The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Overview - The idea is to do the detection and reduction tests and adjustments to determine the upper limit for the tone control, above which you begin to hear peaking. You will find that below that limit is a space of adjustment below which the tone begins to sound too dark. All the subsequent adjustments to balance string to string and pickup to pickup will be happening in the middle adjustment space of the tone controls.

    Desired results
    Peaking reduction - The Stratocaster is a bright guitar. With its tone controls full up there will likely be "peaking", which is basically the guitar revealing what the strings are - metal wires under tension. Peaking is the metallic and piercing sound of a healthy Strat which usually happens from around the 7th fret up on the thinner strings. It is this string sound we will be eliminating.
    Tonal balance - The peaking will be removed with the idea of keeping the remaining response balanced along the sounding string length
    String balance - Likewise looking to hear a balance of response between the strings
    Pickup balance - And a balance of "tonal distance" between the pickups

    Guitar adjustments
    Action - If you have tolerated any slight string buzz, now is a great time to raise the action enough to remove it completely
    Pickup height - Many benefits come of lowering the pickups - longer string length sensed, more complex tone, less anomalies from magnetic proximity, some shift of tone from stringy "pickup sound" to woody "body sound".

    Amplifier settings
    Use low volume, set for flat neutral tone, no effects, position yourself directly in front of the amp
    The rationale for setting the amp to a flat neutral setting is to focus on the peaking from the guitar, not the amp. Yet, we are also taking into account the characteristics of the speaker(s). Since tone stack circuits in guitar amps only remove frequencies and use additional gain to make up for the loss (unless you have an exotic boutique amp with something different), you should be able to adjust the tones on the amp without getting any peaking from the guitar, however your speaker may eventually peak on its own.

    Peaking
    Bridge PU - First thing is to determine your tone circuit. Some old Strats had no tone control over the bridge pickup. If that is the case for yours, go on to the middle PU. Otherwise, proceed keeping in mind a few things - each procedure is just part of the whole, so don't go crazy precise on any one of them. The general idea here is to remove the peaking of the strings, adjust to get a balance across all strings, then adjust a balance across the pickups... every adjustment to a tone control is going to be overwritten a few times. The only firm condition is to keep under the peaking threshold.
    So we start with the high E string
    Tonal balance
    Detection - Most likely place for peaking is in about the 7th fret and up region. Start with the high E string and play four chromatic pitches up and down a few times to hear any peaking, move up and down the neck and find the most peaking location.
    Reduction - Once you have found the max peaking location, alternate playing there on that string and reducing the pickup's tone control a little, keep going until the peaking is gone
    Repeat the detection and reduction for each string; it is likely you may have just a little in the B or G string.
    String balance - This is a small adjustment of the tone control to balance and even out the response across the strings. Should also play each string up and down the neck, comparing to other strings. Make small adjustments of the tone control to balance and even out as much of the finger board as you use in playing (keeping these adjustments under the peaking threshold).

    Middle PU - Same procedure as above, should be close because this uses the same tone control as the bridge PU (if wired); if any peaking, reduce it some more. If any imbalances, make fine adjustments. Do not worry too much about which of the bridge or middle PU should be the one to favor final tone adjusting; that will be determined by the neck PU... unless you only use your middle pickup in conjunction with the bridge or neck (switch positions 2 and 4). Guitarists looking for maximum "quack" in those positions will get the most by lowering the middle PU so much it is not so useful by itself. If you do that, the bridge PU is your final PU with the neck PU

    Neck PU - Same procedures as above

    Pickup balance - This is tonal balance. Looking to get three distinct nice tones from the switch positions 1, 3, and 5 with what sounds like the same "tonal distance" apart. This just means the neck and middle don't sound too similar, and likewise the middle and bridge.
    On choosing either the bridge or middle - the middle PU is straight across the strings while the bridge PU is slanted so the high frequency end of the PU is brighter. What this means is that the common tone control for both of them acts on them a little differently. This is what I meant above about the neck PU determining which of the other two pickups to use for final adjustment - make the bridge/middle adjustment that results in the most even tonal distance apart between all three pickups.

    What to expect
    This is final testing, but play both chords and soloing for at least 10-15 minutes before adjusting. It will take a few minutes to get used to the balanced sound.
    Chords - The different strings should sound near the same apparent level, chords should be smooth and well defined, no extra loud high notes. A good chord to test all over the neck is sus2 like x 3 5 5 3 3 which will allow you to hear easily if the high strings are too loud.
    Soloing - Difference in adjacent string tone causes a lot of soloists to make choices like "stay on the B string" when only a note or two might have been played on the E string, because the peaky E string tone would upset the tonal continuity of the line. Part of what all these procedures are meant to do is make changing from string to string sound much more cohesive and smooth. Any scales that use multiple strings are good for testing this string to string balance, octaves, too.

