Would you work a Jazz Gig with a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster?

**bluemood** · 12-31-2009, 07:16 PM

I have a 1997 Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Strat that I put Kinman woodstock plus pickups and the K9 switching system...The K9 switch allows you to blend the neck pickup to all pickup configuration including neck and bridge also let you use the middle and bridge pickups in series...As far as using a strat for jazz with the right pickups and strings you can get a decent jazz tone but I feel you have to mod the guitar if you use fat strings ...A telly can give you a jazz tone almost right out of the box.

**wizard3739** · 12-31-2009, 08:19 PM

I had a Strat during the 50's and have a great Tele now with a Joe Barden neck pickup. IMHO, the Tele is is better than the Strat for jazz and the Warmoth neck (Solid Rosewood) is VERY easy to play, great for people like me with arthitis finger joint problems. If I were to make a change to my Tele, I would order another Warmoth Neck with a wider nut width (1 3/4" or 1 7/8") and a shorter scale ( 24 3/4" or 25") (better for fingerstyle playing) . I love my tele!

wiz

**hot ford coupe** · 12-31-2009, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by Ron Vermillion

Just don't get an Ovation. It has it's own gut. I wish I had a big full size acoustic that had the carving and stuff like an Ovation but a flat back.

Oh wow, don't get me started on Ovation. It sounds great but I can't hold on to one.

**derek** · 01-01-2010, 01:03 AM

Count me in as a guy who has played jazz on a tele. However, I am a sissy, according to Mr. B's rules.

**NeillonGuitar** · 01-01-2010, 01:58 AM

I tend to think that the tele played through a 10 or 15 watt amp without reverb in a good room gives you an acoustic (or arguably) an archtop-type sound.
I play through my 22w deluxe reverb on the left channel (I guess I should have bought a deluxe).
For best results I turn the amp up and the onboard volume down.

I also gig sometimes with a schecter tele with Pete Biltoft humbuckers. It has what I call the 'peer' factor. In the break guys will come across the room and peer at the headstock, trying to work out what the hell the guitar is. People tend to be baffled if it isn't a fender of gibson.
My tele has a better neck though, and has the jazz tone I need.
Though as soon as I find an archtop with the same nice neck (and isn't a vintage gibson - at the moment there is a Johnny Smith model that competes, but it is literally worth 6 times my car) I will buy it on my meagre muso budget.

NL

Archie · 01-01-2010, 04:39 AM

Why not?

Ray C. · 01-01-2010, 10:08 AM

In terms of tone...you can pretty find a working tone with most well made guitars. This has been demonstrated to the point of non-issue.

If you really dig into the the whole Strat/Tele jazz thing, it's not really about sound, but ergonomics. Here's a question: how many jazz Strat/Tele players actually keep the original pickups? Not many, if you dig into the subject-which should tell you that many players are using these axes more for feel, comfort, and of course budget. Which means that when they say, "yes," it's a qualified yes.

I love the Strat-there is for me, no other guitar that rests as nicely against the chest-dare I say it's borderline sexy

Well, I won't go there, but you get my drift...from an ergonomic point of view, it's the guitar that suits me nicely sitting as well as standing (much the opposite of a Les Paul).

Hmmm....perhaps a New Years project: modified Strat.

**SamBooka** · 01-01-2010, 12:15 PM

you know all this strat/tele talk isnt helping my 50s Road Worn GAS

**P.J.** · 01-02-2010, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Vermillion

How many of you folks would go work a jazz gig with a Tele or a Strat?

Ron (inquiring minds want to know)

If you are comfortable w/ the guitar you are good to go. Use the neck p/u and roll down the tone. A tele or strat might not sound exactly like an archtop but 99% of the people listening won't know or care!

=-) PJ

**whippersnapper** · 01-02-2010, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by JazzyJim

Factoring that in with the bridge design, I think Tele's make "better" jazz guitars than Strats, though I certainly wouldn't be against jazzing with either - funnily enough, my main jazz guitar is a Tele, but my favourite playing guitar I own is a Strat...

+1 I find myself playing my Strat at home because it plays really well. It's also really light compared to my Tele, so great for playing around the house but when it's gig time there's no question it's the Tele.

**P.J.** · 01-02-2010, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

+1 I find myself playing my Strat at home because it plays really well. It's also really light compared to my Tele, so great for playing around the house but when it's gig time there's no question it's the Tele.

