Kenny Burrell's Guitars

[jazzbow]

I tend to watch the fretting hands of all the great jazz guitarists. I listen to Mr Burrell and I hear the bluesy licks mainly joining up the dots (chords). When I watch his moves his hand shapes are all three finger movements with the pinky hitting highest and lowest notes.
Looking at Mr Green on the Blue Mist video I see the same hand shapes, blue shapes. Mr Kessell fly's by the seat of his pants on some phrases but the blues moves anchor him back into the groove.

I love Kenny's phrases and taste.

Long live Burrell

[Herbie]

Azure! That’s one of my favourite KB recordings (and there is a lot of them). He is my first and greatest jazz guitarist idol.

I watched the live video and when KB got to the blues licks I started to smile: he sees the blues everywhere.

But then I got it: azure is a shade of blue! Just like indigo in an other Duke Ellington’s classic. Of course Azure is a blues piece!

Duke really found a lot of approaches to the blues!

I have my 6th string screw in my ES175 almost as deep as Kenny. I like the pickup high, and to avoid bass string feedback I have to adjust the screws.

[deacon Mark]

His sound is not as good as I have heard it but it still is very nice. I am with SS on the times KB sounded the best. He played the D'a and the Super400 CES and while they sound different it is great. He still sounds like KB no matter what and proves the obvious that sound is in the hands. On the Super400 he could get bit more sounds and effects that he sometimes uses than on the D'a. I like in particular the single line sound he go with the D'a it was very lively and fresh not quite as electric as the CES.

[helios]

Kenny's tone has always been the gold standard to me, and the space between the notes are as important as the notes. It's why Sinatra was so great with his vocal phrasing!

[Jim Soloway]

Whenever I see an E string pickup screw lowered all the way I assume that it's because the owner was occasionally hitting it with his pick. If you play towards the end of the fingerboard, that's definitely something to stay aware of.

[sgosnell]

Screwing the E polepiece all the way in is for string balance. That E has the largest diameter, both wound and unwound, and to prevent it overriding the others you have to get the polepiece lower. Herb Ellis had his the same, and mine is close to that. I think it needs lowering more with pure nickel strings, since the windings contribute somewhat less than with steel windings.

[Gitpicker]

I stumbled upon this album of Kenny Burrell's and right away noticed the Charlie Christian pickup on an L5 yes? How cool is that?! It seems every time I hear KB play I think to myself, "now THAT is the ultimate jazz guitar tone"! However, it's obviously in his hands because there are recordings of him playing ES-175s, Super 400s, now I see this L5 with CC pickup.

What other guitars has Kenny Burrell been known to play and record with? I know in recent years he's had his Heritage guitars but back in the day was it generally always the 175 and/or Super 400? Any others? By the way the times I have seen him live in California over the last 18 or so years, seems he always had a Super 400.

[deacon Mark]

In the late 60’s thru at least some of the 70’s he played a DANGELICO New Yorker. His comment was he like the size 18”. Makes sense he used a Gibson Super 400 much of the time. In the hierarchy of Jazz Guitar Kenny is the Pope of those still alive. We deacons understand who speaks with absolute authority!

[wintermoon]

A couple more I can think of, that blonde florentine custom L-5 w Christian pu and finger tp.





Also a non cut Epiphone Emperor






Oh, and a flattop and a couple classicals.

[Stringswinger]

Kenny also had and recorded with an L-7

[Stringswinger]

And IIRC, Kenny's L-7 had a CC pickup.....

[helios]

Wolf Marshall did an excellent article/interview with Kenny Burrell a few years ago in: "Vintage Guitar Magazine".
The article covers his guitars/gear and offers details about his career. It is well worth reading for those of us who feel Kenny gets the best tone!

Kenny Burrell | Vintage Guitar(R) magazine

[Woody Sound]

[D'Aquisto Fan]

I know this has been discussed before. What guitar and amp did KB use on Midnight Blue? Is that known for certain? Thanks.

[Ol' Fret]

In the Vintage Guitar magazine article mentioned above in post #8 Kenny Burrell stated:

"Gibson made me an L-5 with a deep cutaway in the late '50s. They did it reluctantly. I played that guitar for a while, but it was too heavy. It had a much bigger block; they thought the body wouldn't hold the neck with the deep cutaway otherwise."