    I've had good results, let me know yours.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Just based on having played the same strat for decades, I can tell you where the tone controls work best for me without going through the process you’re outlining. For me, the neck pickup tone control works best between 3 and 7 if the volume is all the way up. Below that is too dull sounding. Above can be ok, especially if the volume is turned down a bit.

    My strat has the TBX circuit, which is two separate pots in one knob. 1-5 is equivalent to a traditional tone controls 6-10 is a brighter pot. I never go above 5, and mostly leave it there, or maybe rolled down to 3 at the most.

    I like to play my strat with more gain than I do with humbuckers, with the mids bumped up and the highs rolled of some on the amp. This gets the high strings singing a little when soloing. For comping I like to roll the volume down a bit, which also cleans up the the hint of OD I like for soling.

    Settings are important, but I think a good set-up and having the frets being good condition are at least as important. I just had my strat refretted, which improved the tone quite noticeably.

  4. #3

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    Mine of 34 years, with TBX also; my tone ranges are identical to yours. Yes, it is possible to do the whole adjustment quickly if you have a good ear for hearing the peaking, the tonal balance, and PU switching balance. Of course a lot of that comes from time on the same instrument.

  5. #4

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    Stratocaster for jazz...
    You can play jazz on any guitar, but you have to do it to feel comfortable on it and play a rather dark tone.
    Guitar pickups, wood, strings and even guitar picks are important.
    ...and amplifier.
    In fact, the Strat is not a jazz guitar.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    In fact, the Strat is not a jazz guitar.
    How about the Jazzmaster?

    Anything can be used for anything. Nugent decided that a wall of Twin Reverbs and a Byrdland were the way to go for heavy rock. I never liked it but many did. Ulf Wakenius played some super cheap solid body LP copy for years. Recently I discovered that a guitar I’d had for 10 years for rock and pop duties actually had a killer jazz tone on offer (a PRS DC3 with 3 single coils).

    Back in the day Strats were sold with big strings factory installed. Buddy Guy can make a Strat sound killer with 008s but he doesn’t play jazz. To my ears a good Strat sounds best with big strings, think Stevie Ray. A set of nickel 012s, tone rolled back to five, a nice reponsive amp, perhaps a whiff of compression and should sound fine.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by pauln
    Overview - The idea is to do the detection and reduction tests and adjustments to determine the upper limit for the tone control, above which you begin to hear peaking. You will find that below that limit is a space of adjustment below which the tone begins to sound too dark. All the subsequent adjustments to balance string to string and pickup to pickup will be happening in the middle adjustment space of the tone controls.

    Desired results
    Peaking reduction - )
    Much appreciated. I particularly like the discussion of peaking. I didn't know that word for it, but I certainly know the issue.

    I've certainly heard it on my Am Std Strat with conventional wiring. But, I also hear it on my Comins GCS-1. I have to keep the tone control in the sweet spot and I find that the Little Jazz tends not to reproduce the peaking sound with slight treble roll off. In case that's not clear, what I'm saying is that the objectionable sound disappears with appropriate EQ at the guitar and at the amp. I'm neck pu only on both guitars.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oscar67
    How about the Jazzmaster?

    Anything can be used for anything. Nugent decided that a wall of Twin Reverbs and a Byrdland were the way to go for heavy rock. I never liked it but many did. Ulf Wakenius played some super cheap solid body LP copy for years. Recently I discovered that a guitar I’d had for 10 years for rock and pop duties actually had a killer jazz tone on offer (a PRS DC3 with 3 single coils).

    Back in the day Strats were sold with big strings factory installed. Buddy Guy can make a Strat sound killer with 008s but he doesn’t play jazz. To my ears a good Strat sounds best with big strings, think Stevie Ray. A set of nickel 012s, tone rolled back to five, a nice reponsive amp, perhaps a whiff of compression and should sound fine.
    Jazz is best played on hollow-body or semi-hollow.
    I've had 50 different guitars in my life.
    I experimented with strings ... most recently the Tele with fat16 GHS model- Martino.
    I always go back to hollow-body ... I like attacking strings on a guitar with a box.
    I feel more confident that I have a strong and confident fat sound.
    I also play Strat and Teles because sometimes I like the sustain of these guitars.
    I have no experience with Jazzmaster - although the name of this guitar is encouraging.

