How important is a "genre specific" guitar?

[EvilTwin]

I was listening to the soundtrack to "Sweet and Lowdown" on my lunch break, and this question came to me. Howard Alden plays all of the solos on that CD, but it doesn't sound like he's using a Selmer-type guitar for the swing jazz-ish songs (or that he's really playing overly "gypsy-ish").

 

All the same, it sounds cool.

 

So what do you guys think? Is it important to stick to a dreadnought if you're playing bluegrass? Or an archtop for jazz? Or a parlor/OM for delta blues?

[Stackabones]

When a jazz guitarist plays a guitar, it becomes a jazz guitar.

 

Etc.

[C70man]

When I am watching someone play in that style, I believe having the matching instrument truly enhances the performance. It just looks right. Assuming of course it sounds right.

 

Can you picture BB without Lucille? Or SRV without his Strat? Jimmy Page without a double neck SG Gibson?

[Stackabones]

I picture Jimmy Page with a tele.

[EvilTwin]

When I am watching someone play in that style, I believe having the matching instrument truly enhances the performance. It just looks right. Assuming of course it sounds right. Can you picture BB without Lucille? Or SRV without his Strat? Jimmy Page without a double neck SG Gibson?

 

Well, the counter to that argument is that SRV didn't just play "No. 1." He had a few Strats, and they did sound different. "Lenny" didn't sound like "No. 1."

 

And Jimmy Page cut the solo to "Stairway to Heaven" on a Tele (EDIT: Stack beat me!).

 

I think a player's style probably matters even more than their choice of instruments...but the instrument can be a defining factor, too.

[Pascal]

Depends.

 

If your gig is 100% about the music and nothing else, play whatever you want and however you want to play it.

 

If your gig is also in part a show ("Hot-Club de BAGWIPS", "Annihilator of Doom") and is also centered around an image, I guess a "genre specific" instrument will help reach the desired sound, image and atmosphere.

 

 

 

BTW, I think H. Alden's tone on that soundtrack is the typical "SelMac guitar/no GJ restroke technique" tone. Which, in this specific case (tentative re-creation of a musical genre/era), I would consider a failure. FWIW...

[Pascal]

It is also true that in this modern age of amplification, there are less and less real reasons to have specific instruments for specific genres.

 

In an all-acoustic world, yes, certain guitars would work better in some contexts than others (loudness, tonal spectrum, attack/sustain...). But nowadays, an amplified instrument of any type will be heard and can work in pretty much any context.

[C70man]

I grabbed those instruments because of what I "picture" them using. I would venture to say that if you had to pick a single instrument for an artist, the Les Paul, Strat, and 335 would show up more often than not. They are the "pubished" look of that artist.

 

As far as the sound goes....I agree with all of you. My friend Damon Fowler records with his vintage(s) Tele more than any other instrument, yet he rarely brings it out on stage. Same goes for his '59 Strat.

 

Back to topic....My first choice wouldn't be an archtop for pickin bluegrass or a Martin 000 to reproduce a Django sound....I posted a thread about a couple of guys I saw playing at the Milltop in St.Augustine over the holiday...The guy with the Taylor was doing all the pickin, and the Martin was doing all the strumming....Absolutely assbackwards! Sounded rediculous...couldn't even hear the Taylor.

[Stackabones]

I think certain guitars are important for the look, yes. Especially for jazz guitarists ... they've got to have the hollowbody f-hole or else the restaurant manager won't think that it's jazz guitar.

 

Image counts, fer sure. But it doesn't mean a thing when it comes down to it IMO.

[C70man]

I can't picture Martin Taylor without a jazz guitar...yet I am sure he can play the strings off of anything.

[EvilTwin]

BTW, I think H. Alden's tone on that soundtrack is the typical "SelMac guitar/no GJ restroke technique" tone. Which, in this specific case (tentative re-creation of a musical genre/era), I would consider a failure. FWIW...

 

I would've sworn he was just playing a regular archtop on some tunes, but you're right:

 

"I have a Selmer Maccaferri copy made by Dupont that I used on Sweet and Lowdown, and I continue to use when I'm called upon to play Django-style."

http://justjazzguitar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=328&Itemid=52

 

However, he does say in another part of that interview about making the music a kind of American take on Django's jazz. I still dig the soundtrack (and will be listening to it on my way home from work), but the guitar playing does sound just a bit...for want of a better term, "off." Almost like he may be using regular bronze strings or something.

 

But seeing as Mr. Alden could outplay me in his sleep...I should just shut up.

[Pascal]

Personnally, I tend to use genre-specific guitars and genre-specific outfits in order to help my audience (if any) identify what style I am trying to play at any given moment.

 

Without these clever visual and tonal indicators, it is often very difficult to differenciate my GJ licks from my bebop, blues, folk, fusion, fake-spanish, hawaian or rock licks... they're pretty much always the same few.

 

 

I need all the help I can get.

 

[guitarist21]

Problem for me is that I mess around in tons of different genres. I couldn't justify buying, say, an archtop unless I could convince myself that it would get a ton of playing time, because I don't play nearly enough jazz to make it my main guitar.

 

On the other hand, plenty of folk artists play nylon stringed guitars. I'll be playing my fair share of classical music this summer on my Epi Masterbilt, a decidedly steel stringed instrument. It's fun to mix and match but I can't afford it, I think.

 

Ellen

[bbarkow]

A dread is pretty much a requirement for bluegrass. I've seen people play other body styles, but not often.

 

When you're performing around a single mic and competing with a banjo, you have to dig into a dread pretty hard to be heard at all. I can't imagine trying to do it with a smaller guitar - or even a jumbo, for that matter. You need those mids barking.

[fmw]

Personally, I think it is beyond ridiculous to ascribe a guitar to a genre or make "rules" about what instrument fits what style. Every musical style can and should be played with any instrument that the musician feels gets the job done properly. You said it sounded cool. That means, whatever it was, it was cool.

[Jake7]

I like to play stuff on a plugged in acoustic that no one would expect from that kind of guitar.

Also, the best country twang chicken picking sound I ever got was on my decidedly METAL m/ looking BC RIch Eagle (IT has every concievable pickup split/phase combination).

 

I think it depends on the person and the "scene" more than suitability.