I'm confused. Was that late '50s L-5 a Gibson custom model with a deep Venetian cutaway?
Deep Venetian cutaways were one characteristic of German archtops, all modeled after the Roger 'Super Special', the Glassl 'Solist' and the Lang 'Prämus' and 'Mastro Arturo'. Never seen something similar on American archtops.
If you, for instance, study a Glassl you'll notice that the neck blocks of these guitars (at least, of the earlier ones) were a special construction, the sides around the cutaway area bent in three dimensions ...


If not, i.e., if that Gibson L-5 was the predecessor of the '60s regular L-5 with (deep) Florentine cutaway:
Why did Kenny complain about the weight of that L-5, when the 18" Super-400s that he later used were even more heavyweight? Even the simple changing or downsizing of the L-5's neck block by Gibson would certainly not bring the weight down enough.

[Hammertone]

In the Vintage Guitar magazine article mentioned above in post #8 Kenny Burrell stated: "Gibson made me an L-5 with a deep cutaway in the late '50s. They did it reluctantly. I played that guitar for a while, but it was too heavy. It had a much bigger block; they thought the body wouldn't hold the neck with the deep cutaway otherwise."
I'm confused. Was that late '50s L-5 a Gibson custom model with a deep Venetian cutaway?
Deep Venetian cutaways were one characteristic of German archtops, all modeled after the Roger 'Super Special', the Glassl 'Solist' and the Lang 'Prämus' and 'Mastro Arturo'. Never seen something similar on American archtops.
If you, for instance, study a Glassl you'll notice that the neck blocks of these guitars (at least, of the earlier ones) were a special construction, the sides around the cutaway area bent in three dimensions ...
If not, i.e., if that Gibson L-5 was the predecessor of the '60s regular L-5 with (deep) Florentine cutaway:
Why did Kenny complain about the weight of that L-5, when the 18" Super-400s that he later used were even more heavyweight? Even the simple changing or downsizing of the L-5's neck block by Gibson would certainly not bring the weight down enough.

Doc: That late '50s 21-fret L-5CES Gibson custom model had a deep Florentine cutaway and is shown in the b/w photo. Compare that to the later production Florentine cutaway in the 20-fret L-5CES. Burrell refers to a "much bigger block" - that might have been the case, or perhaps he just perceived it as such compared to the L-5CES models of the day.

[wintermoon]

I know this has been discussed before. What guitar and amp did KB use on Midnight Blue? Is that known for certain? Thanks.

Early 60s custom Gibson L-5 w Christian pu through Rudy Van Gelder's Fender tweed deluxe

[Ol' Fret]

Doc: That late '50s 21-fret L-5CES Gibson custom model had a deep Florentine cutaway and is shown in the b/w photo. Compare that to the later production Florentine cutaway in the 20-fret L-5CES. Burrell refers to a "much bigger block" - that might have been the case, or perhaps he just perceived it as such compared to the L-5CES models of the day.

Thanks for your explanation, Stephen!
I didn't know that Kenny Burrell was somehow involved in the development of what is generally considered by most players as 'minor design issues'. To my knowledge the first 17" wide Gibson Electric to be converted from a Venetian to a Florentine cutaway was the Birdland.

A.R. Duchossoir: "At the end of the 50s, the top-end model in the thinline series was the best-selling carved top Electric with annual shipments in excess of those combined for the Super 400CES and L-5CES. After it was equipped with humbucking pickups, and following the introduction of the ES-335, Gibson tentatively designed a double cutaway Byrdland for the July 1958 NAMM Show. The prototypes made never evolved into production models but CMI and Gibson were still keen to 'modernize' the Byrdland.
This was achieved in the second half of 1960 via a restyled body shape featuring a Florentine cutaway, characterised by a flatter inside curve than on smaller-sized models such as the ES-175. [...]
The accompanying caption read 'Now made with a deeper Florentine cutaway body for easier, more comfortable playing in the upper register'. [...]
A small box at the bottom of the Byrdland feature simultaneously announced that the deep Florentine cutaway was also available on other 17-inch electrics, namely the ES-350TD, the Super-400CES, the L-5CES and the ES-5 Switchmaster. [...]
The advent of a Florentine cutaway signalled minor cosmetic and structural changes such as a shorter pickguard or a longer neck block."