  9. #8

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    I thought we had agreed that jazz can be played on any guitar, but it is crucial to play it though the right amp. So far as I can recall, only five amps are suitable for jazz, one of which has been out of production for years. The guitars, however, are interchangeable.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by kris
    Stratocaster for jazz...
    You can play jazz on any guitar, but you have to do it to feel comfortable on it and play a rather dark tone.
    Guitar pickups, wood, strings and even guitar picks are important.
    ...and amplifier.
    In fact, the Strat is not a jazz guitar.
    I have a semi-hollow, an archtop, and a strat. I use the semi and the archtop for jazz much more than the strat. But I really enjoy playing my strat. It’s more comfortable physically, the neck feels great, I like the whammy bar, and the tone is it’s own thing. So while it may not be a true jazz guitar, it can be one (at least some of the time). I also get a kick out of people's reactions when I pull it out of the case.

    Because it’s so enjoyable to play, I think it’s worth learning how to bring out it’s jazz capabilities. In my case, I didn’t even own an archtop or a semi until I had been playing jazz for several years. My strat was my jazz guitar, and I learned how to use it as such.

  11. #10

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    I have a strat which is pretty much stock, except I locked the bridge and put 11s in it. It works for jazz but it seems to inspire a bit more rythmic style, a bit of funk/neo-soul/soul kind of style.

    I mostly play a 175 (with flatwound 12s) for more straight ahead jazz, and a tele works well for both.

    I've wondered whether I should try to put a humbucker (perhaps the SD lil59, which shouldn't require routing) and flat wound 12s in a strat to get more of jazz strat.
    Strats are really comfortable (ergonomically) to play standing, and I have the smaller hardcase type (the one that is more guitar shaped, not the huge square shaped type which is often in tweed covered), which makes them slightly easier to bring on public transport, compared to archtops.

  12. #11

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    Maybe the Stratocaster was "made for Jazz" in the sense that Leo sought design input from a couple of guitarists playing in old Country Western and Texas Swing bands (those were "changes" music), those forms sharing a branch of the musical tree with Django's Hot Club and others, performing simple popular songs played from an advanced level of musicianship.

  13. #12

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    Considering that the Stratocaster was designed by and for Western Swing players, I would say that it is a jazz guitar, at least with the heavy strings that it was originally shipped with.

    I am a fan of the Strat and have owned many. I have used Strats for jazz gigs many times. Even with stock single coils and light strings, a great jazz tone can be had with a Strat. The right amp makes a huge difference and finding the right settings helps.

    I am currently collecting parts to build a jazz Strat Partscaster. It will be a hardtail body with a single neck humbucker. It will be strung up with light gauge flatwounds and it will weigh under 7 pounds. I expect it to be a fine "outdoor in the sun" gig guitar. If I like it enough, perhaps it will see some indoor use as well.

    My only beef with a solid body guitar for jazz is that when they are humbucker equipped, they do not get a very good rythym guitar sound.

  14. #13

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    I see the association of certain styles of electric guitar with certain kinds of music as a kind of path dependence (social science term for behavior or processes continuing on a path established by earlier conditions that no longer apply). At the time the electric guitar was born, American music was a collection of regional markets with associated instrument markets. Fender was in the west and sold mainly to the west. Gibson and Gretsch were in the midwest and the east. C&W was in the west; jazz was in the east and midwest. The instruments got connected to the genres and defined the sound of the instruments within the genres. Fast forward many years, and for a mix of social and marketing reasons, it's hard to break the connection, even though there's no longer any particular reason for it (you can buy any guitar anywhere now, and the guitars themselves are actually more malleable than people often recognize). I honestly could get by with just a strat for all the music I play. I just don't really want to.

  15. #14
    I really enjoy playing my Strat! I would say it's better to embrace the "single coil-ness" and brightness of that particular guitar. Positions 2 and 4 are really unique. I think rolling off the tone and trying to get a super dark sound is missing a bit the point and the strengths of the instrument. I love how chimey and glassy it sounds! If you do want to use humbuckers and flatwounds it's okay too. Nir felder is mainly a strat user, but he uses a darker tone.

    The strat has a great ergonomic shape, fits like a glove for me.

    I really treat the strat pickups as an instrument of its own. They are used for jazz too, but if I want a really traditional sound, I might go for a humbucker equipped guitar (or a Tele maybe)




  16. #15

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    Mike Stern played a Strat with Miles Davis. If it wasn't already (which it was) it became a jazz guitar then.

    For soloing, there's an issue with sustain. If your solo style requires sustain, you might find that a solid body is for you. You may sacrifice a certain woody sound, but I'm not even sure about that. A lot of great jazz with terrific tone has been played on solids.

    I do agree with Marc that getting a good rhythm sound out of a HB equipped solid is a challenge. I tend to like the rhythm sound of hollows better, even though I'm a solid or semi-with-block player. But, as usual, it's not straightforward. Splitting the coil can help, careful EQ and amp selection can help and, some solids (eg my Yamaha Pacifica 012 with Lil 59) usually sound pretty good on rhythm.

    For me, the tone I want for soloing is thick enough that it doesn't work so well for comping. But, the differences aren't major and the comping sound is good enough while falling short of ideal.

