Members formosa Posted December 1, 2012 Members Share Posted December 1, 2012 I have an archtop hollow body jazz box, like every serious jazz guitarist should, and I'll probably never get rid of it. However, I'm finding it's sometimes not good in certain situations. Perhaps another guitar would be nice to have (of course!).So my old guitar teacher who swore on archtops and would never play anything else, is playing strats at gigs! A strat? I know! Funny, because I just watched Jeff Beck's Live at Ronnie Scott's bluray DVD - best filmed show I've ever seen. Then I started thinking about Scott Henderson, another one of my favorites. Strat too! Jimmy Herring? Strat! But it's really a Partscaster. So how about it? Is a strat really the best guitar for jazz and jazz fusion? I'm looking to spend no more than $3,000 - but I think an American Deluxe would be just fine.1) American Deluxe Strat - What color? Keep the pickups the same?2) PRS Custom 24 - I do have a technical metal side to me and would love to support the local Marylanders! But will it be as flexible as a stat or even more? Probably double the price of a strat3) Ibanez Prestige MIJ? I hate floating tremolos and bridges and all the stuff, but I love their thin fast necks.What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted December 1, 2012 Members Share Posted December 1, 2012 A Strat's pretty articulate so I can see why a jazzer with great chops would choose one. But players with those kind of chops can make literally any rig sing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Canadian Jeff Posted December 1, 2012 Members Share Posted December 1, 2012 As it is for all genres - the best guitar is the one you end up using. That's to say, go out and try a bunch. Or just imitate all the Strat users out there and get one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted December 1, 2012 Members Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yeah I think it's funny that John McLaughlin cut all the Miles Davis stuff on a short-scale Mustang, which is the last guitar you think of when you think of jazz. It's all about the player. Play what you like. There are a lot of knobs and electronics that go into creating tone that you can't really say one guitar is for whatever genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Short scale makes a lot of sense for jazz as it makes some of the more interesting voicings easier to finger. Some jazzers prefer a wider nut than Strats offer because it allows for cleaner notes especially when moving quickly. That said, people like Mike Stern [Yamaha T-style] and John McLaughlin [Godin S-style] are monster players on strat-style necks, so it really does depend on the player and what you prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vibroluxman Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 I play on a tele and a les paul. I'd love a 335, but I haven't found one that I can afford/enjoy yet to make me get it over the wonderful guitars I already own. Should have jumped on a Guild Starfire when I tried it. Loved the guitar, but didn't quite have the $$ at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveGrima Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Originally Posted by honeyiscool Yeah I think it's funny that John McLaughlin cut all the Miles Davis stuff on a short-scale Mustang, which is the last guitar you think of when you think of jazz. It's all about the player. Play what you like. There are a lot of knobs and electronics that go into creating tone that you can't really say one guitar is for whatever genre. Link? I coulda sworn he used a Gibson double neck and an LP custom on at least some of it. I own Bitches Brew and theres a picture of him holding a doubleneck Gibby in the liner notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 If they are good enough for Eldon Shamblin, they are good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fusion1 Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 yeah I've never even seen him using a Mustang nevermind hearing he recorded Bitches Brew with one. I also remember the double neck Gibson and his LPC. Originally Posted by DaveGrima Link? I coulda sworn he used a Gibson double neck and an LP custom on at least some of it. I own Bitches Brew and theres a picture of him holding a doubleneck Gibby in the liner notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Originally Posted by DaveGrima Link? I coulda sworn he used a Gibson double neck and an LP custom on at least some of it. I own Bitches Brew and theres a picture of him holding a doubleneck Gibby in the liner notes. http://alt-land.info/music/jazz/4293...-zen-2006.htmlJohn Mc Laughlin' s Guitars over the years1969John Mclaughlin, Extrapolation. Gibson L4 with Charlie Christian pickup. Tony Williams Lifetime, Emergency. Gibson Hummingbird with DeArmond pickup. Miles Davis, In a Silent Way. Gibson Hummingbird. Miles Davis, Bitches Brew. Fender Mustang. "I was playing with Lifetime and Miles," remembers McLaughlin, "and both bands were getting louder and louder and the Hummingbird became inappropriate due to feedback problems. For the Lifetime recordings, I rented a black '58 Les Paul Custom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Go used. I have seen clapton, jeff beck and eric jonhson sig strats in the $1000-1200 range. any of those would do you fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Some more info:http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...o-mustang.html "I first saw McLaughlin perform at a jazz festival in New Brunswick, NJ. Musta been '68 or '69. Played in a trio with drummer Tony Williams and organist Larry Young. I guess it was the Tony Williams Lifetime. John was playing the psychedelic-painted Mustang. I later learned that at the time John had been in the States a very short time, a few weeks or so. It sounded good to me, tho at the time I knew almost nothing about jazz." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snappy Hat Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Wayne Krantz strat . Although now hes using a Tyler strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Lou-Dog Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Bill Frisell uses a lot of different interesting guitars to get his sound. A personal favourite of mine was a MIM 69 thinline reissue he had refinished and changed the electronics in it. I think he put Antiquity tele pickups in it, and used it on his 'Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian' album, which is probably my favourite work of his. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIDOmz7K93o I've seen a few Jazz dudes play Strats, but they're never really going for Jazz type sounds. I certainly prefer my 335 to my Strat when I play Jazz, though I will often play Jazz influenced lines on my strat in other situations..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BydoEmpire Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 Mike Stern is pretty handy with a tele, too. It really depends on the player and the band. There are so many options out there, especially in your price range. You could get a custom-built Suhr for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 My uncle, a gigging and recording jazz musician has mostly used a strat since 1968. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Presc Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 I personally think the Tele neck pickup sounds absolutely fantastic for jazz. In some ways I like it more than my 335 neck pickup. But for the fusion type lead tones I really prefer a humbucker, and the 335 shines in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 There is no such thing as "best". It boils down to a lot of things, however "what color" is probably one of the least important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjcarl Posted December 2, 2012 Members Share Posted December 2, 2012 If you don't need the trem and you wanna try a strat, check out a MIM Robert Cray...the vintage pickups they use in the Cray model seem like they'd be sweet for jazz. And with a $3k budget, you'd have plenty left over to get another guitar or two or three... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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