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Hi folks again,
You were all so helpful with my LP issue which I think I have tamed for the time being.
I continue to search for that 'sound'. I've pasted a link below comparing a tele with a strat. My son has a couple of nice Fender strats - very beautiful. My question is not about the strat but about the tele.
I looking for something that has that signature sound out of the 'box'. I've listened to hundreds of guitar reviews, and frankly I don't if I can trust them.
So here's my questions:
1. Is he using any effects to product that sound?
2. I'm a beginning guitarist and I recognize the importance of knowledge and technique, but could I get that sound just noodling around?
3. Does that sound come down to the amp?
I love the idea of tele because it's formula is simple and seems to be made with common parts.
For about a week I've been staring at full hollow and semi-hollow arch tops. Part of the draw is the beauty of the instrument. Mainly some budget minded ones: D'Angelico, Ibanez, etc. $300 to $450 range I like single cuts, and I worry about handling feedback so I'm leaning more to semi-hollow. But every time I get fixed on something I have to have, I'll read someone raving about tele's. And I see a video like this and I lose my mind, wishing I could make music like that too.
Last edited by teagueAMX; 03-11-2024 at 11:16 PM.
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03-11-2024 10:54 PM
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Without knowing the amp, I can't say. There is some reverb there, and it could come from an amp or a pedal. There may be other effects, but again I can't say, because some amps provide multiple effects built-in. The guy in the video doesn't say, or whether the same effects are being used for both guitars. It's just another useless YouTube video.
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Not a great video, but simply put you can get a decent jazz sound out of most guitars. Find one that's ergonomically comfortable. Teles work great, Strats work great, semi-hollows work great, Les Pauls work great, archtops work great...
That Tele sound seems pretty straightforward. Tone rolled down a little. My Teles sound a lot like that. Here's a Strat sample from a forum member, Dutchbopper. Definitive as far as I am concerned.
And the grand master of jazz Tele tone: Ed Bickert. A Tele, a cord, an amp. And brilliance.
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Yeah, it's to know. So many YT's will do anything for clicks.
Originally Posted by sgosnell
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Beautiful examples. Thanks.
Interesting observation: man playing a thoroughly rustified old tele wearing a jacket and tie.
Originally Posted by Cunamara
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It's possible to spend **way** too much effort chasing a "jazz" tone, whatever that is. Work with the guitar you have and the amp you have to get an acceptable (not necessarily perfect) tone and learn more about actually playing the instrument.
From your previous thread I think you have a non-Gibson Les Paul with humbucking pickups. I don't recall your saying what amp you're using.
Without seeing your guitar or hearing your playing, I'd guess any of the following might help. Bear in mind that these are generic suggestions, your situation might require something different.
- lower the pickups, especially the neck pickup. This will decrease the output of the guitar and might help.
- take your guitar and amp to a jazz player whose sound you like - maybe your teacher, maybe a club player, but someone whose sound you like - and pay them a lesson fee to play your guitar and amp to dial them in to suit themselves. Take notes.
- turn the guitar volume control down - often, the volume control has an effect on the tone.
If you have a decent guitar and amp, you should be able to get an acceptable tone out of your kit, though the adjustments necessary to achieve that tone might be beyond your skill level at the moment.
It's all good fun to go down the rabbit hole of swapping out guitars all the time in search of a particular sound, but having multiple guitars can be more of a distraction than a help. Work with what you've got, if you can, until your playing improves some and you will be in a better position to chase down particular tones.
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To address your questions:
1. Is he using any effects to product that sound?
The recording sounds peculiar to me. I don't know whether he's using some effect(s) or if there was some other problem with the recording. Try listening to some Tim Lerch youtube videos about Telecasters.
2. I'm a beginning guitarist and I recognize the importance of knowledge and technique, but could I get that sound just noodling around?
Probably not. Keep in mind that it took pros some time to develop the tone they were looking for. There aren't shortcuts or quick fixes, as is true with most areas of endeavor. An experienced player/teacher might be able to help you get something closer to the sound you're looking for.
3. Does that sound come down to the amp?
Partly, but only partly. It's mostly, but not entirely, the player, not the gear. If you have a very inexpensive practice amp chances are the sound you'd get will be nasally and unpleasant. But if you have something akin to a Fender Deluxe Reverb you'd be all set. What amp do you have?
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...and a humbucker Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Tim Lerch did a good video about using a Tele:
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This is a good video that shows what it's always all about (Telecaster or not); Originally Posted by grahambop
- Guitar setup
- Guitar pickups, volume and tone control
- Amp setup, speaker and amp settings
- "Fingers" and "ears" (playing skills and musical talent).
