500 Miles High ...Fusion Guitar...or Clean Jazz Guitar ..Which one should I go with

Kenny - You did a beautiful job on this.  Some very intricate licks in there, and seeing that it was one take - that's a really solid performance!  Excellent job!  Talking about heavy strings reminded me of a time I was in Jamaica for vacation.  The guitarist in a band there was a monster jazz player.  I got together with him and he let me play his guitar.  Huge "piano" strings and the action was set super high.  The neck was warped probably due to the climate down there.  He said "yeah, I should probably adjust the action".  I could hardly push the strings down to the neck, but he could play and improvise no problem.  What kind of gauge on your "jazz box"?

guitartrek
Kenny - You did a beautiful job on this.  Some very intricate licks in there, and seeing that it was one take - that's a really solid performance!  Excellent job!  Talking about heavy strings reminded me of a time I was in Jamaica for vacation.  The guitarist in a band there was a monster jazz player.  I got together with him and he let me play his guitar.  Huge "piano" strings and the action was set super high.  The neck was warped probably due to the climate down there.  He said "yeah, I should probably adjust the action".  I could hardly push the strings down to the neck, but he could play and improvise no problem.  What kind of gauge on your "jazz box"?

Hi Geno , thanks man for giving this a listen 
I wound up adding the Clean version of 500 Miles High to this thread .... here it is 
 
500 Miles High (clean guitar version )
 
https://soundcloud.com/guitarist-kenny-wilson/500-miles-high-assignment-3
if you get a chance let me know if it's any good 
 
one of these 2 clips is gonna have to be my homework ....unless I get a second wind ....
 
the guitar playing here also is a one take recording ...no punch ins ...probably take # 38  or something 
 
I'm goal here is to just be presenting an honest clip of where I'm at with the song as I'm improvising my way through it mistakes and all 
 
The Jazz Guitar I'm playing is a Washburn J -4 ....17  inch body ....looks like the old version of a Howard Roberts 
it has an oval hole as opposed to F holes and it has a floating neck pick up ...
this thing is a Behemoth   I'm using either a set of 12 or 13 's flatwounds and my guitar is set w medium action ...
 
like I said before this Jazz Box  took me into the Championship rounds & showed me no mercy 
 
nice talking w you 
 
Kenny
 

I favor the cleaner version. I think it's because the song form is already so harmonically rewarding to listen to.
 
The extra harmonics in the thicker distortion tone seem to distract from the underlying harmonies while the clean tone seems to synergize a sense of complete satisfaction.
 
It left me in state where I could appreciate your phrasing and the way you engage the song as if you are having a conversation.
 
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.
 
best regards,
mike 

I think you should play this song with a Gibson ES359, that would sound awesome. I liked the second one better than the clean version because the guitar sounds better with the background music and fits better. Everyone has their own particular vibe for sound, so you have to go with the one you like best and feel will get you the best grade in the class. Both are nicely done. Good luck andgood playing.
 
Peace and Blessings, John

mike_mccue
I favor the cleaner version. I think it's because the song form is already so harmonically rewarding to listen to.
 
The extra harmonics in the thicker distortion tone seem to distract from the underlying harmonies while the clean tone seems to synergize a sense of complete satisfaction.
 
It left me in state where I could appreciate your phrasing and the way you engage the song as if you are having a conversation.
 
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.
 
best regards,
mike 

Hi Mike , 
 
You bring up some valid points ,  I'm leaning more to the cleaner version myself for some of the same reasons ..
 
thank you for giving this clip a listen & giving constructive feedback 
 
Kenny
 

I liked the clean one only because it was a better tone for what you were doing.  I liked the fusion version but I thought the tone was a little thin, good but thin.
 
Both versions are excellent.  Your sense of timing I would kill for.
 
