Get a great Jazz Tone on ANY Solid Body Guitar

If you still aren't the proud owner of a jazz archtop and want to know how to get a superb jazz tone on your solid body....the video I just posted is meant for you!
In it I discuss 6 factors that will ultimately influence the tone you get. I also recommend various small affordable upgrades you can perform to make ANY solid body sound jazzier. Lots of info here ranging from EQ tips, custom pick-ups, to what strings and picks I recommend!
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*Take your playing to the next level with the Bebop Guitar Improv Series online: bebopguitar.richiezellon.com

[@RichieZellon]

NOTE: I am aware that I mistakenly said Tomastik Strings are "made in Germany" when in fact they are made in Austria. I should know better after using them for so many years. Unfortunately, I sub-consciously blurted out "Germany" while doing the video due to the fact that for the longest time (in the US) many players refer to them as being German due to the name. No excuses here. I have received various emails regarding this. My sincere apologies to anyone I might have ticked off with this!

[@RRHYNES1]

Hi Richie, the problem with any public platform is that it is open to criticism of one sort or another which will always include unfair and biased criticism. It is the job of anybody using the internet as a source of data to be able to sort these responses in order to achieve good data. This factor is probably the worst aspect of the internet as a resource device. A way round this problem while still using the internet, is to make the site concerned private where only those readers who register with you can comment on your articles. This has several distinct advantages to you the writer as follows: 1. It keeps you in control so that your readers do not read unfair criticism. 2. It means the comments which you decide should be published are relevant and valuable to your readers. 3. It promotes excellence. 4. It means you get to decide what is good feedabck and so allows you to steadily improve what you write. In effect your readers become valuable editors. That said I find it difficult to understand how anybody could be ticked off for the Germany/Austria error but it takes all sorts. Having listened to this video in detail I have to say I thought it was really excellent. Your six points are really good and cover the subject in detail. I was so impressed that I subscribed immediately, thinking, perhaps selfishly, what might Richie remind me of next? This leads me to two points I would like to add as serious comments: Despite the ridiculous price, I bought a Blue Chip pick about three years ago. You couldn't get it off me. I wouldn't lend it to you or sell it to you for any price as it's a game changer. I languished long and hard before buying as the price seemed so unreasonable, but with the Blue Chip agent in the UK saying, "once you get one of these you will never use anything else!!", I finally took the risk. So how are they different. I chose a Blue Chip TP-1R 50, it is triangular and has three different contours at the apexes of the trangle. I tend to use the softest profile for jazz for obvious reasons. What is unique about the pick is the material, because it does not wear, or wears so slowly that it really does not matter. This means that the strident, treble edge sounds, that a worn pick generates which is an anathema to the jazz guitarist does not exist or develop. So the pick simply works and works and works and works. If I am unluckyenough to lose my Blue Chip pick I will buy another immediately. Because of the value of your channel which I clearly see from your work so far, I would like to ask you to cover sound on stage as a subject and in particular the difficulties the jazz guitarist can face with acoustic problems. I'm elderly now and recently faced unexpected serious difficulties with sound. I'm still working on these and in the process have learnt masses of stuff that I was unaware of which matters so much. In the past I would turn up, plug in and play and if the sound wasn't ideal I would just get on with it. My sensitivity to such failings has increased with age however and this is no longer good enough. Recently, my son and I went to a Pat Metheny concert in Birmingham, England. To my astonishment, Pat's amazing work was totatally lost to the audience with the appalling sound produced. The simple truth is with all that's known about this subject, it should not have happened. So an article/video on how to manage sound in small/ medium and large auditoria with clear whys and wherefores would be worth it's weight in gold for all jazz guitarists, given the nature of the instrument, in my humble opinion. Thanks for the channel. I look ford to your next send, which I will certainly watch. With kind regards, Bob Hynes.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Bob for taking the time to share this valuable insight! I put in a lot of work to produce these videos and I get very little in terms of any compensation for my effort. So your comments made my day...again thanks! I must add that I really appreciate "constructive" criticism and welcome it, however I do get my fair share of "destructive" criticism from viewers who have nothing better to do and just want to criticize for no other reason than to be nasty...but like you said...that's You Tube. 🙂 I hear what you're saying about the sound incident with Pat Metheny and I have experienced it myself as well as watching others performing. I particularly remember 2 concerts from the 70's. One was the final Mahavishnu Orchestra opening for Jeff Beck with Jan Hammer. Mahavishnu's sound was disastrous in comparison to Jeff Beck's. And this was on the same stage with a 15 min intermission in between. Same thing happened on a concert where Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters opened for Chick Corea and Return to Forever. Herbie's sound was awful and then Chick came on and everything was crystal clear. I asked about this, and I was told that each artist was touring with their own sound engineer. So it isn't the equipment, nor the venue in these cases. It's the engineers knowledge and experience that makes a difference....I won't comment further because sound engineering is honestly not my area of expertise..

