For the organ trio (Funk-Jazz) it has to be a hollowbody – I use either my Ibanez GB10 or Gibson ES 330. Looking forward to bring my newly acquired GB200 into the circulation when gigging starts again. All these are strung with .012 flatwounds for the punchy tone. For anything else (Funk, Blues, Rockabilly) I prefer a telecaster – mostly my two homegrown telecasters made from parts - strung with .010 roundwounds for the twangy riffs.
For daily practicing and occasional gigs, my 74 Gibson Johnny Smith and 98 Wes Mo, depending on the gig. The last couple of days, it's been my 68 L7c. Been using that one to teach with as well because its light and loud enough so doesn't need amp.
I like to use different guitars depending upon what I am working on.
Well it has been years since I played for anyone but me. My wife comes from a rock and roll background and her criticism of my inability to play the hits of her day made me give up for years, then I thought, F** it, I am doing this for me. Mainly these days I play an Ibanez SJ300, good solid acoustic response, works well with either the Yamaha or Line 6 amps. But then sometimes I pull out the Eastrman AR371CE, a good guitar but needs a great setup, then again I might grab the Eastman AR503CE and when I do I really wonder why I have not had it fully set up. Light, responsive and with a great acoustic voice.
The problem is that I am a really bad musician, only capable of producing good music when teamed with the "band in my mind"; as long as they are on [imaginary] song all is well.
But doing what I do gives me pleasure and more than anything else it keeps me wanting to start each day by breathing again!
More than this it is one thing that stops my chronic PTSD and depression overwhelming me. I am the last of the "stick" I served with in 78/79 and I still want to keep going for some unknown reason; guitar helps!
I have been playing my Memphis EL300 (Matsumoku) and my Strat and Tele for many months now. However, it's time to rotate the stock, so lately I've been playing the Polytone Improv II that I bought five years back from Hammertone. It's a super guitar and a very worthy replacement for my old Gibson ES-335.
It covers many bases and gets a very warm, jazz tone on the neck pickup through my Polytone Mini Brute II. The guitar currently has 10-46 Ernie Ball rounds on it, which sound great. (Yep, that's Hammertone's chair.)
I've recently gotten more into amp sims so with each one it's like I'm being reintroduced to my guitars, so I like to rotate them to keep that sense of magic and discovery alive. I'm getting the best tones I've ever gotten now and it's very exciting.
That said, it's still the same old elitist Sheraton that it's always been. It just sounds amazing for recording, with so many cool tones in there. It's what a guitar sounds and feels like to me.
Also extremely popular these days is a newcomer: the yairi dym60hd. Red spruce over 50 year old Honduran mahogany. It's very, very special. It might just become the #1 acoustic, which is really saying something. Songs just pour out of the thing; I come up with another new doodle almost everytime I pick it up.
I put a StewMac Parsons Street humbucker in the neck slot of my MiK Broadway and love it. Then I put a Seymour Duncan PhatCat (?) --the P90 in the Humbucker form factor--in my Zephyr Regent...
I looked at the pickup openings and it looked solid. There is a strip of thin wood under the bridge, but not under the whole top.
And I played my EEB and my L5ces alongside an Aria Pro II PE180...
I love Ben Webster. I have never heard any guitar player approach what Webster does. Regardless of the instrument played, Webster was a unique, individual talent.
I do hear the slight similarity...
I just took a Quick Look at prices in the UK and the rest of Europe and the prices seem normal The Tours & Premier is like Squire or Epiphone they are designed to get you into the guitar market in...
Of course GG had drug issues, broken relationships etc., so did nearly all the jazz musicians back then, it was a tough profession. Has nothing to do with his playing. Some of them found the drugs...
Ah, yes - and the reverse can be true too; sets with a wound 3rd intonate a lot better on saddles that have obvious micro-compensation with the contact point for the 1st and 3rd strings at the same...
Yeah this is an obvious thing about the blues.
But even with funk, R&B, and what we’d probably call Smooth Jazz—there’s a much more porous boundary between these and straightahead jazz than we...
Ben Webster
Today, 02:23 PM in The Players