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Check out Eric Skye on his small, signature Santa Cruz.
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12-01-2022 11:05 PM
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From Julian Lage's etudes, techniques he develops for use in improvisational performances. He's using a OOO OM type body on a flat top.
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Originally Posted by John A.
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There are many contemporary jazz players that play OM’s. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Tim Lerch, John Miller, Julian Lage, Rolly Brown, Sandy Shalk, and one of the guitar players from Tuba Skinny has recently swapped out his archtop for an OM. Vinny Raniolo plays a jumbo OM style guitar.
Not an OM. But, Jordan Hollinrake will often play jazz on an Atkin 000:
Last edited by Melodius Thunk; 12-02-2022 at 03:06 AM.
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
I thought they might have, but could only find picture of them playing archtops.
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Originally Posted by John A.
I am not sure who is on the guitar here:
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Or try an M-36, the model originating from converting a busted F-7 archtop to a flat-top?
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I do appreciate all of the responses. But, I am not looking to buy another guitar. I am completely satisfied with the instruments that I currently own. And, I am also not asking if Jazz can be played on an OM style guitar. I know of plenty of people who do just that. And, sound great doing it. I am specifically interested in the early history of the OM. And, any early photos and/or recordings of it being used in the context it was originally intended to be used in.
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OMs are best known for fingerstyle and solo or small ensembles. Eric Shoenberg did as much as anyone to rekindle interest in them. Here’s John Miller.
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
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Originally Posted by Melodius Thunk
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
I am the one who wrote it. So, I can try to explain. I started this thread because I was interested in the early history of the OM guitar as used in a jazz context. People have responded with opinions on how they believe an OM would work for jazz playing. And, others have suggested different guitars. It seems to me that some people may have thought that I was asking if one could play jazz on an OM guitar. Or, that I was looking for a suitable guitar for jazz playing. This is not the case. I was/am strictly looking for photos and/or recordings of early jazz played on OM’s.
As an example, here is a 1936 photo of Al Bowlly of the Roy Fox Orchestra playing a Martin OM-18:
And here is a site with some historical info on the OM:
The Martin Orchestra Model
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
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Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
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Perry Bectel…
Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Originally Posted by westsideryan
but actually that is quite interesting, I thought Bowlly was a selmer player primarily. I would suggest that a Martin might be lacking in the midrange cut one might need for an acoustic jazz performance, but in the end it’s pretty marginal stuff.
I know one early jazz specialist, Spats Langham who plays a flat top with that type of body shape. I couldn’t really hear him with a jazz orchestra but then I couldn’t hear another players Gibson l7 in the same situation either. A guitars a guitar even after all the evolutions it went through in the 20s and 30s just to get a little more projection and cut. I’ve come to the conclusion that acoustics, the way the drummer plays and the dynamic of the band are all much more important that whether your guitar is 16” or 17” or whatever.
if you are amplifying, there’s solid reasons to favour a flattop - much more choice in pickups and so on if you want an acoustic sound as opposed to an electric archtop tone
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If I remember my history (specifically, riding the S46 bus back to ferry from Mandolin Brothers and reading one of those catalogs, courtesy of Stan Jay), the OM was designed to compete with the L5. Perry Bechtel found the L5 too harsh sounding and wanted something that would work in an orchestra without that harshness.
I have seen that Al Bowlly photo before, and I remember that catalog from Stan had photos of Perry Bechtel playing an OM, so I know it was used as originally intended at least some of the time. The thing is, despite this history, most people seem to think of OMs (and the 000s) as fingerstyle guitars.
I suspect that some Western Swing bands probably used them (maybe The Lightcrust Doughboys for example, though Smoky Montgomery’s tenor banjo was the key element in that band’s sound). You might search for pictures and recordings of those groups instead of East Coast big bands.
1952 Gibson ES-175
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