[@blueyoda5149]

Hi Mister Zellon, Sorry but I just have seen you're clip. I just started to play jazz again, I have had some lessons in my teen years. I to use Tomastik strings on my Epiphone ES339, I like them a lot. And yes there from Austria. Hihi it was just a slip of the tongue . Please keep doing these videos, so I or we can learn from you a lot. Greetz Blue

[@KieraQ0323]

You can call them whatever you want. It's a free country.

[@thomasliokos4709]

@@RichieZellon Hi Richie. Ok, things like that are happening all the time. I am sure it was not made by intention and after all it's not that "great" mistake. I enjoy your video very much. It was vesy explanatory and to the point as I also liked the suggestions of equipment you make. They are higly appeciated. Thank you very much.

[@johnthecat2150]

less than a minute in, and the video editing is so unhip that I can already tell this guy is focused more on the quality of content than the appearance of the video. This is a good sign.

[@shawnkay5462]

Are you trying to indirectly say "ok boomer"?

[@killaghxst4874]

Yes in heard all those nasty ass lipsmacks

[@kretzschMusic]

Its so unhip its all the way back into hip. It has a very heavy vaporwave aesthetic its amazing.

[@ICoDaI]

not gonna lie, this is pretty great for my ADHD brain... all the animations are great to keep my brain from wondering off

[@fermisurface2616]

This guy is a blowhard. Taking ages to say submerging that could be said in three minutes.

[@kenboi169]

Ahhh, relief. Finally you blinked at 11:52. Amazing. Nice video and info.

[@nitroxsam66]

Check out Ted Green and/or Tim Lerch. Heavy strings on low tuned telecasters. Single coil pickups, beautiful "jazz" tone. Green was the innovator, Lerch followed him and learned his techniques. Both are great imo.

[@odontomatix]

Tim Lerch tunes down by 1/2 to 1+1/2 tones sometimes, depending upon what he's playing. He likes the tone and the feel.

[@aiden4884]

Lerch is a master! Such a brilliant player!

[@toddwilliamson8557]

Ed Bickert

[@amandahammond2691]

I also like that Tim Lerch talks about using the bridge pickup on the Tele.

[@TerryMooreArt]

You are my favorite teacher Richie. And I’m watching most of the popular jazz folks on KZbin for some time now. Thank you for sharing your talent and expertise with patience and kindness.

[@RichieZellon]

Thank you kindly...much appreciated!

[@dingoswamphead]

Thanks for the sensible, comprehensive suggestions.

[@ericwilliamson9869]

I love your videos. I suck at playing jazz but your videos make me feel like I can get there one day. Thank you.

[@zach9809]

Good job! Some of these things, you think would be obvious but it’s the attention to detail that’s important. I’ve been playing since i was 14 and only recently have I really really started paying attention to tone a lot. But I am glad I did the way i did because I was just interested in technique and theory basically building the tone in my hands and head first. I think along with the pickup part is the height, I remember not being happy with a pickup bc I thought it was as too “hot” and just lowering it made all the difference. Thanks again!

[@gman6107]

Thanks very much Richie for sharing your knowledge. I’m starting out with Jazz guitar and this was fantastic to watch

[@boogiexx]

Excellent video ; without watching this years before I did this on my metalhead - Charvell by Jackson model 4. I changed Neck Pickup to Seymour Duncan Jazz Humbucker and put on Tomastik 0.12 flat-wounds and of course I use hard pick. Now it's not an Archtop but the sound I get from it is night and day to the original set up on this guitar. This man Knows what he's talking about. Thumbs up man.

[@timothydaniels504]

I have a weird setup. I have a cheap Fender Sqiuire because I love the neck. I took out the pickups and replaced them with a Lollar Charlie Christian in the neck and a Lollar B.S. for the bridge. My strings are 48-12’s. Sadly, I don’t sound like the late, wonderful Ed Bickert who was a Tele guy. But, I would say that I have a jazz tone. Being a Torontonian of a certain vintage it was easy to see Ed Bickert and Lenny Breau who played very frequently in Toronto. Ed lived here and so did Lenny in the early- mid 60’s.

[@christopherstorz6184]

I get great jazz sounds from my T.V. Jones DuoTron equipped semi-hollow tele-clone. Wonderfully versatile pickup.

[@captainlee1]

Well my friend, you covered it well, thanks for that great session.

[@johnulrich5572]

Great advice and excellent information for all serious students of jazz.

[@Noodlerification]

I'm not stoned but feel like I am, watching this. So entertaining :-) Subscribed

[@cryptotharg7400]

Noodlerification - LOL! Me, too! But, I'm not paying 35 bucks and up, for one pick. That's just reefer-induced madness, when you're coming off a three-day speedball bender!

[@FedKnox]

I am stoned and I feel completely understood while watching this video

[@b_olson542]

Just watch at 1.25 for a more sober speed.

[@johnguilbert1349]

cool daddio, cool cat cool! (waiving my arms in the air, double finger snap)

[@ethanthewizard]

i am lol

[@mikey1983mikey]

Thank you for a great, clear video!! Now I've got something to work with!

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

Wes Montgomery got one of the best and most distinctive of all jazz tones without using a pick; Wes used his thumb to great effect.

[@rudolphpyatt4833]

A P90 in the neck, with .012 flatwounds, gives a wonderful tone.

[@guitarman4899]

The blue chip pick is great because: PROS1. Hard material and will not leave pick dust. 2. Very smooth on the string. 3. Available in right or left hand, depending on your pick angle attack. 4. Great attack on strings producing a better tone. CONS: Easy to lose. Be sure and use a pick holster. I have 3. Use them for all guitar styles , buy don't play jazz without my BlueChip. Thanks for another wonderful video!

[@DrJoshGuitar]

As a guy who is just getting into this style I was wondering why my tone wasn’t working with some jazz backing tracks. I watched this vid, made a few tweaks and walla..100% better!

[@TheSilence1]

voila

[@robsherfey4582]

Isn't the point of jazz is that it's subjective & experimental, open to self-expression & free?

[@sadyakubovich]

voila

[@JimmyMac717]

Excellent tips for my Les Paul Custom! Thank you!

[@stevenpape2021]

Another great jazz tone for 2 P90 pickups, Both pickups on, neck pickup Vol 8, Tone 4. Neck pickup Vol 1, Tone 10 (yes 10). Use the neck pickup VOLUME control to dial the treble in or out. be subtle.

[@Walks-With-Pride]

A truly superb video! I plan to check out replacing my lightweight strings with a heavier gauge set. Really appreciate the advice!

[@jordancyphers]

Regarding the Blue Chip picks -- I have a TAD60. There's something about the material that sounds much like a tortoise shell but, of course, these are legal and nothing has to die before you get a few picks. The pick also kinda slides off the strings a bit easier which seems to make playing faster easier. And, probably most importantly, I've had mine for 10 years and it still looks new. No exaggeration. I bought it 12/06/2009, and you would be hard pressed to detect wear on the edges. They last about as long as you can keep up with them.

[@shayneswenson]

Jordan best money I’ve spent on guitar gear(besides my Suhr😍) was my Blue Chip pick.

[@steveworley2997]

What if you lose it?

[@Skinny_Karlos]

I've just discovered your channel in the last month and I'm really enjoying it. Your tips are truly helpful to an old (52) Aussie who's a classically trained lifelong guitar devotee, realising in the last three years or so that jazz is a different animal entirely. I can read the "dots" but as my jazz teacher said to me, on my first lesson, be prepared to sound BAD for a fair while he said like a Doctor delivering some terrible news - it actually made me laugh, especially in the ensuing weeks /months when I realised that he wasn't kidding. Basically, my longwinded point here is that I agree with your six points but have to say that no: 06 is absolute. Until that 'feel" gets you, or you get that feel, it doesn't matter as much what you're using - it just helps things a little. Getting yourself to be a jazz guitarist is the first, or at least MY first priority even though I do all those other things to help me sound better, it really is an internal matter of listening to the "greats", listening to myself and listening to those I'm playing with to try to find that elusive place where jazz guitarists' live. Thanks for your advice and help. At the very least watching a new release always seems to get that 175 in my hands and that's always a good thing.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks for sharing! Your teacher is absolutely right...same thing I try to tell my new students. Sometimes I feel like their shrink though: "No don't give it up so fast...it's not just you....we all sound bad for years when first starting out in jazz...hang in there, do the work, and it'll get better gradually. Most important of all...LEARN TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY!"

[@Skinny_Karlos]

Thanks, and that's the wonderful thing about music - the journey is never ending.

[@mastropancho]

Thank You Master ! You are so wisdom.... really ! and I can appreciatte your words... enyoy the journey ! Only enyoing We can grow up . Sorry for my english , I love your dedication, thank you and best regards to you !

[@bustabass9025]

Good info for a bass player with an itch for learning how to layout mellow jazz box tunes, riffs, and improvisations on a starter Ibby. Hopefully the old adage, "...it's never too late...", will apply to my new journey. 👑🎸🎵

[@MegaRmerrill]

I have always had good luck with Bill and Becky Lawrence L-500c pickup in the neck and L-500L Bridge

[@donarmando916]

This is helpful and sounds serious. Thanks

[@davidderose1242]

GREAT channel. Just what we jazz guitarists need for an open exchange of experiences and ideas. Keep up the good work., Mr. Zellon.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks David...much appreciated!

[@Arcade1959]

I have a Telecaster with single pickups and my Thomastik Swing 11-47. By adjusting the tone knob to cut the treble, I get a very correct Jazz sound. My amp is a DV Mark LJ and an Orange 20 RT. I learned that the Jazz sound is in the fingers and the choice of the right chords !

[@user-vy2if4ik1k]

Excellent thorough discussion of tone factors etc. Just getting back into learning some jazz scales/arpeggios/chords etc with my old "rock/blues/country" Peavey Falcon strat style guitar, although it does have custom pickups. But had somewhat forgotten about string gauges, flatwound vs roundwound etc. Not to mention of course amp settings, phrasing, practice, on and on. Fortunately it can be fun too!

[@manny75586]

I filled in for a friend (on extremely late notice) on a small club gig with a Jackson Rhoads 7 string with a Dimarzio Air Norton in the neck (X2N 7 in the bridge). I left from practice with a metal cover band. Used my Headrush board with the FRFR . Got a lot of compliments and looks of amazement that a V is getting a decent jazz tone. If I had time I absolutely would have gone home to get my 355. This video is right that with the right finagling you can get a usable tone out of just about everything. Shoddy technique will make you sound "less jazz" than any instrument will.

[@thomasmuniz4769]

Thank you so much Rich !

[@alfredopatricio8865]

Great video. Congrats!

[@DaveLewis60]

This guy never blinks!!!

[@davidjordan5175]

He blinks when YOU blink.

[@gnatiu]

A joy to listen to you. Thank you.

[@RichieZellon]

Thank you kindly!

[@epserps5055]

Thanks, you're a master. I've learned so much in few minutes.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks, glad to be of help!

[@fontain935]

I ordered a blue chip jazz III pick because I couldn't believe the audacity of charging so much for a single pick. But after I got it I ordered 2 more in various sizes and thicknesses because they really are amazing. Makes the traditional jazz IIIs sound like plastic

[@MrRubenrivera9649]

I use the same pick's dun-lop in both sizes regular and XL I also recommend D'Addarrio black ice picks known as stiffos they can give a good bite as well priced similar 2 dun-lops and use a 59 dun-can in the neck of a epiphone les paul

[@GlennMichaelThompson]

Kent Armstrong makes some great jazz handwound pickups. He used to supply Benedetto Guitars with pickups until business increased for Benedetto. Kent runs a one man shop and I guess he couldn't keep up. But he still makes GREAT pickups.

[@crimfan]

I've seen jazz players playing on a Strat at The Blue Note and a Telecaster is a classic jazz guitar for many players: Ed Bickert, Ted Greene, Tim Lerch, and Lenny Breau. And, evidently Pat Metheny plays with Fender lights. He rolls them around so the blunt end is hitting the strings. The reason is that he wants his hammered notes and picked notes to sound the same.

