What jazz guitar player has the best tone to you?

[christianm77]

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.

I sort of agree (I certainly agree about his playing)... But Stern's tone is so much part of his personality... Actually I heard him at the 55 bar a few years back and I was kind of struck by the beauty of the sound... this was post injury... there was a softness in his tone.

[christianm77]

I don't think. necessarily think of 'good tone/bad tone'; I think all the players I really like have a disctinctive voice that tone is part of. They've thought about it and worked on it. And they all seem to have it regardless of what gear they are plugged into.

[Lobomov]

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

Haha .. Tough crowd indeed

[pingu]

Or is it the thumb think you don't like?
(OTOH Mike Brecker's tone is like the default sax tone.)

no I like the thumb thing ....

sorry not not crazy about Breckers sound either
incredible player of course ,
I like Randy's tpt sound more

For saxomophone
I love Cannonball's sound
Lockjaw , killer sound
Scott Hamilton
Getz
Phil Woods

[rpjazzguitar]

Well-recorded Wes.

Others I like include Kenny Burrell on Guitar Forms, unnamed (because I don't know) smooth jazz players, Romero Lubambo on nylon and lots of others.

[Lobomov]

Just a quick question to the rest of you .. I've found that the single biggest factor in determining my guitar tone is what cymbals is the drummer playing. Sure in jazz it's often that dark generic Zildjian K style sound, but the drummers cymbals are alpha and omega to me in determining my tone

Is it just me?

[Cunamara]

No. The drummer covers the widest sonic footprint of anyone on stage, from the lowest to the highest frequencies. Everything else is in reference to that. My living room tone that I really like is useless on stage with a drummer- sounds muddy and flabby.

[guavajelly]

I'm an avid fan of Grant Green's tone recorded by Rudy van Gelder.

[BickertRules]

I'm an avid fan of Grant Green's tone recorded by Rudy van Gelder.

Grant had that nice breathy attack - sliding the pick across the string instead of striking it maybe - reminds me of an old-school tenor saxophonist attack.

[BickertRules]

No. The drummer covers the widest sonic footprint of anyone on stage, from the lowest to the highest frequencies. Everything else is in reference to that. My living room tone that I really like is useless on stage with a drummer- sounds muddy and flabby.

A good argument for playing without a drummer...

[guavajelly]

Does anyone talk about how Bill Evans sounds on Steinways versus Yamahas, Baldwins, etc.?

Keyboard players are the worst. Don't know about piano players in specific, but all our keyboard players talk a lot about Hammonds, Rhodes vs. Wurlitzer, Moog etc. And I think that the high profile players will specify excactly which brand of piano must be provided.

[tribalfusion]

Allan Holdsworth
Scott Henderson
Mike Miller
Allen Hinds
Wayne Krantz
Tim Miller
John Scofield

For cleanish tones or acoustic:

Mike Stern
Pat Metheny
Jonathan Kreisberg
Peter Bernstein
Nir Felder
John Mclaughlin
Al Di Meola
Bill Frisell
Hekselman

The older more traditional cats:

Jimmy Raney
Joe Diorio
Wes Montgomery
Jim Hall
Pat Martino

Rock-fusion cats:

Jeff Beck
Michael Landau
Brett Garsed
Lyle Workman

[citizenk74]

Just a quick question to the rest of you .. I've found that the single biggest factor in determining my guitar tone is what cymbals is the drummer playing. Sure in jazz it's often that dark generic Zildjian K style sound, but the drummers cymbals are alpha and omega to me in determining my tone

Is it just me?

I quite agree, and go off on this at the slightest opportunity. You can work to fine-tune your tonal approach all you want in the comfort and stability of your practice room, only to have your game plan blown to bits by the reality of the performance space and those in it and their choice of tools for the gig. For bass, I prefer pthong-ding over splang-bang. For drums - brushes. Hahahahaha just joking. I know they quit making them about 1960. Sizzle cymbals make me reach for the switch to engage the Forbidden Pickup. I jest (abit), but context is key. It's a mix, people. And, of course, it should modulate and even change from song to song, as variety, etc. As Einstein never said, "It's all relative."