What is confusing to me is that Kenny complained about the weight of the "much bigger block" of a Florentine L-5CES, just to prefer the larger (i.e., heavier!) Florentine Super-400CES. So I doubt that Kenny knew what was exactly going on at the Gibson guitar R & D - similar to what happened to Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow a bit later.


The OP might not be interested, but he may allow one short excursion in terms of cutaways and the trials to a better access to the upper register on hollow-body archtops.
The Germans tried to achieve this through a deep Venetian cutaway (Roger Super Special 1946/47).
Here a comparable early Hopf 319S by Gustav Glassl:



Because Glassl at this time was still using the (classical style) conical neck foot, he distorted the sides in three dimensions at the cutaway-neck-block area:



That does not only look funny or weird, but leads to the phenomenon that - when watching the guitar from the side - the cutaway-neck transition gives the impression that the upper body and neck block area may look a bit in the sky, or that there must something be wrong with the neck block. So if someone is afraid of a possible body distortion or neck block issue on such a Glassl, chill out - it's simply the way it was designed to be! Later on in his career, Glassl turned to the more appropriate parallel neck heel design.



I never studied the neck blocks on a Florentine L-5CES or Super-400CES, but the more on some early '60s Barney Kessels:





Well, that construction doesn't exactly look like a thoughtful joint nor a master woodworking job, and it's only logical that Gibson changed that soon on the later BKs (hopefully to the better!) that sported a different neck-body junction.



Another essential point is almost wantonly neglected when it comes to significantly better access to the upper fretboard - without the use of a huge Venetian or Florentine cutaway. It's about the length or reaching of your left hand thumb.
Artur Lang got this right in his first production year; I'm still waiting for other makers to arrive there.
Here a comparison of the neck foot radius on my '96 L-5WM vs. an almost 60 years old Lang. You'll feel the difference immediately:

[D'Aquisto Fan]

Early 60s custom Gibson L-5 w Christian pu through Rudy Van Gelder's Fender tweed deluxe

Thanks, Wintermoon. So is the L5 from Midnight Blue the one pictured in post #16? I wonder if Van Gelder's tweed deluxe was a narrow panel vs. a wide panel? I assume narrow panel.

Oh, and what are some Kenny Burrell recordings where he is playing his D'Angelico? Do we have info on the D'A? Was it made for him? What year, etc.?

Thanks!

[wintermoon]

It's the one in post #1 on the Weaver of Dreams lp.
The NYer was made for Al Chernet in '56, Kenny got it in the 60s
It was originally blonde but Kenny had it refinished sunburst.
It's on a lot of recordings, one I can think of is his tribute to Charlie Christian. The deluxe was a narrow panel.

[D'Aquisto Fan]

It's the one in post #1 on the Weaver of Dreams lp.
The NYer was made for Al Chernet in '56, Kenny got it in the 60s
It was originally blonde but Kenny had it refinished sunburst.
It's on a lot of recordings, one I can think of is his tribute to Charlie Christian. The deluxe was a narrow panel.

Thanks for the reply, Wintermoon! Is there more info on the Midnight Blue L5? What year is it? Was it an L5C fitted with a CC pickup? An L5 CES with a CC instead of P90s, Alnicos or PAFs? Does Kenny still have it today? Thanks!

[wintermoon]

'61 L-5C custom w CC.
I doubt he still has it.

[Jimmy Mack]

As much as I love KB, I was raised (in my jazz personna) on his early records, Minight Blue, Blue Bash, and a CTI release I can't think of right now, his more recent records don't have that classic KB tone. Ah well, that's life.
With so much available to everyone, thank goodness we can still have and enjoy the previous offerings of ....everyone!

[Max405]

Kenny Burrell is great.
The weaver of dreams track to me is the epitome of the Smokey jazz club tune. It combines all the tricks, complication and content I look for in a truly great performance. Combined with the absolutely perfect sound of a Jazz guitar played by a master. If that song doesn’t get you some booty, nothing ever will.
Joe D

[Stringswinger]

Here is a video of Kenny playing his DA (with Dearmond PUP). Barney is playing his Gibson ES-350 (With CC PUP) Grant is playing his Epi Emperor (with McCarty PUP). IMO all three sound great: