit playing them almost 25 years ago!
I way prefer the immediate bark of the Tele, or a LP,335,etc!!!!!!!!!

But it is the most iconic electric guitar chosen by many greats!

[Frank67]

I enjoyed that music SS, thanks for sharing! The band is really tight, the singer is great and I also enjoyed the sound and playing on the lap steel ... and of course cudos to the guitar player - sounds great!

A Strat is a mighty fine and versatile guitar of course. I went with DiMarzio rail pickups (fast track on neck, cruiser middle and chopper bridge) on one of my builds and I think that they sound awesome. The punch of a humbucker with the articulation of a single coil.

A somewhat jazzy tune on a Strat is „Manhattan“ by Eric Johnson (apparently inspired by Wes‘s Octave playing). Neck pickup in a pair of twins ... what‘s not to like :-)

[wolflen]

my 2006 les paul classic has been my main guitar for the past 12 yrs .. it just gets better and better..stock PAF neck & bridge..younger guys keep asking what I did to it to get the array of sounds..(no pedals) amazing what you can do with tone controls and amp settings..and yes it can sound "jazzy" ..

now looking for a strat style..had a awful fender experience so looking at G & L the S500 USA model..has very nice tone adjustments to roll off the bass or treble and a boost switch for some extra bite..yeah there are some very high end strat style companies with prices over 3k..but while they are pretty and sound terrific (well Guthrie Govan playing it had something to do with that) for my needs its overkill.. my playing has turned more toward a Ben Monder / Julian Lage approach lately and the flexibility of a strat style has me very intrigued..and Im sure it will be just fine with straight ahead Miles

[cosmic gumbo]

I was fine with using a strat as my main axe for everything for years, even big band. Standard neck pup has a great sound to me. Strat got the job done well, and it was easy to love how sweet a subtly applied tremolo bridge can sound in most music.

If I hadn't snagged a tele and bonded with it so strongly, I'd still be using the strat most of the time.

[morroben]

I'm back to using my strat most of the time. I just love it. It's an MIM Jimmie Vaughan that I refinished in surf green. The neck is great.
For me, the #4 position (neck/middle) with the tone rolled off is nice jazz sound. Rolling the tone off turns the quack into something different.
I have other guitars but the strat seems to get the most playing time.

[El Fundo]

Here’s a Strat on jazz steroids:

[El Fundo]

Back in the days when I was still doing lots of gigs with wedding bands I usually just took one guitar, and that was always a Strat. Typically, on gigs like that, the first set is dinner music where we would play Standards. The rest of the gig was for getting people on the dance floor. What I found by playing jazz on a Strat was that the tone would be too thin and bright and sort of washed out as I turned the tone knob down, trying to make it sound like an archtop. Never worked for me. The first two strings would all but disappear. Of course I’ve always used 10s on Strats and Teles which could have been the problem, but then again those guitars would never be my choice for playing jazz. One of these days I’ll experiment by stringing a Strat with 12s. But let’s be honest: archtops just sound fatter, darker, and richer for clean jazz tones. I’m with radiofm74 when it comes to the roles of certain types of guitars.

[Greentone]

El Fundo,

When I first got interested in Stratocasters in the early 60s, going to music stores with my guitarist dad, Strat were factory strung with 12s. I always thought thought those guitars sounded best that way, and I prefer mine like that today.

[El Fundo]

BTW, I’m not saying I don’t love Strats. I do! Teles too. They just will never be my go-to guitars for doing a straight-ahead jazz gig. But for what they do, I really love them. I bought one of the Professional series Strats this last fall which is my favorite out of all the ones I’ve owned. And I don’t play jazz only.

[Bach5G]

I love Strats, too. But I feel that I’ve spent a lot of money and a lot of time and effort trying to make it do something it isn’t really suited for.

[AlsoRan]

I'd like to add my personal favorite solidbody strat Jazz video. It has been posted before and would you possibly call it more of a fusion guitar tone. Whatever you call it, I find it very exciting how that strat rises above the rhythm section, and also like his melodic hail of notes that he throw out.