...all come together in perfect harmony....Piece of cake - not.
Four pieces of a puzzle, four keys to unlock the rig and release the spirit of music...
It's a lifetime quest. Fortunately there are many nice tones to explore on this never ending journey.
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Originally Posted by dconeill
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Dutchbopper's Strat is the fattest sounding Strat tone I've ever heard.
Re: jazztone--you can definitely get there with a tele with no effects. Just a bit of reverb here. Amp is set so that hardest hit notes have a little bit of "edge" to them
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Any guitar in neck pickup position with a clean amp produces electric jazz tone as long as the player has reasonably convincing phrasal and chordal ideas that can pass for jazz. I haven't experienced or witnessed a situation where this wasn't true.
If the pickup is exceptionally thin, scooped or bright, it may require some eq tweaking perhaps.
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If you want it to sound like jazz, you have to play it like jazz, which isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. There are players who I don't care for regardless of tone, and there are players I like a lot regardless of tone. Jazz is more of a feel than a sound.
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Or not! Originally Posted by JCat
...and a humbucker
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Ed always sounded like Ed. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
It's rumored that "Pure Desmond" is still the single coil, and that he switched after. I heard it was less a tone difference Ed was looking for and more for silence in clubs with shoddy wiring.
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I don't know about the use of effects in the video you posted....but here, zero effects....just guitar, cable and a tube amp miked by a Zoom H5...
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To answer the OP, yes that sounds to me like a stock tele. However, if you struggled to get a jazz sound from your LP you’re also going to struggle with this. Back to point that this sound doesn’t directly come from the gear. The musician needs to know how to adjust the gear (guitar, amp, pick) to produce the sound and most importantly how to use their hands to produce a good tone.
If you buy a tele thinking it sounds like this without conscious effort and practice you will be disappointed.
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Not so fast. That's not a stock Tele. It has a humbucker in the neck position. Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Thank you for the information.
I have Line 6 Spider V 30 MKII amp. As a practice amp, it's adequate for purpose, but overall it's disappointing.
My son just bought 100w Fender tube Concert Amp. It has reverb. I think it's mid-1980' to early 1990's - paid about $650 and I think at the when he was researching that sounded like a fair price. I'll be checking that out but it's almost too powerful. We have couple smaller Fender amps.
I appreciate the honest information.
Originally Posted by dconeill
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thank you. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Close enough. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
But for a "standard" tele, Campilongo's is my favorite... yes, it's bright by "jazz tone" standards (whatever they are), he actually uses the MIDDLE position way more than the neck position, but it's a gorgeous tone, and besides jazz is the MUSIC you're playing, not the tone creating it. You can play jazz on a flat top acoustic if you want to.
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100% agree with you. I have a standard Tele that I love to play jazz on and I think it delivers a really good tone. I also have an old Hagstrom with the vinyl cover over the back that sounds nice as well! Good playing will sound good from almost any guitar, though I think some lines characteristic of jazz are hurt by some kinds of distortion (not all). Originally Posted by ruger9
Close enough.
But for a "standard" tele, Campilongo's is my favorite... yes, it's bright by "jazz tone" standards (whatever they are), he actually uses the MIDDLE position way more than the neck position, but it's a gorgeous tone, and besides jazz is the MUSIC you're playing, not the tone creating it. You can play jazz on a flat top acoustic if you want to.
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Tons of great advice here in this thread (plus audio examples of varying jazz sounds).
Reverb always adds something. Stock Tele's (with decent neck p/ups) are very capable instruments for jazz.
You have great questions here, but I suggest just getting down with the guitar!!! Try heavier picks, and maybe flat wound strings. (for starters)
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Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
I'm going to respond to everyone here, but, in general
1) Collectively, my sense of the comments of learning to play (obviously), and play well, such that I can manipulate the instrument to make the sounds I want.
2) This going to sound strange here on this forum, but until now I don't think I've had a passion to play. I want to play, I love music, I'm 67 so you can imagine there's countless sounds I love over the years, but until I started searching for those sounds on a particular instrument (vs a band), I really hadn't grasped what it meant for those players to make the music.
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Just to illustrate, perhaps, that you can get pretty good jazz tone from "anything," here is my 1964 Hagstrom I (yes, the solid-body wrapped in red vinyl wit the plastic "space ship" looking front panel) playing through "Tenderly." I should say this was a very spontaneous effort shortly after I got this guitar, and I hadn't really thought much about how I'd play it at that moment. I'd been working on the tune that week, though, so I had some ideas, but when i picked up the old Redhead, I wasn't sure what I'd do.
That .... is evident... but I hope the tone is illustrated well enough.
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