  17. #16

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    Strat set-up for jazz?

    E-Z.
    1. Carefully place strat in case/bag.
    2. Write/post flattering ad.
    3. Sell/ship strat to happy buyer.
    4. Apply proceeds to purchase of a hollow, carved-top guitar w/floating or set-in pickup/pickups.
    Optionally, trade in strat at guitar shop and follow step #4.

    Your welcome! Next....
    Last edited by Hammertone; 09-26-2022 at 11:39 PM.

  18. #17

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    I don't mind strats for jazz. The only thing I can't stand are jazz guitarists with hats or no hats.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by lammie200
    I don't mind strats for jazz. The only thing I can't stand are jazz guitarists with hats or no hats.
    I see what you did there.

  20. #19

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    My Jazz Strat (does funk, blues and pop as well):

    Squier body, Agathis I think
    Squier CV neck with big headstock and laurel fingerboard
    Fender pickups (54 or 57 classic?)
    0.011 flatwounds
    0.1uf ceramic disc cap
    5 springs on the tremolo, dampened with a piece of foam on top of them under the spring cavity cover
    Neck almost dead straight without buzz




  21. #20

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    I wasn't thinking about a jazz application - but way back in the day circa 1980 I used heavy strings (.12 .15 .18 etc.) and was very pleased with the rhythm sound from my Strat. Which is what I was using it for 95% of the time. So yeah, I know it's possible to get a great rhythm sound from them with the right strings and proper pick-up height adjustment.

    I doubt I'd ever try it, but I think you can get a serviceable 'jazz' sound out of them.

  22. #21

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    I've been experimenting a lot with my hybrid Strat lately.
    My Strat has a mahogany body in one piece but there are resonance chambers inside.
    Potentiometers are of great importance and the way of soldering ... etc .
    I can safely say that I am trying to achieve a so-called 'jazz stratocaster'.
    Bridge-hardtail with titanium saddles.D'Addario exl110+ strings.
    Lately I've been using a wooden pick and playing with my fingers as well - you can get a really nice clean jazz sound.
    At blues-funky-rock jam sessions, I also use distortions efects and tube amps.
    The Stratocaster works great with all the effects - it's made for that ... :-)
    Last edited by kris; 09-27-2022 at 07:37 AM.

  23. #22

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    I have a 35+ year old Japanese Squier Strat which could probably do with a fret job The trem is locked, blocked, nailed down and thoroughly impeded, though the 5 springs are still in place.

    I put a twin-blade pickup in the neck postion some time ago and changed the pot. as per manufacturer's recommendations (probably a 500k, I don't remember), which can give some pretty warm tones if desired.

    Strings are pretty important and a wound G helps, the only problem being that a .022 is too skinny (and low output) for my tastes, and and a .024 can be a little uncomfortble unless you can/want to get the action down low. So, I just put on a D'Addario 11-50 "balanced tension set" set last night and back to a plain (.019) G, with its inherent brightness - this is an ongoing conundrum for me personally. I did this while watching the DART impactor approach and smash into the Dimorphos asteroid, possibly the biggest thing for NASA since Apollo 11.

  24. #23

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    Strats can absolutely work for jazz, but you have to lose some of the straty-ness for it to really work. My main guitars are a 63 Gibson L-7C and this Eric Johnson thinline Strat. How much the thinline body affects the tone I don't know, but it makes it feel extremely resonant to play which I think helps the player control the attack to better get a jazz sound. I string it with 12s and, most importantly, put a Biltof rail pickup in the neck. I tried a lil 59 and a couple p90 style single coils before settling on this. People put charlie christian pickups in teles all the time, and there's no reason why the same can't be done on a strat. You lose some of the strat neck pickup sound but it actually still works quite well in the 2 position. It's a different sound and feel than the L-7 but it's certainly not worse, I'm happy playing either. How to setup and adjust a Stratocaster for Jazz-16642855792327833434232477984983-jpg

  25. #24

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    It’s certainly valid to prefer them, but I don’t agree that heavier strings and/or flat wounds, or non-stock pickups are necessary. My 89 American Standard has the stock pickups and I use roundwound 10-46 strings. I think it works fine.

    The only negative with the pickups for me is single coil buzz, and I do consider switching to noiseless, but I’m down enough rabbit holes for now. As far as strings go, in general I think thinner strings and roundwounds sound fine. For me, thick/thin round/flat is more about feel. Each facilitates certain articulations, so I like to have both.

  26. #25

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    My actual introduction to jazz guitar was on Chicago cable access TV. via the Jack Hubble Jazz Show. It was on every afternoon during my high school years.

    This isn't the best tape as it's suffering from some wow and flutter and an out of tune piano, but there it is...the first jazz guitar I ever saw--Brad Hubble's green strat.