Classic Jazz Guitar Tone

Author
Kamikaze
Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
  • Total Posts : 3013
  • Joined: 2015/01/15 21:38:59
  • Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
  • Status: offline
2015/01/28 23:26:37 (permalink)

Classic Jazz Guitar Tone

I have an Epiphone dot (335) and the full TH2. I have had a look on youtube, and some seem to recommend neck pick up with tone fully open, then pull the treble and bass down, and left the mid up 1 or 2 on the amp. I'm guessing part of my problem is at my finger tips, andd this will come, but what setting would be a good start. What amp in TH2, and how would you suggest setting it.
 
I can't get flatwounds here, and my strings are new. When I get out of this hotel, and into my apartment, I'm going to order some monitors from Thomann, so I think I'd get some flatwounds in the same order.

 
#1

10 Replies Related Threads

    tlw
    Max Output Level: -49.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 2567
    • Joined: 2008/10/11 22:06:32
    • Location: West Midlands, UK
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/01/31 19:23:37 (permalink)
    I suppose the first question is what or who you mean by a "classic jazz tone"? Joe Pass and Django Reinhardt both recorded with electric guitars (well, guitars with pickups connected to an amplifier) and both were virtuosos with very "classic" jazz tones but sound nothing alike.

    Sonar Platinum 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit, I7 3770K Ivybridge, 16GB Ram, Gigabyte Z77-D3H m/board,
    ATI 7750 graphics+ 1GB RAM, 2xIntel 520 series 220GB SSDs, 1 TB Samsung F3 + 1 TB WD HDDs, Seasonic fanless 460W psu, RME Fireface UFX, Focusrite Octopre.
    Assorted real synths, guitars, mandolins, diatonic accordions, percussion, fx and other stuff.
    #2
    Rain
    Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 9736
    • Joined: 2003/11/07 05:10:12
    • Location: Las Vegas
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/01 17:21:59 (permalink)
    Speaking in very broad terms - you have a good starting point w/ a semi hollow. When I think classic jazz, I think of a very smooth guitar sound, with very little treble - so you'll want to roll it off either on the guitar, either on the amp. Typically, I'd use the neck pick-up, sometimes both pick-ups.
     
    I don't own TH2, but I'm guessing that you'll typically want to opt for older, classic models of Fender amp - Gibson if that's an option.  I mean, you could probably use just about any model, a Boogie or Engl. But an old Fender will typically narrow down your palette to something that's already in the ballpark.
     
    I have a very approximative notion of jazz guitar sounds, fairly old-school - so I'm thinking generic, along the lines of Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, etc... But modern players I've seen also seem to favour that trebel-less type of sound.

    TCB - Tea, Cats, Books...
    #3
    Kamikaze
    Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 3013
    • Joined: 2015/01/15 21:38:59
    • Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/04 10:42:06 (permalink)
    Thanks for the replies guys, sorry I got kicked out of the country for a bit, and went to Kuala Lumpur untill they'd let me back in.
     
    Yeah that's more the idea I'm after Rain, a generic sound, rather than emulate a specific player. But it's more the older sounds than the modern fusion style players. One player I particularly like is Kenny Burrell, but even then It's not his sound I'm trying to recreate. In one youtube video I watched, the guy instructing described it as the 'bloopiness'.
     
    As the TH2 amps don't reverence fender/gibson, anyone here who nows the amps available, can they make some suggestions what to try, and the settings they would use. Some include thing like 'edge' which I believe is just treble.
     
    I'm more looking for suggestions of things to try. Once I get in the ball park I can start taking it in a more personal direction.  

     
    #4
    kristoffer
    Max Output Level: -82 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 406
    • Joined: 2010/08/18 15:25:37
    • Location: Bergen, Norway
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/04 16:07:43 (permalink)
    do TH2 have a bass amp or preamp?
    Also might do the trick (if bass amp, have the tone knob on full)

