-
Some albums he’s not as dark as others. Exit has a pretty bright tone compared to Interchange, for example.
Originally Posted by Bach5G
-
07-01-2021 08:36 PM
-
When he used a Les Paul, Jim Hall got a great tone:
-
I've always been curious about these, but haven't had a chance to try one.
-
It seems like most guitarists of his generation- and also Jim Hall- got brighter tones as they get older. But Martino's tone got darker and darker as he got older. Originally Posted by L50EF15
-
So when I think of Jazz, I think of Swing and Blues firstly. Al DiMeola playing style doesn't seem to fit either of those categories, at least to my ears. Definitely Latin and Flamenco influenced and perhaps Django inspired.
The other players John McGlaughlin, Mike Stern, Bill Connors, etc sans perhaps Alan Holdsworth all seem to be influenced by Blues and Swing and or Bebop players.
-
My tone is getting fatter and fatter as I get olderIt seems like most guitarists of his generation- and also Jim Hall- got brighter tones as they get older. But Martino's tone got darker and darker as he got older.
My brightest humbucker guitar is a Les Paul and it's a lovely "Jazz guitar". It doesn't weigh much more than my 335, so it stays put in my lap with good balance (not at all like those boat anchors that was hard to play seated because they were sliding off your knee). The 335 on the other hand has such a large body behind the bridge, so one has to adapt posture in order to pick near the 24th harmonic while playing seated. Fortunately jazz players are also allowed to stand up.
One of my playing partners uses a Tele sometimes, his tone is immensely dark because he likes it and I don't mind because he plays well. Playing comes first. If you play your best on a Tele, then use a Tele.
A young player asked me to test his far east 335 knock-off. It played OK but was wired in a way there was no mid-position and the pickups were poorly adjusted. Therefore it didn't sound close to its potential.
There are too many myths circulating in the guitar world. A good guitar is dependable and an inspiration for making music. And a good guitar is never more expensive than I can afford to actually make use of it, that includes adjusting it to my preferences.
-
If Les Paul’s aren’t good jazz guitars, how come Slaman’s making them with a single neck Charlie Christian pickup?
LP’s make good jazz guitars. I think it’s a fashion thing, plus if you bring one to a gig everyone things you are a dirty rock n roller…
-
The more I think about it the more obsolete it gets.
It‘s all personal taste and it’s mainly in your fingers.
You can play jazz on a cigarboxguitar.
The Tele isn‘t a countryguitar, it‘s just an electric guitar. The Les Paul isn‘t a rockguitar, it‘s just an electric guitar.
-
In which case, why do jazz players use ES-175 and not B.C. Rich Mockingbird?
-
Tradition and looking the part. I bet you could get a reasonable jazz sound out of a Mockingbird, but players and audiences alike and I suppose the BC Rich fall outside that. Pity really, they don't look half bad. Originally Posted by Litterick
-
Another reason is that in the early 50's there was the then-new ES-175, but there were no BC Rich models available; often the instrument in fashion when a style is developed is the "correct" model to use in the future. How many Bluegrass mandolin players use anything other than a Gibson F hole style mandolin like Bill Monroe used? Originally Posted by Litterick
-
Originally Posted by DavidKOS
-
My first 7 string was an ESP I got for $200 when a friend’s music store closed about 30 years ago. With a pair of Duncan ‘buckers and a level of workmanship that put Gibson to shame, it looked / sounded / played unbelievably well. I have no idea what MSRP was and bought it because my friend knew I wanted to go 7 and basically gave it to me the week before he shut down. Originally Posted by Litterick
I started using it on gigs once I was comfortable with the extra string (which, despite my naïveté and unfounded self-confidence, can not simply be ignored until you learn to use it). The looks and comments I got in the time between taking it out of the case and starting to play were harsh and unflattering, and I’m being very polite. But with eyes closed, it sounded like any other “jazz guitar”.
I still take it out from time to time, and it hasn’t drawn a snarky look or remark in a long time.
-
Nice mandolin - I'd love to use it for jazz. I like that it is still double-strung. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
However, I haven't seen many hard-core traditional Bluegrassers using such a mandolin - now, in a post "Newgrass" band, sure thing.
-
I used to teach guitar at Foster's when they were in Metairie. Jimmy Foster made Tele-style 7 strings at the time, and played the heck out of them. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
No matter how many times I made the effort to play a 7 string, including a brief attempt at Brazilian 7 string, I just never got used to it...nor 5 string bass. I like 6 strings guitars and 4 string basses!
-
We all know the reason. It's marketing, the "world's oldest profession." Originally Posted by Litterick
(You may all think of something else as the world's oldest profession but you would be wrong, what you're thinking of is actually the world's second-oldest profession.)
