Can the Ibanez GB10 thunk?

[guavajelly]

Still I have no idea: What is thunk?

[Rob MacKillop]

This:

Notice the short sustain and pop = thunk.

[Rob MacKillop]

and this:

[kris]

and maybe this:

[Rob MacKillop]

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

thunk, n.2 (int. and adv.)
Etymology: Onomatopoeic.

Thesaurus »

A sound of an impact, either dull or plangent. Also int. or as adv.

1952 B. Harwin Home is Upriver xviii. 178 He heard the dull thunk of wood against wood and felt the planking jar over his head.
1958 ‘W. Henry’ Seven Men at Mimbres Springs vi. 70 Presently the sodden ‘thunk!’ of an ax blade caving in barrel staves echoed wetly.
1968 W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze ix. 109 The door said thunk in a well-bred whisper.
1970 M. Chisholm McAllister says No x. 93 The bullet tore through the canvas of the cover and went thunk into a barrel.
1971 A. Ross Huddersfield Job 57 I heard the triple thunk of the undercarriage locks.
1979 Herald (Melbourne) 23 Apr. 2 The familiar ‘thunk, zing, ding’ of a pinball machine.

[Rob MacKillop]

My wife is a freelance lexicographer (dictionary writer) and tells me the above entry is due for an update. There’s a possibility this thread might be used in evidence of contemporary use

[L50EF15]

and maybe this:

As George says in the video, it’s got the blues strings on it; hence not so much thunk as ping. Still sounds good, especially on chords.

[Dutchbopper]

My wife is a freelance lexicographer (dictionary writer) and tells me the above entry is due for an update. There’s a possibility this thread might be used in evidence of contemporary use

The term "Thunk" was coined by Jack Zucker years ago, I think right here at the forum.

In the various dictionaries it is described as "a deep, dull, low, abrupt sound, etc. But it has several other meanings too.

noun
an abrupt, dull sound:the thunk of a shutting window.

verb (used without object)
to make such a sound:The window thunked shut.

[Rob MacKillop]

If Jack wants to be cited as the source, we need evidence.

[gitman]

My wife is a freelance lexicographer (dictionary writer) and tells me the above entry is due for an update. There’s a possibility this thread might be used in evidence of contemporary use

What a neat idea !!! We get "lexi-fied" ....



Some late-night extended musings re the idea of "thunk" as I understand it :

This particular sound has as much to with the personal approach of the guitarist and his/her instrument as it does with the context of the recordings we hear.

After the second WW as the western societies became more affluent and able to spend some real money on records, the music industry began it's rapid growth. The war effort resulted in the development of technically much more advanced equipment, be it radio transmitters, microphones, preamps, speakers, tape recorders - all of which made it possible to record and transmit audio signal in a much better quality (less hiss, extended frequency range, wider spread etc.) than ever before. Even though these advancements were astounding, it took another decade+ before the advent of the "home entertainment system" in the form of a quality record player, radio receiver and TV set. And we're still talking MONAURAL listening, "Hi-Fi" stereo is still a few years away. So when I put all that into context with the situation in a typical recording studio (not necessarily the top-of-the-line establishments in NYC, Chicago or LA) in the early/mid 50's I picture THIS :
there are maybe 3 microphones available, a basic drum set, maybe a typically small guitar amp and a piano. The mic signals are mixed to a mono tape deck or a cheap record-cutting lathe. The musicians are placed around the mics to ensure a more or less balanced sound, direct mic'ing is not possible except for the singer/soloist. The guitarist brings his electrified archtop strung with heavy strings maybe a few months old already + a cheap cable and plugs in, trying to dial in a useable sound that doesn't distort too much (amp does not have much headroom). Maybe he/she turns down the volume+tone pots a tad. The sound in the room is great, very probably just as it would sound today BUT the mics simply can't pick up the highs of the cymbals, the amp is 5 feet away in a corner, the cheap cables suck tone, the preamps and the magnetic tape compress the sound even more and all of this results in the whooly darkish sounds we love from these old recordings. Early Nat Cole comes to mind .... They don't hiss and rumble quite as much as the stuff from before the war but the equipment that was available and affordable for most studios was still not that great.
So it might just be possible that the player (in our case-in-point : Tal Farlow) didn't actually intend to produce this extremely dark and ploppy tone - it was the best they could do in that situation, the music was fine though. I got this from Joe Pass himself : when he was coming up he had a guitar, often no amp of his own and when he got called to a record date he used whatever equipment the studio provided.
For me it seems logical that the technical restrictions resulted in a darker over-all sound and when we take into account the many other aspects (and pure chance, such as : who was the engineer at this particular date ?) even more so.

