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I know a lot of traditional jazzers like to cut the high end, but I was watching a Ted Greene video in which he praised the Tele for its clarity across the spectrum. Lately, I've been really into Filtertrons for they dynamic range, but don't hear a lot of others using them. Anyone?
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07-07-2021 02:11 AM
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Ted Greene was a genial musician and his style continues to influence and inspire countless players worldwide but the tones he coaxed out of his various Tele's was never what we usually call "dynamic" - it was very even. He played with his fingers, delicately plucking away and to me it always sounds like he didn't even use his nails. He had great control over the sound by moving his right hand towards or away from the bridge, constantly riding the volume and tone pots and stringing his guitars with medium heavy strings, tuned a half or even a whole step lower. When I first met him in the late 70's he had a Tele with a couple of humbuckers and maybe 20 mini-switches and AFAIK that is the guitar he used for his one studio-recording that came out a few years later.
My own (Warmoth Parts-Caster) Tele has a set of DiMarzio "Area" Tele pups built in and I've (also) used it for countless Jazz gigs , it's the most versatile guitar I own. In my second Warmoth guitar I have put in 2 TV Jones "Classic" Filtertron-style pups and while it most certainly would be a very useable axe for a Jazz gig I def. prefer the traditional Tele or one of my other humbucker-equipped guitars. The Filtertrons excel for sounds that have to cut through a more dense rhythm section, in a larger band and do so without sounding too harsh or ice-picky. They lack some of the warmth/girth of a Gibson-type humbucker but have more clarity and a quicker attack, making them very suitable for clean rhythm playing with a pick. When played with overdrive/distortion they have more oomph than a single coil, stay quiet and and retain more clarity and string separation than a normal humbucker.
So there you have it, these are my observations re this topic, learned over a span of ca. 44 years .... and I'm still learning !
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Anything can work for anything, however Filtertrons would be my LAST choice for jazz tones. Well, Filtertrons and strat pickups. They are so mid-scooped, I find them difficult to "shape" for a more mid-forward sound (which, in my head, a jazz tone has sufficient mids, and sometimes alot of mids).
I do have Filtetrons on my Gretsch Hollowbody, but I also have the Tone Switch- which rolls off high end. So it can be done, with the right amp/preamp/EQ. But they would never be my 1st choice. I prefer tele single coil neck pickups, PAFs, P90s, almost anything... to Filters, for jazz tones.
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I've been using Filtertrons for the past couple of months and I think they're great for jazz. They're between a humbucker and a tele single coil. They have some body but also have some clarity, and most importantly they have the potential to twang. I use my fingers a lot, without nails, which I like for a darker and funkier sound.
Mine are Gretsch Filtertron HS, so I don't think you have to spend the high price of TV Jones to gain entry into the Filtertron universe.
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When I play jazz my whole thing is avoiding the jazz no-tone. I’m not Wes (who had a brighter tone than people think). I think filters on a hollow body make a great jazz tone. Actually I have one on a Tele and it’s great. Put it in the neck or middle position and balance it nicely. Boom.
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Why not? What is Jazztone? Muffled and dark, like the little sister of a double bass?
Limitations are the opposite of Jazz.
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You are certainly right when you're referring to the musical genre called "JAZZ" - freedom of expression, individualism and non-conformity are
Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
key words here. In this case however the discussion centers around the very personal preference for a certain sound which is inspiring for one player
and totally un-inspiring for the other. We all come from very different backgrounds and our individual approach to music / jazz /playing guitar is just as varied so
if some prefer the more trad. "dark" guitar tones over the sound of a Nels Kline, Julian Lage or Bill Frisell then that's totally OK with me. I know what I like and
so do most of us here I think.
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Why can't we all just get along????
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I’d say they’re getting along pretty well! Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Too bad in this case Chet is playing with humbuckers rather than ‘Trons, or it could also be an example of how they would work in this sort of setting.
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This is closer to the jazz spectrum.
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If you can play jazz on a Tele, you can do it with Filtertons. I have a set of them on a guitar and used to use a Country Gentleman. They are sparkley and not my most favorite sound if I only could choose one. But I don't have to!
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Peter Tiehuis playing John Scofield's "Simply Put" is a great example of what you can do with Filtertrons in a Gretsch with a Bigsby.
I particularly like the juicy edge he has in his sound/touch.
Eddie
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GB is why I wanted to play. Chet is why I continue.
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wouldn't be my first choice for that traditional jazz thing, but then again, i've never understood the obsession with dogma and sounding exactly the same as everyone else.
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Except this guy makes literally EVERY guitar sound the same. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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Not quite the same, but your point is well taken. He has a pleasant style. Originally Posted by entresz
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Want the Greg Hilden sound? Just stick one of these in front of your old mid-sized Fender combo. It's a very good little device, indeed. There's even a "Greg Hilden" version available these days (they certainly owe him that much given the number of videos he's done with it):
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Peter is using a Tennessee Rose model in this clip and the guitar still has it's original "HiLo-Tron" single-coil pickups ...
There are countless examples to be found where players using Gretsch-type guitars or Filtertron-type pickups are getting warm and clean-ish tones that are
NOT anything like the usually associated sounds a la Neil Young, Brian Setzer or the other guy in AC/DC ....
I've owned a few Gretsch guitars (hollowbodies) over the years and found them to be excellent guitars for comping because of their inherent airy tones, quick response and short sustain.
They were all absolutely useable for anything (except maybe hard rock and metal) but TO ME their tone was not inspiring when it came to say a solo chord-melody arrangement
or a bubbly hardbop tune. For that my preferences go in a different direction ....
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Thanks for the clarification and info on Peter Tiehuis guitar/pickups.
I am not at all familiar with the Gretsch pickups and just thought it was another humbucker version in their line, since it is full sized, apparently the guts are like half of a Filtertron. I still really dig his tone even with the single coil HiLo-Trons!
Regards,
Eddie
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Case in point : Lou Volpe !
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the only thing worse than removing the bigsby from a gretsch is installing a paf. The horror. Originally Posted by gitman;[URL="tel:1133194"
Sounds ok, though.
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HAHAHAHAHAHA. Why not just get the Gibson, right? Originally Posted by feet
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Mike gets quite a range out of his Gretch. Here you can hear a nice mix when you can hear some of the acoustic of the instrument. The pickups really bring that out.
I guess every pickup has a personality and if your playing personality matches it and you work at doing it well, it's a good pickup.
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I love my new Gretsch and its Filtertrons: a real variety of sounds available, some snap and crackle, and very controllable as far as tones go. I did find that if I want the PAF sound that I could dial in a "hum-bucker" choice on my Digitech pedal and get a very convincing Raney/Hall sound if I need that. Loving the Bigsby as well: can't have too much expression in music!
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I can get a P90-sh sound out of my Filtertrons with an EQ pedal. Maybe not necessary if you play a more mid-forward amp.
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