-
It’s funny how some things feel so right from day 1 and others remain distant forever. I took to the 7 within a few days and it became 2nd nature. One bit of advice that helped me was from Jimmy Bruno. At the time, he was playing a gorgeous Benedetto 7 when I ran into him at a local club and talked to him over a break. I gently asked why he didn't use the 7 more fully, and after some hemming and hawing he told me that I'd never learn to play a 7 as anything other than a 6 with an extra string unless I got rid of all my 6 string guitars. I assumed that it was a personal observation, and in retrospect it's probably why he went back to a 6. Originally Posted by DavidKOS
I play my lap steel and my National in multiple open tunings without difficulty. But on the other hand, I spent 2 years trying to learn to play a simple student model pedal steel and still sounded like a beginner. And although I can play many instruments pretty well (trumpet, sax, vibes, keys, guitar, bass), I've never been able to play well on anything tuned in 5ths - no violin, viola, tenor banjo, mandolin etc. I have no idea why, but it just doesn't seem right to my brain.
Speaking of jazz on a Tele or LP, my default guitar now is a Raines Tele7 after about 20 years on a 7 string Epi LP. I met Matt over 20 years ago when he was in Providence, RI and my son was the drummer in the Brown University jazz band. Matt worked with the kids and gigged around town - and he was selling nice archtops under his name (which, I assume, were commissioned - I don’t think he’s a luthier). But more importantly, he and I were both playing 7s when few except the heavy metal gods and a handful of very old jazz guys wanted one. So we bonded.
The student who played guitar in the BU jazz band decided to spend a year abroad on very short notice, and they had no one to replace him. So the band director (who knew me through my son) asked me if I’d be willing to join the band for that year. They were playing the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis book, and he knew that I knew all of their albums cold. So I schlepped my AF207 and an 8” SWR bass amp back and forth from Philly to Providence to be a kid again. I met Matt through that gig. He's a wonderful player who's used all kinds of solid body and non-traditional guitars for jazz over the years. I'd been using a 7 string Epi Les Paul on many gigs for about 20 years (1 15/16" nut, heavy as lead, but decent build, tough as nails, and very playable). I put an EMG in the neck rout, filled the bridge pup rout, swapped out the tuners for 7 from a 12 string Gotoh set, and set it up for 10-65 Chromes. But after 20+ hard years and enough fret dressing to make new ones inevitable next time around, I decided to look for a 7 string tele and found the Raines. It works!!
-
Pianos have not changed mechanically in a very long time, nor have horns, as far as I know. Electronic keyboards, of course, are another matter, for the same reason that the electric guitar has been so protean - the absence (or near absence) of soundboards to amplify vibrations has freed the imaginations of designers, builders, and players to explore new (or at least, different) materials, approaches, and arrangements of pieces and parts to create the cornucopia of choices today's aspiring artists have from which to select their tools. If not a Golden Age, nor Silver, it's at least in part chrome-plated, pin-striped, and sporting Glass-Packs for that special Vintage Vibe. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
-
Maybe, but back when I was studying and Pat was the bee's knees (my teacher loved him), his tone was very dark. In fact my teacher's tone was very dark too. Plus Metheny coming on the scene at that time. Originally Posted by L50EF15
It made it hard for me to want to play jazz professionally at the time.
I preferred Benson's tone at that time. Or the early Jim Hall recordings, not as dark sounding as he was later.
Now I like a bit darker of a tone, go figure!
-
Sometimes I wonder if "evolved" is the best term for it. For decades, we spent a lot of time and money trying to reduce the distortion in our sound. Then we started spending even more to add it back. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
I should have kept my first amp (a 1959 Kay 503). It definitely had that Dumble chime.
-
Funny, I bought a BC Rich early in my playing career, and no, I couldn't get a good jazz, or for that matter any other kind of sound out of it. Oh wait, it was good at power chords. Originally Posted by Average Joe
I remember I brought it to a recording session on a cold day and it wouldn't stay in tune because of the temperature change. So it lost me a few gigs too probably.
Sold it shortly thereafter.
-
Les Pauls are ugly, and weight more
-
So's our bass player - but we love him just the same! Originally Posted by mrblues
-
Like most here, I've played hundreds. Baja's were pretty good for the neck but still 1 5/8" at the nut. There are a few 1 11/16" nut models but these have their skinny C necks. Overall they are harsh little beasts completely dependent on electronics. Not that I totally eschew the breed. I do have a Japanese Korina Telemaster (not really a tele at all) with a boat neck and P90's that sounds pretty good. Not like woody acoustic good, but better than average for a hunk of wood. Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
Makes Ed Bickert and the others that use them all that more amazing.
-
I finally going to post here but I never have been a Fender person. I don't like them and they feel awkward for me to hold and play. I find a Les Paul easier to manage and much more reliable although they are heavy. Ted Green was the master of them and not to do any take anything away from his great playing, I never found his sound to be the best. I like to listen to him at times but he is a player I just do not go back and keep listening to. Probably what he did required a Fender I guess. Ed Bickert is a different case and generally he is superb player of highest caliber but at times his sound got a bit muffled and not clear. Could just be the recording situation.
Clint Strong on a Les Paul look out!!!!!!!!!!!! He goes all out great playing.
Reply With Quote
Archtop 17 vs 18 inch
Today, 11:43 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos