What jazz guitar player has the best tone to you?

**ronjazz** · 12-30-2020, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by joe2758

"hate" is a strong word, but david russell blows him away

You wish, as does David. I had dinner with the two of them, Russell was totally in awe.

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 01:11 PM

This

unvarnished tone

**grahambop** · 12-30-2020, 01:58 PM

The best jazz guitar tone I ever heard live was Kenny Burrell at Ronnie Scotts. He was playing through a truly battered-looking old Twin Reverb which I assume was just the house amp. But he sounded even better than he does on the records.

**AndyV** · 12-30-2020, 02:01 PM

This video highlights different concepts of guitar tone pretty well.

Personally, I like different tones at different times. I have no personal gold standard, just preferences:

- Django's late electric sound with the slightly compressed, slightly distorted Stimer pickup.
- Johnny Smith's beautifully in-tune electric guitar in the 50s
- Danny Gatton's Hi-Fi Tele tone when playing jazz
- Ernest Ranglin's popping arch top tone
- Tony Rice's floating, precise gossamer flatpack sound
- Nick Jones' string popping acoustic sound
- Kenny Burrell's beautiful, round arch top tone
- Gabor Szabo's unique tone from a Martin Dreadnaught with a DeArmond pickup

Most mainstream guitar player's tone = meh.

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

The best jazz guitar tone I ever heard live was Kenny Burrell at Ronnie Scotts. He was playing through a truly battered-looking old Twin Reverb which I assume was just the house amp. But he sounded even better than he does on the records.

Oh god that thing

**grahambop** · 12-30-2020, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

Oh god that thing

You would have felt differently had you known it had been blessed by the insertion of the holy plug of St. Kenny.

**Spook410** · 12-30-2020, 02:47 PM

Electrics are nice and all. However..

**grahambop** · 12-30-2020, 02:52 PM

I love Django’s electric sound on this 1953 session:

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

You would have felt differently had you known it had been blessed by the insertion of the holy plug of St. Kenny.

Haha. I daresay it’s in the fingers!

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 03:10 PM

It is a bit like the Catholic Church jazz guitar though; there was this whole thing with Nigel Price and Charlie Christians stool if you remember. I was very much ....’wha?’

**Lobomov** · 12-30-2020, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

there was this whole thing with Nigel Price and Charlie Christians stool

’wha?’

**djg** · 12-30-2020, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

there was this whole thing with Nigel Price and Charlie Christians stool

wow. so did he have it examined? did we learn anything about charlie's diet? how good is it preserved? and it is signed by wes? my mind is blown.

**grahambop** · 12-30-2020, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

It is a bit like the Catholic Church jazz guitar though; there was this whole thing with Nigel Price and Charlie Christians stool if you remember. I was very much ....’wha?’

oh yeah, that is a long-winded joke routine that Nigel Price does. Basically he goes on and on about his guitar stool, how it used to belong to Charlie Christian or somebody, and how over the years it has been signed underneath by all the famous guitarists, to the point where he can’t remember who has or hasn’t autographed it. So every now and then he has to have a look underneath to check.

The punchline is ‘So remember, it’s a good idea to inspect your stool from time to time!’

**Litterick** · 12-30-2020, 03:53 PM

Who has the worst tone?

I think we should be told.

**Marcel_A** · 12-30-2020, 04:06 PM

I really wouldn't know my favorite tone. Where to begin?

Anyway, I really like the clarity of Jesse van Ruller:

**BickertRules** · 12-30-2020, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by Litterick

Who has the worst tone?

I think we should be told.

There must be plenty of worthy contestants, but this sprang to mind. Not my first choice, though, that one might have lead some to judge me as a meany and out-of-step with the times in general and The MacArthur Foundation in particular.

**lawson-stone** · 12-30-2020, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by BickertRules

There must be plenty of worthy contestants, but this sprang to mind. Not my first choice, though, that one might have lead some to judge me as a meany and out-of-step with the times in general and The MacArthur Foundation in particular.

M

Nailed it.

**Peter C** · 12-30-2020, 07:45 PM

Jonathan Kreisberg and Lorenzo Frizzera get great tones here. I love 175s

Gilad Hekselman has a very distinctive tone, no idea what make the guitar is. His notes are articulate, clear and full-sounding and his lavish use of delay doesn't bother me at all.

**Cunamara** · 12-30-2020, 07:52 PM

How do you even make that choice? I find that any guitarist's tone is influenced by so much outside of their control including the studio, the microphones used to record, mastering, mixing, the combination of other instruments, etc. I think as long as the tone complements what's being played that's good enough. And with the guitarists who have a long career, some records have fabulous tones while on another record their tone isn't (and someone else may disagree on which is which).

That said, there are a few guitarists whose tone I tend to really like. Ed Bickert comes right away at the top of that list. Doug Raney would be another. Jim Hall in the late fifties/early 60s (with Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, etc.) and his work with Paul Desmond, but sacrilegiously I am not enamored of his tone with the D'Aquisto or Sadowski instruments, even though his playing is a marvel. Johnny Smith on his Roost recordings. Tony Rice was mentioned upthread; not exactly jazz but wow- his duet recording with John Carlini has been on my playlist recently (RIP). Garrison Fewell had a great tone. Peter Bernstein and Jonathan Kreisberg both have sounds that I really, really like. Gene Bertoncini's tone on "Someone to Light Up My Life" is fantastic. And there are more, of course, that I am not thinking of right now.

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by BickertRules

There must be plenty of worthy contestants, but this sprang to mind. Not my first choice, though, that one might have lead some to judge me as a meany and out-of-step with the times in general and The MacArthur Foundation in particular.

The only musician to my knowledge to have played with both Pat Metheny and my dad (who doesn't play a musical instrument.)

Anyway. It's quite a bright tone for an ES175 but I don't mind it; actually I get a similar tone on mine with the tone control wide open. Are you sure it's the tone you don't like? :-)

Which raises an interesting question does it not?

Is there a player you like whose tone you don't like, and is there a player whose tone you love that those music you don't like?

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

oh yeah, that is a long-winded joke routine that Nigel Price does. Basically he goes on and on about his guitar stool, how it used to belong to Charlie Christian or somebody, and how over the years it has been signed underneath by all the famous guitarists, to the point where he can’t remember who has or hasn’t autographed it. So every now and then he has to have a look underneath to check.

The punchline is ‘So remember, it’s a good idea to inspect your stool from time to time!’

Yep. That's Nige.

I've never actually been to one of his gigs all the way through (bizarrely) so I think it just filtered back to me second hand and via Facebook.

I did a session with him and we were playing Gypsy Jazz and he didn't have a gypsy style guitar. I lent him my Loar, but he couldn't get on with the weird neck.

So I said 'you fought the Loar and the Loar won?'

He didn't look very impressed. Tough crowd.

**pingu** · 12-30-2020, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

Which raises an interesting question does it not?

Is there a player you like whose tone you don't like, and is there a player whose tone you love that those music you don't like?

ok , a confession

I LOVE Wes , he's the greatest
but I don't like his tone

Sorry all

PS
While I'm at it I might as well clear the air ....

I don't like Coltraine's tone either
I must be a bit weird I guess !

**BickertRules** · 12-30-2020, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

Are you sure it's the tone you don't like? :-)

Which raises an interesting question does it not?

Oh, I am quite sure I don’t like the tone, but that’s not all I don’t like.

**christianm77** · 12-30-2020, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by pingu

ok , a confession

I LOVE Wes , he's the greatest
but I don't like his tone

His recorded sound varied quite a bit? I happen to like some albums more than others. And when it's good it's very very good, but when it's bad it's horrid.

Or is it the thumb think you don't like?

PS
While I'm at it I might as well clear the air ....

I don't like Coltraine's tone either
I must be a bit weird I guess !

Well a lot of people didn't like it either. It's not exactly mellifluous in that Dexter Gordon way. I could understand why someone didn't like it.

Other sax players I can think of with Marmite tones; Joe Henderson, Benny Golson (I think in the high register can be quite wild and harsh), Bird for that matter... Konitz in full sharp as hell mode... Sax tones are often not beautiful but more characterful. And then of course you have Desmond, Hodges, Getz and so on who have the beautiful tone thing.

(OTOH Mike Brecker's tone is like the default sax tone, I am a child of the 80s and he was on all the records they put out that decade.)

**BickertRules** · 12-30-2020, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by christianm77

Is there a player you like whose tone you don't like?

Definitely. I don’t like either one of Mike Stern’s tones - the clean queasy chorus or the Tube Screamer furry murk, but I do love the content of his lines and his ability - like Wes - to play long solos while keeping the intensity building.