A jazzy sound on a non-jazz guitar

ToneControl

octatonic

If you can play jazz then you can play jazz on any style of guitar.

57Deluxe

just play all the wrong notes in random order...

thecolourbox

57Deluxe said:

just play all the wrong notes in random order...

But, never play the same thing once

PAL

I think you can play jazz on any guitar there are no rules really if it works for you that's the main thing.
  I worked in a guitar shop and I remember people coming and asking for a lead guitar or a rhythm guitar.
  It's like they say it's not what you have got but what you do with it !

StuartMac290

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Kurtis

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Yeah, but you could say similar things about any two pickup guitar you like really. An 335 has two extra volume controls, and humbucking pickups, so technically more versatile. 

strtdv

Kurtis said:

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Yeah, but you could say similar things about any two pickup guitar you like really. An 335 has two extra volume controls, and humbucking pickups, so technically more versatile. 

It can't twang though, and can't do a "biting" overdrive the way a Tele can. 

Kurtis

strtdv said:

Kurtis said:

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Yeah, but you could say similar things about any two pickup guitar you like really. An 335 has two extra volume controls, and humbucking pickups, so technically more versatile. 

It can't twang though, and can't do a "biting" overdrive the way a Tele can. 

Teles sound like teles? That's not really proving they are versatile though. 

thecolourbox

And also I couldn't play jazz on a 335 as I'm not a big guy and they are enormous to me, whereas a Tele is much more manageable (yet more manageable still is my Mustang mentioned in part jest earlier in the thread)

ICBM

strtdv said:

It can't twang though, and can't do a "biting" overdrive the way a Tele can. 

Dave Edmunds would disagree. He replaced his old blonde 335 with a Tele when the Gibson became too valuable to use for touring, and said he realised he'd been getting a Tele sound from the 335 anyway.

StuartMac290

Kurtis said:

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Yeah, but you could say similar things about any two pickup guitar you like really. An 335 has two extra volume controls, and humbucking pickups, so technically more versatile. 

Not really. You can't get the snap of a bolt-on neck from a 335. You can't get the same brash clang of the bridge pickup. You can't quite get the same clean chop for funky, disco-y Nile Rogers stuff. It doesn't have the same dry bite.

335s are my favourite guitars, for me the perfect electric guitar. A Tele covers a bit more ground a bit more convincingly though.

One of each and you can do anything.

Kurtis

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

StuartMac290 said:

Kurtis said:

Is a tele really that versatile or is it that it can work looks wise with most styles?
Surely a jem or something is more versatile. 

A good Tele really IS that versatile. The bridge pickup is rounder and fatter than a strat's, it'll drive an amp in a more pleasing way, but also twangs in all the right places. The middle position can cover tonnes of ground, from soul to country to funk to indie to...

And a good, warm Tele pickup is really quite a contrast with the bridge pickup, at least in its original form. It's a cracking sound for jazz. Teles with neck pickups that are trying to sound like strat neck pickups end sounding a little less versatile, IMO, and the middle position is a touch less pleasing.

If you could only have one guitar, for me it's a tele. Then a great 335, which is almost as versatile.

Yeah, but you could say similar things about any two pickup guitar you like really. An 335 has two extra volume controls, and humbucking pickups, so technically more versatile. 

Not really. You can't get the snap of a bolt-on neck from a 335. You can't get the same brash clang of the bridge pickup. You can't quite get the same clean chop for funky, disco-y Nile Rogers stuff. It doesn't have the same dry bite.

335s are my favourite guitars, for me the perfect electric guitar. A Tele covers a bit more ground a bit more convincingly though.

One of each and you can do anything.

I think you're missing the point slightly. I'm not saying teles can't sound good just that they do what they do and not much else, compared to any other guitar.

I don't have a tele or a 335. 

Basher

I often wonder what does a more convincing "classic" jazz sound: a solid-body with heavy flats or a hollow-body with lighter round wounds?

There's a YouTube video of a young George Benson getting what I'd probably have assumed was a hollow-body tone from a Les Paul, presumably with flats 

I have an Ibanez hollow-body but have some round wound 11s on there and it sounds passably jazxy, certainly a bit closer than my Eastman Casino-alike with 10s.

The guitarists who's tone I admire all seem to use heavy flats. Not sure what Grant Green used but he had the most beautiful, woody, "hollow" tone that still had a lot of treble in it. Funny how bright these, presumably heavy flatwound, strings can sound.

Roundwound

I honestly think that a full depth hollowbody archtop is very much in its own category when it comes to tone. Compressed YouTube comparisons don’t do the differences justice. Often some of the nuance of what you get in the room with an archtop is lost, including the acoustic sound itself and the faster note decay. I havnt been able to perfectly replicate a clean archtop tone with any solid body, including Les Pauls, strats and teles. The (vintage) tele neck comes closest.

My Gibson archtop is currently strung with TI Jazz Bepop strings (13s) which are technically roundwound strings. The guitar still sounds like an archtop. I’ll probably switch to flats next time, mainly to eliminate the string noise. Flats tend to be a bit stiffer and discourage string bending which can be good for jazz too. Archtops are supremely comfortable to play sitting down when you find the correct position and posture.

Rocker

A Gibson SG.  The guitar player in a jazz trio, who play in Galway, gets a great sound from his SG.

RichAC

susbemol said:

The idea of a "jazz sound" is probably different for each person. There is no right or wrong answer, really.

Personally, I think it is much more to what and how you play than any choice of gear or "sound". In other words, it's about touch, phrasing, harmonic content, etc.

For example, here is Cecil Alexander sounding like a proper jazz badass on a Jackson Soloist:

That was great, nice to see living proof that you can play anything on anything.

That said, the temptation to end that with a divebomb must have been immense.

ToneControl

Roundwound said:

I honestly think that a full depth hollowbody archtop is very much in its own category when it comes to tone. Compressed YouTube comparisons don’t do the differences justice. Often some of the nuance of what you get in the room with an archtop is lost, including the acoustic sound itself and the faster note decay. I havnt been able to perfectly replicate a clean archtop tone with any solid body, including Les Pauls, strats and teles. The (vintage) tele neck comes closest.

Yes, proper hollowbodies do add something

As a compromise, I have owned guitars with piezo pickups, if you mix that in to solid-body pickups, you can get more of the hollowbody vibe

BillDL

Charlie Byrd played jazz on a nylon string classical guitar.

ToneControl

BillDL said:

Charlie Byrd played jazz on a nylon string classical guitar.

Yeah, one of my favourites since I was a kid
I used to listen to "Byrd by the sea" all the time.
I just found it on spotify, I can't believe how many albums he's done