[El Fundo]

El Fundo,

When I first got interested in Stratocasters in the early 60s, going to music stores with my guitarist dad, Strat were factory strung with 12s. I always thought thought those guitars sounded best that way, and I prefer mine like that today.

One of these days I will definitely try 12s, maybe soon since I rarely get “Strat Gigs” these days. My choice of 10s is more about the sound they produce rather than ease of playability. 10s sound more “liquidy”, for lack of a better way to describe it. My rock influences from the time I was a kid are Hendrix, Beck, Carlton, Steely Dan. I use 12s on my archtop, btw.

[Stringswinger]

One of these days I will definitely try 12s, maybe soon since I rarely get “Strat Gigs” these days. My choice of 10s is more about the sound they produce rather than ease of playability. 10s sound more “liquidy”, for lack of a better way to describe it. My rock influences from the time I was a kid are Hendrix, Beck, Carlton, Steely Dan. I use 12s on my archtop, btw.

El Fundo,

A few thoughts:

My Strat is not my favorite jazz guitar, one of my 11 archtops is (the exact one changes from day to day), but I do use it for a few jazz gigs from time to time (all 14 of my guitars get taken out for a spin from time to time)

When I was a rock/blues player, my Strats (and Lesters) were strung with 8's, 9's and 10's (I went back and forth in those days). My heroes were Hendrix, Clapton and Page. These days I have 12's or 13's on everything except my Gypsy guitar which has 10's (but also has a 26 1/4 scale length!)

Before you try 12's on your Strat, make sure the PUPS are set up for that. Most modern Strat PUPS are optimized for 10's with an unwound third. Fender 57/62 PUPS are optimized for 12's with a wound third (as that was what Fender Strats shipped with in the 50's and 60's). My Strat came to me with the stock American Standard PUPS and when I tried 12's, it worked poorly. And frankly, I never got a good jazz tone with those PUPS, no matter which amp I used. That led me to the path of customizing her to the one PUP, humbucker setup, which with 12 flats works damn good for jazz. As good as my L-5, no, but damn good.

Good luck fooling with your Strat!

[John A.]

I play an American Standard Strat, with stock pickups, strung with 10s. For a long time, it was all I played, for all the music I played. It is not _the_ jazz sound, and that was one of the reasons I wound up picking up a series of guitars to complement it. But it is definitely _a_ jazz sound (and a blues sound, and a fusion sound, and a funk sound), and while other guitars have come and gone for me, I've held onto my Strat (since I bought it new in 89) and can't really imagine not having it. I don't hear it as thin, metallic or cold or lacking mids, or any of those other descriptions. I hear it as clear and with a rich pallette of overtones. Different from my semi and archtop, but isn't the whole point of having more than one guitar to get different sounds? Anyway, mine sounds like this:

Acceptable jazz sound? Yay or nay?

John

[citizenk74]

I play an American Standard Strat, with stock pickups, strung with 10s. For a long time, it was all I played, for all the music I played. It is not _the_ jazz sound, and that was one of the reasons I wound up picking up a series of guitars to complement it. But it is definitely _a_ jazz sound (and a blues sound, and a fusion sound, and a funk sound), and while other guitars have come and gone for me, I've held onto my Strat (since I bought it new in 89) and can't really imagine not having it. I don't hear it as thin, metallic or cold or lacking mids, or any of those other descriptions. I hear it as clear and with a rich pallette of overtones. Different from my semi and archtop, but isn't the whole point of having more than one guitar to get different sounds? Anyway, mine sounds like this:

Acceptable jazz sound? Yay or nay?



John

Yea. The tone has warmth, richness, and body. IMO there is no definitive jazz guitar tone; there is only what we are used to and what we like. Note choice outweighs tone, but ideally a particular tone complements a given note or note sequence and allows a nice fit to the mix. And of course a tone which sounds great in the isolation of the practice room may be a bit wan on the bandstand or too much for a track. A certain fine-tuning may be required to adapt to present circumstance. We need to remain open to possibilities.

[Bach5G]

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