Daryl

Hi Kenny. i like the fuzz version better. Just because you played it better.
Plus the clean sound was too compressed sounding like you wanted it to be fuzzed......
Nice work. Is Spain next? 

theguitarplayer
I think you should play this song with a Gibson ES359, that would sound awesome. I liked the second one better than the clean version because the guitar sounds better with the background music and fits better. Everyone has their own particular vibe for sound, so you have to go with the one you like best and feel will get you the best grade in the class. Both are nicely done. Good luck andgood playing.
 
Peace and Blessings, John

 
Hi John , 
hhhmmmm a Gibson ES359...... now that sure sounds like a good plan to me .....
I can probably swing that one a lot sooner then the 75 thousand dollar Flying V that Frankenstein posted in his thread 
thanks for the listen 
 
Kenny

notnat
My vote is for the Fusion version... sounds much more relaxed and free-flowing... I think a much better performance...
Also, I don't care for the over compressed/attack-pop on the clean take...
That said, both takes are very impressive... you have some serious skills, and great timing...
You should get an A+ from teacher...

Hi Frank, 
there is no doubt in my mind that the fusion version of 500 Miles High  was more fun to play ...
I felt that my playing was more in the zone / pocket and I was comfortable taking the risks that I did w my note choices and phrasing
I kinda wish it gelled better w the backing track 
thank you for listening , saying a few kind words and being honest , I appreciate that 
 
Kenny

Both are cool but I'm a sucker for those Jazz tones!!

darylcrowley
I liked the clean one only because it was a better tone for what you were doing.  I liked the fusion version but I thought the tone was a little thin, good but thin.
 
Both versions are excellent.  Your sense of timing I would kill for.
 
Daryl

Hi Daryl,
please accept my apology  to you for taking so long to get back here  ....I've been swamped ... 
 
I pretty much have to agree w you and others that the clean tone was better for what I was doing ...
 
oh btw ...they score 0 , 1 , 2 ....
 
0 is it sucked  1 is good job  and 2 is excellent job 
 
my score was a   .........., 
 
after posting this clip , i wound up asking myself ......what is this clip anyway ?
 
it's a clip of a tune I hadn't played before ...it was part of my class ,
also it was a great song for me to learn since some really good musicians play it ....
 
you know Daryl ,
there is so much about this clip and my performance that I wish I could have changed ...
yet, that in itself is actually what has become the whole beauty of having done this clip in the first place ...
in the beginning,  a big part of the challenge was learning the song , i started first by learning the melody and chord changes .
then I had to decide on what harmonic approach to take in my guitar playing ....
what scales do i play ?, what substitutions do i want to play over the changes ...what do i have to practice to be able to play this song fluidly at tempo while improvising a guitar solo ?. 
 
when it came to record I was basically recording my best attempts of the type of the lines I had practiced over the chord changes .... 
I'm left with a situation where the best thing I can do is to move on from how I feel about what i did ....
did this thing on a deadline whew.....
I'm conflicted , I know i can do better , yet the only way to get past this feeling is to accept that what I played in the heat of the moment (crappy recording or not ) was decent enough to stretch my limits as a player and show me the place where I could take it if I put in the work to get there....
once i get through this class I'm hoping to redo this song as a full out production ....
thanks for being a friend
 
Kenny 
 
 
 
 

Hi Kenny, I like the clean version, although you really should make the guitar louder, it's the star of the show.
 
I'm never happy with anything I record but this just spurs me on to do better next time.  For me a recording is just a snapshot in time, this is how badly I played at that moment ; )
 
Rik

bayoubill
I prefer the clean version Kenny. Sounds great!

Hi bayoubill , thank you very much for giving my playing on this song a listen 
 
Kenny

darylcrowley
I saw the bit about the 359.   That guitar is drop dead gorgeous.  The size of a PRS with all the dripping custom coolness that is an ebony fretboard custom Gibson.   Yea, that's a real sweet semi hollow guitar.  I just had to comment because I do really like the 359.
 
Daryl

Hi Daryl, 
 
I really have to try out a Gibson 359 one of these days ...I have seen them on display at my local music store.... 
 
They sure look Sweet  
 
Kenny