    SonarPlatinum/X3e Producer
    HW:
    ~Pod HD pro~Pod X3~JTV-69 US~Tascam FW1884~BEYERDYNAM​IC DT770 PRO~Røde NTK~MaschineMikro~ADAM ARTist5
    W10 - i7 920 - Intel DX58SO2 - Nvidia NVS450 Quad - 12GB OCZ Gold 1600Mhz RAM - Noctua NH-D14 - Corsair TX950w PSU
    - Corsair MX200 500GB OS/Programs - OCZ Agility 3 SSD (Audio) - WD Black 1TB
    #5
    Rain
    Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 9736
    • Joined: 2003/11/07 05:10:12
    • Location: Las Vegas
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/04 18:16:13 (permalink)
    I just checked their web page, and these would be my most obvious pick:
     
    Bassface '59 (US) - which is modelled on a Fender '59 Bassman
    Darkface '65 (US) - Fender Twin
    Top30 (UK) - Vox AC30
    Rock '64 (UK) - Marshall JTM-45
     
    I'm not sure in which order. But that's where I'd start. 
     
    Randall Tweed, which seem to be a model of a model of an old Fender, such as a Fender Champ caught my eye. A Champ would be one of the best options, imho. 

    TCB - Tea, Cats, Books...
    #6
    Kamikaze
    Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 3013
    • Joined: 2015/01/15 21:38:59
    • Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/04 20:24:16 (permalink)
    Thanks Rain, sorry I guess I should have tried the same. Being utterly clueless on amps, I thought the TH2 names were the actuals names of amps from old.

     
    #7
    Kamikaze
    Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 3013
    • Joined: 2015/01/15 21:38:59
    • Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/04 20:26:21 (permalink)
    kristoffer
    do TH2 have a bass amp or preamp?
    Also might do the trick (if bass amp, have the tone knob on full)


    I don't think so, I think the MarkBass covers that ground. Kicking myself I didn't buy that in the looney sales from 2 months ago, as somewhere between here and Germany I have a Squire JazzBass shipping its way to me.
     

     
    #8
    Guitarhacker
    Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 24398
    • Joined: 2007/12/07 12:51:18
    • Location: NC
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/06 11:10:10 (permalink)
    When I think of "classic jazz tone" I see an ES-335 plugged into a Fender twin tube amp with rolled off highs, a clan low end and a slight mid boost, and nothing cranked excessively to get into distortion, and a hint of reverb.

    My website & music: www.herbhartley.com

    MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW   
    Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface


    BMI/NSAI

    "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer 
    #9
    Kamikaze
    Max Output Level: -45 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 3013
    • Joined: 2015/01/15 21:38:59
    • Location: Da Nang, Vietnam
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/06 11:22:49 (permalink)
    Cool, I'll try the Darkface and Randall Tweed first when I get a moment

     
    #10
    tlw
    Max Output Level: -49.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 2567
    • Joined: 2008/10/11 22:06:32
    • Location: West Midlands, UK
    • Status: offline
    Re: Classic Jazz Guitar Tone 2015/02/06 12:04:17 (permalink)
    Could well be worth trying the Marshall sim as well, just keep the presence, treble and bass down and keep the gain down to keep the sound clean. An open-backed cabinet may help as well. A clean Marshall running at low volume can have a very warm, almost bell-like tone.

    Quite a lot of jazz guitarists use solid state amps, the Roland Jazz Chorus being an obvious example, also Polytones which are really bass amps and also amps aimed originally at electro-acoustics. The main thing for the Joe Pass "cocktail jazz" kind of tone is an absolutely clean amp with slightly reduced treble and bass so there's no "twang" and no bass thump either. Basically you're looking for the kind of tone an acoustic arch-top puts puts out only louder with very even response across the instrument's range.

    For a Reinhardt "electric" sound I'd suggest the Randall Tweed - there's quite a bit of break-up going on on Reinhardt's later recordings where he had a pickup fitted (though some of that might be due to overloading the recording equipment used).

    Sonar Platinum 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit, I7 3770K Ivybridge, 16GB Ram, Gigabyte Z77-D3H m/board,
    ATI 7750 graphics+ 1GB RAM, 2xIntel 520 series 220GB SSDs, 1 TB Samsung F3 + 1 TB WD HDDs, Seasonic fanless 460W psu, RME Fireface UFX, Focusrite Octopre.
    Assorted real synths, guitars, mandolins, diatonic accordions, percussion, fx and other stuff.
    #11
    Jump to:
    © 2024 APG vNext Commercial Version 5.1