[AndyV]

Two different Telecaster tones but both are pure jazz guitar:

[RobbieAG]

Here are some of my favorites for tone:

Jim Hall - Live!
Kenny Burrell - God Bless the Child
Wes Montgomery - James and Wes
Joe Pass - Intercontinental
Pat Martino - The Visit
Larry Carlton - Room 335

[Jonah]

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.

Actually it proves once again that there is no tone per se...

If he played more conventional jazz stuff with taste and wit... I am sure the same gear setup would have sounded much better to our ears.

[rpjazzguitar]

TBH, I almost never think about the actual tone of the drums. I know the drummers will obsess over the sound of a snare or a tom, but they all sound pretty much the same to me. I think about whether they're too loud or too soft, but rarely about the tone or tuning.

Drummers are even more sensitive to the sound of their cymbals, but, again, they don't usually make much an impression on me. Of course, I have high frequency hearing loss -- usually awful, but now and then a blessing.

But, I can't stand cymbal ring. If a drummer has a ringing cymbal and keeps a beat on it, the entire room can fill to the brim with that one reverberating sound and everything else is turned to ****. I want a more stacatto sound from cymbals.

Well, sometimes a ringing bass drum will bother me. I don't want a pedal tone from the kick that interferes with the bass line.

Years ago, Bay Area drumming great Smiley Winters showed up for a session with just snare and brushes. He was recovering from an illness and didn't want to be burdened with more gear. He sounded like a NYC jazz club, by himself. Just great. I would have been perfectly happy if he never brought anything else. Of course, usually, he brought a full kit.

[Robertkoa]

We always post famous people .

Maybe not 'the best ' but really nice tone :

[Litterick]

Actually it proves once again that there is no tone per se...

If he played more conventional jazz stuff with taste and wit... I am sure the same gear setup would have sounded much better to our ears.

My ears are fine with Derek Bailey. I do not see his relevance to this discussion. Some here like to snark about the avant-garde, but it is not a matter of tone.

[jameslovestal]

My ears are fine with Derek Bailey. I do not see his relevance to this discussion. Some here like to snark about the avant-garde, but it is not a matter of tone.

I listened to that video of Bailey but didn't like the overall sound ("tone"), or the playing.

I believe it was a matter of tone, but not only because of the set-up (guitar and amp), but also how he was playing the guitar; e.g. how he plucked the strings.

Hey, I'm not saying anything about his ability; It is just a sound I'm not accustom too.

[Clint 55]

Kenny Burrell!

[Greentone]

Grant Green during his tenure at Blue Note. Wonderful tone.

Kenny Burrell across the scope of his career. I don't recall anything but exceptional tone.

[Litterick]

I listened to that video of Bailey but didn't like the overall sound ("tone"), or the playing.

I believe it was a matter of tone, but not only because of the set-up (guitar and amp), but also how he was playing the guitar; e.g. how he plucked the strings.

Hey, I'm not saying anything about his ability; It is just a sound I'm not accustom too.

Bailey was not a jazz guitarist, so what is the point? You may as well be talking about Segovia.

[Jonah]

My ears are fine with Derek Bailey. I do not see his relevance to this discussion. Some here like to snark about the avant-garde, but it is not a matter of tone.

I do not care who shareks about what...
But I am not going to pretend something is good if I do not think it is good either.


I have no problem with 'avant-garde' .. I am not prejudiced in that sense. I listened a lot of modern academic 'avant-guarde' and there are composers I really love

I but I do not like his playing there, the music, the tone..

The same concerns Mary Halvorson to me...
I deliberately tried to listen to her music and I do not like the music, the playing, the tone...


Anyway I think my comment is still true...
The main idea: jazz is still much pitch related musical language... it is not sonoric language (though the tone is important part of aesthetics).

So if the player does a good jazz language playing the audience might ignore weak or poor tone... because they hear it all together.

When something like that incoherent (and to me pretencious) playing goes on where I do not here any relations to build upon the musical integrity of impression... the attentions tries to catch other aspects and the tone as s result sounds terrible.


There is great putily donoric music like Nono's Prometeus.
There are good modern 'avant-guarde' improvizers that seem convincing to me...

[Clint 55]