Jazz tones

[Bad Henry]

Looking for a box that will emulate the sweet tones of say Larry Carlton or John Scofield. Any suggestions?

 

[Moe45673]

my boss eq-20 has a preset for jazz tones. It's actually quite awesome. I used it at a gig when a band I was in covered "Fever", and the soundguy couldn't believe I got that tone outta les paul into marshall.

Don't know how it compares to scofield or carlton, but it's a great archtop simulator

 

[fzkicksbuttock]

Try this...

In all seriousness, I think most of the typical "jazz" guitar tones come from rolling your tone down, using your neck humbucker, and having a failry dark eq.

Scofield is quite the anamoly in jazz tones, as he plugs into a considerable array of effects (including a vintage RAT distortion, Whammy pedal, Line 6 FM4, etc.) and uses an old Mesa Mark _ or Vox AC30.

 

[Non-Digital Tom]

First of all, if you really want to cop some jazz tones (as opposed to fusion), then you should probably start with an archtop - something like a Gibson ES-175. Believe it or not, a lot of the straight up jazz cats are fond of Polytone amps (solid state!). Not much going on with the effects though...

If you're talking about L.A. fusion type jazz tones, that's another story. For Larry Carlton/Robben Ford type Dumble tones, well... someone else can jump in here...

 

[jcshirke]

Consider looking at some low gain overdrives, like the Zendrive (hermidaaudio.com) or a Timmy (made by Paul Cochrane on this list). Some of the Barber stuff is probably worth checking out also. Or boost pedals that can get low gain OD as well.

Jeff

 

[Bad Henry]

I actually have an Epi AlleyKat Semi and Bls Jr. Tried a Digitech Rp 50. Didn't do it for me.

 

[coz boogie 65]

Start with the right and ax (semi-hollow or full on hollow) and string it with flatwounds!

 

[Berlin Chris]

Originally posted by Bad Henry
Looking for a box that will emulate the sweet tones of say Larry Carlton or John Scofield. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the TGP Bad Henry.

First, there is no such thing as Carlton/Scofield-in-a-box!

Like mentioned before you might want to look out for a soft overdrive like the Hermida Zendrive or the Tim/Timmy or something similar. Your guitar and amp are ok to get you in the right ballpark. Add a little reverb, sit down and practice, practice, practice. Don´t expect to sound 100% like your heroes. You won´t! But there is hope....

For a Scofield-tone it will certainly help to put heavy strings on your guitar. Try to pick the notes near the bridge (on top of the bridge pickup) and dial down the tone-knob a bit. This - together with a mid-heavy, slightly overdriven sound - is very unforgiving. It´s very hard to play like that, but that is (roughly) how Scofield does it with his Ibanez and Boogies.

Carlton´s sweet Jazz/Blues/Fusion sound seems to be very simple and within reach for all players but well, this is unfortunately not the case. He is a player with a certain (soft) touch and a certain approach to playing which is very unique and very hard to copy. You may have to work a lot on your articulation to get the basics of his sound. It´s in his fingers (both right and left hand) , his ES335 and his famed 20.000$ Dumble-amp.

Have fun!

 

[Bad Henry]

Thanks , Chris! I have Thomas/Infield 12's on it and do get some very nice tones. Just looking for something to put a smile on my face without having to crank the amp into the overdrive (too loud) mode.

 

[monacosis]

Bad Henry,
my tone has gravitated (not intentionally) towards that type of sound over the past 5-10 years and i am pretty happy with where i am now. basic tone is either clean and dark or with a light od (via the Zendrive). one additional thing i need is the abililty to get twangy by rolling off my volume. i use a Hamer Monaco III with P90s and heavy strings > Zendrive > lots of effects > Mesa Boogie amps.

as mentioned before, the biggest factor is in the hands. i think a light and balanced touch helps as well as a strong sense of phrasing (a never-ending quest).

hope my 0.02 helps!

mike

 

[HarryJ]

I see Sco and Carlton's tones as very different.
I can tell you that when I saw John, he never turned off his old Rat... even for comping

HJ

 

[rabbit]

Definitely a low gain od oder clean boost.
I like my Menatone Red Snapper for jazzy (solo) work. It can give you a nice pushed and full sound with a bit of edge but without sustain and can thus make your guitar sound similar to an archtop. I would look for an od/boost pedal with a good tone control, independent controls for treble and bass e.g. (like the Timmy, Zendrive, Snapper, RC boost, etc.)

 

[monkmiles]

Personally for jazz, I like the cleanest tone as possible....no effects through a tube amp's clean channel. For Scofield tone, maybe try a phaser or rotovibe or something along those lines...he sometimes gets a tone like those can produce.

 

[Fernando]

There's a list of Scofield's gear on his website. Hope this helps.

http://www.johnscofield.com/equip.html

 

[steeeve]

While both great jazz players, Scofield and Carlton do not have "jazz tones" IMO, and rarely play straight up jazz. I would HIGHLY recommend steering clear of flatwounds if you want these types of tones.

To me, the definitve straight jazz tone came from guys like Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. Jimmy Bruno has probably my favorite straight jazz tone.

 

[65bfdr]

I'd also recommend NOT to use flatwounds nor roll off the tone of your guitar. I get great straight ahead jazz tones from D'Addario XL 13 - 56. Regular wound strings. To roll off some of the tone knob will mostly just muffle your sound.
If there's a good jazz guitarist in your area, concider taking a couple of lessons and he'll teach you how to get a good sound and how to play jazz.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by 65bfdr
I'd also recommend NOT to use flatwounds nor roll off the tone of your guitar. I get great straight ahead jazz tones from D'Addario XL 13 - 56. Regular wound strings. To roll off some of the tone knob will mostly just muffle your sound.
[..............]

I agree completely here. 12's are OK too IMO.

 

[Lucidology]

String guage is entirely a relative factor...

You can get similar fat-fusion jazz tones with some sort of light overdrive pedal, with a touch of chorus pedal & a little delay... whether you use 9-10's or 13's...

I own the same older model, semi-hollow Ibanez model with all the split coil & out of phase options as Sco does... & the tone of it is simply big & fat (i.e. HUGE)... even with a set of smaller 9's on it... So if you have the filter control on a Rat Pedal all the way up (like I noticed Sco does) with the addition of chorus & such ... the sound is there without having to get used to monster strings...

Steve Kahn uses 9's on his 335's & Strats,
as does Jeff Golub on all his varied axes...

Frank Gambale gets beautiful luscious jazz tones out of his GB10 hollowbody with just a set of 9's...
(listen to his masterful CD, "Thinking Out Loud" if you have any doubts about the inability to get a beautiful tone with lighter strings...)

It's simply relative to the player & his set up ...
Nothing is Sacrosanct in the world of jazz fusion...
It's more about phrasing, note choice & sense of groove (i.e swing..)

 

[rawkguitarist]

Bill Frisell gets killer jazz tones out of a Tele, into a BF Fender amp!

Let's just talk in generalities, OK. If you're wanting to play with some tones people ASSOCIATE with jazz. Then any fairly warm clean tone will do, just don't get that glassy Prince funk tone and you'll be fine.

I play jazz gigs with my PRS guitars, without rolling the tone down. Just use my neck pickup, plugged into my TopHat set clean. I recently did a jazz/fusion gig where I dug in with my Tele and my Eternity set to a moderate OD. It was great!

 

[cyb3rvampire]

If I could have one straight ahead jazz tone it would be Jim Hall's tone. That tone gives me the shivers...not to mention his ridiculous playing.