We hear much less of this type of (guitar)sound in the later years, when the recordíngs became more professional. Dark sounds from the guitar are everywhere but
produced more or less intentionally ....
Does any one here know of an interview, biography, documentation etc. where these things are discussed and described in some detail ?

[kris]

Where is Jack?
I think he was here a year ago recently.

[Dutchbopper]

Where is Jack?
I think he was here a year ago recently.

He rarely posts here because of most what has been discussed in the DJG thread. Also I think the political posts here were something he disliked. He created his own group on Facebook “modern jazz guitar and bass.” I am a member there too. A number of name players are member and on the whole you will find a pretty high level of playing. Mark Kleinhaut who posts here too is a moderator there. The moderation is pretty strict.

So basically, he created his own thing.

I spoke with him only yesterday.

DB


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[gitman]

Gardiner Houlgate | The Guitar Auction - (Online Only) Two Day Sale including Guitars, Ent... | Lot 469

[gianluca]

Bummer. I had my eyes on a blonde 1990 GB 10 and the guy reserved it for me (at least I thought that) for 1200 euros. I could not pick it up this week so he sold it under my nose to some other guy that could.

DB

try here:
IBANEZ IBANEZ GEORGE BENSON GB 10 - #6063188 - su Mercatino Musicale in Chitarre Semiacustiche

[guavajelly]

and this:

Ah, I call that quality "punch" - that's the tone of rather heavy flatwounds, isn't it? That's the reason I use flatwounds in our organ trio, to get that punchy tone – or "thunk".

Thanks for the clarification.

Oh, yes, the GB10 can do this.

[Dutchbopper]

try here: IBANEZ IBANEZ GEORGE BENSON GB 10 - #6063188 - su Mercatino Musicale in Chitarre Semiacustiche

Thanks but ... this a Korean made one. My gut feeling says it's better to get an older Japanese one from the 80s or 90s. But that feeling may be wrong. Any ideas?

DB

[Crm114]

DB
I don’t think you were wrong sir
I think your gut is telling you the right thing from my years of experience with GBs Japanese made GB10s from the late 70s into the early 80s are the best guitars out there
and there are deals out there to be had
you just have to save your money and be patient and when you see the one you want you jump on it

good luck

[Micah Stott]

I'm sorry but I don't think that's actually the idea behind "thunk" and an archtop guitar, nor do I think J Zucker coined that term. The way I've always understood the idea of "thunk" is pre-amplifier guitar in big band jazz settings ala Freddie Green.

James Chirillo talked about it in a couple of videos for Jazz at Lincoln Center, notably here (around 1:38)

The term "Thunk" was coined by Jack Zucker years ago, I think right here at the forum.

In the various dictionaries it is described as "a deep, dull, low, abrupt sound, etc. But it has several other meanings too.

noun
an abrupt, dull sound:the thunk of a shutting window.

verb (used without object)
to make such a sound:The window thunked shut.

[citizenk74]

I'm sorry but I don't think that's actually the idea behind "thunk" and an archtop guitar, nor do I think J Zucker coined that term. The way I've always understood the idea of "thunk" is pre-amplifier guitar in big band jazz settings ala Freddie Green.

James Chirillo talked about it in a couple of videos for Jazz at Lincoln Center, notably here (around 1:38)

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

The way I've always understood the idea of "thunk" is pre-amplifier guitar in big band jazz settings ala Freddie Green.

Welcome! The term for acoustic rhythm comping that I and everyone I know has always used is "chunk". Interestingly, Tim Berens agrees that this is what most people call it - but he writes on the Freddie Green website that "If you really do play something that resembles 'chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk', you will likely muddy the rhythm section and thus mess up the tune. I think the words 'choo-chit-choo-chit' more accurately describe the rhythm guitar sound. 'Choo' on beats 1 and 3; 'chit' on beats 2 and 4."

I suspect he means that the 1 and 3 get the accents and are allowed to sustain an extra nanosecond, while the 2 and 4 are a bit lighter strokes that are immediately lifted off - but I gotta choo on it for a while. Who woulda thunk it?

[mr. beaumont]

I'm sorry but I don't think that's actually the idea behind "thunk" and an archtop guitar, nor do I think J Zucker coined that term. The way I've always understood the idea of "thunk" is pre-amplifier guitar in big band jazz settings ala Freddie Green.

James Chirillo talked about it in a couple of videos for Jazz at Lincoln Center, notably here (around 1:38)

Nah, that's "thuck," no "N"

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Nah, that's "thuck," no "N"

Now you tell me! All this time, I thought we were supposed to NOT thuck.

[jazzkritter]

Eh, haven’t been able to thuck in a while, darn drugs.