That is definitely my Tele's downfall, too. It weighs a ton compared to my other instruments. It sounds great, though!

=-) PJ

**heavyblues** · 01-02-2010, 09:49 AM

I can't help but recommend the Seymour Duncan Lil 59 for the neck position. (It was designed to supposedly get the PAF sound). Afterall, it is a mini humbucker, so its not like you are trying to get a faux jazz tone from say a more typical "glassy" sounding single coil. It sounds so warm, buttery and "full" to my ears. And consequently, since a strat body is solid, it is more "dead" sounding as opposed to resonant I'd say, but that's what makes it unique-sounding(afterall, if you reeeally want the "archtop sound" you would just get one wouldn't you?). I would play my jazzy strat as much as my archtop, but its tough for my strat to hold onto thick strings while having comfy action so I can't get the exact thickness of tone I like. If you can get a custom warmoth neck, you can get a "fat back" neck to help support the higher string tension I suppose. Back when I bought my strat neck I didn't think I was going to turn it into a jazz machine, so now I'm stuck with a standard neck that barely hold's on to addario chrome 12's with decent action, but its playable and sounds great.

**Curtis.Nunley** · 01-02-2010, 11:22 AM

Amen!

**Meggy** · 01-02-2010, 02:48 PM

I have a "strat-like" guitar (a Starfield Altair from the early 90's) which I've just changed the pickups on. I put an old Fender Lace Sensor Blue in the neck which gives a pretty good PAF ish tone, although to my ears it still has a hint of stratyness to it also. But I would now definitely use this guitar for a jazz gig, and I agree about the comfort/sexyness thing!

[The other pickups, in case anyone cares, are an old Seymour Duncan Classic Strat Stack in the middle (with a tap switch to give true single-coil operation) and a rails type humbucker (9K) in the bridge (with a series to parallel switch). Plus an extra switch to put the bridge pickup on regardless of the pickup switch setting - so allows all 7 pickup combinations.]

**Big Ron** · 01-02-2010, 03:55 PM

I think part of the inbred tone of a Tele comes from that big chunk of wood that everything is wood screwed and bolted down into.

Ron

**P.J.** · 01-03-2010, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Vermillion

I think part of the inbred tone of a Tele comes from that big chunk of wood that everything is wood screwed and bolted down into.

Ron

It has that built-in sustain that you can exploit for chordal playing. Ed Bickert and Ted Greene have done this to fantastic effect.

=-) PJ

**mr. beaumont** · 01-03-2010, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by P.J.

It has that built-in sustain that you can exploit for chordal playing. Ed Bickert and Ted Greene have done this to fantastic effect.

=-) PJ

which is ironic, isn't it? because as far as solid boy electrics go, teles rank pretty low on the sustain-o-meter.

maybe it's because they have a little bit of that "sustain" property but can still give you the quick, woody, attack and decay (not unlike an archtop) that makes teles work for jazz.

**gingerjazz** · 01-03-2010, 02:31 PM

mr beaumont ihave a telecaster california series .what did you do to your tele to set it up for jazz

**mr. beaumont** · 01-03-2010, 02:36 PM

flatwound strings and a solid state amp outta do it. i like my polytone...i keep the EQ flat onthe amp and roll off about 1/3 to 1/2 the tone on the guitar.

**gingerjazz** · 01-03-2010, 02:43 PM

neillon have you ever gigged with a blues junior i have one and wondered if it will keep up with a drummer in a lounge type setting

**gingerjazz** · 01-03-2010, 02:44 PM

neillon have you ever gigged with a blues junior i have one and wondered if it will keep up with a drummer in a lounge type setting

**gingerjazz** · 01-03-2010, 02:47 PM

mr b why do you say solid state amp im thinking of getting a bigger amp and solid state might fit my almost non existent budget better can you recomend a good solid state cheap amp i believe the roland cube is now no longer made

**mr. beaumont** · 01-03-2010, 03:00 PM

solid state tone is what i like for a tele, specifically from some jazz-voiced amps, like a polytone. the cube would work fine, the only discontinued model is the 60, they still make the 30 and the 80, depending on your power needs. quite affordable, as is a used polytone. but the solid state biz is really personal preference, athough i do think the darker, dryer tone that's the specific territory of these amps helps tame the tele's inherent "twanginess."