[@jinjxmusic]

Also my favorite pickup for jazz is the Gibson 57 Classic. I can tolerate most decent pickups though the 57 is just wonderful. I'll also settle for the Parson Street pickups that Stew Mac sells. For about half the price of the Gibson you can get yourself a wonderful pickup that sounds wonderful in jazz.

[@Animal22021]

I use lace sensor single coil pickups on a Parker nitefly with the fender mid boost and the tbx tone control set to boost the bass. I also use d,addario strings 9-42

[@caryverhalen]

Ty.. great content ♥️

[@A.pisces1989]

You're a really nice guy, enjoyed this video 😁👍🏻 I play a Fender stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan cool rail in the neck, sounds pretty nice!!

[@patyak1133]

I am using Dunlop 208 Jazz picks, Dunlop Ultex 1.4M, Dunlop Jazz III's Used to use Dunlop Jazz vinyl picks..red or black but they would twist around in my fingers..the jazz III's have stamped letters on face which usually keeps pick from rotating on me I use 11/53"s on Les Paul Custom with Bigsby 12/52's or 14/56's on archtops..Johnny Smith, etc Thicker strings and picks are like low profile tires and stiff springs and anti sway bars on a high performance car..gives more control when picking fast, it takes time for string to come back to center.. I have found that I need to be able to pick 16th notes at 120-160 beats per minute hence my need for thicker strings and picks Thomastics have worked out to be the best and I have used up to two years or more without changing!

[@basildog007]

Gibson SG 61 reissue + DV Mark Jazz amp, sounds awesome... SGs are the best solid body for jazz imo, they bring something unique to the table.

[@montysoomer6575]

Great advice. Everything you said conforms to all the sruff that took me years to learn as a professional guitar player whose focus is jazz.

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks for sharing Monty!

[@Dobrovinskiy]

Big thumb up!) Very detailed explanation, thank you! Cheers from Ukraine :) I use DiMarzio Master PAF, it was huge improvement for my Yamaha Erg123 solid body guitar

[@ramontarbg]

Thank you, Maestro. Great video. Sus consejos son muy utiles. Salutacions desde Catalunya.

[@aaronmajchen982]

You can bend 13 gauge strings, takes months to develop the hand strength, but I play blues fusion on a semi hollow telecaster strung and set up for 13's.

[@39MercFlathead]

My understanding is that Stevie Ray Vaughn primarily used a GHS 13 to 58 set with a plain (unwound) 19 for the 3rd string. He had no trouble bending notes. That's almost as heavy as I use on my dobro! Of course he tuned down to Eb also. But that is a far cry from Billy Gibbons or Jeff Beck and 8s.

[@khangvybuinguyen4633]

Very nice. Thank you very much.

[@xxczerxx]

I just use flat 11s on my Squier Thinline Tele and love the sound! Might go heavier but would want it set up for 13s or 12s.

[@KitKrash]

I used to play my ES-335 but now I get the best jazz tone from my telecaster. Here is how: I use the single coil pickups but I have a 4-way that allows me to put the two pickups in series like a large humbucker. I use somewhat light strings starting at 11 on the high E but they are D’addario half wounds with a wound third string. I use a heavy pick and run it through an Ampeg Jet II or Fender Princeton. Volume knob is set down to 7 and tone knob to about 5. Heavy picks. I can still bend the strings so I can get rock a billy if I want in the same set up.

[@gnatiu]

I dismounted the bridge single coil pickup from my telecaster, reamed the bridge pickup chamber so that a Seymour Duncan Jazz-Humbucker would fit, changed the tone capacitor and disabled the pickup switch - actually there is no pickup switch anymore on that guitar :) It is always in neck humbucker mode. Only the tone knob is a push-pull; it is possible to split the neck pickup. The strings are 0.11s these days and flatwounds also do the job, but I had to work on the nut a bit. The result is a warm jazz tone. Even with the tone knob on zero; you wouldn't have the heart to turn that knob up anyway. Everybody who sees this guitar is baffled by its tone and the "construction" of it: Only one Pickup, no switch and great tone.

[@marcaskew61]

Great advice - much prefer the 14 or 15 on top e string and flat wound basses with wound G.

[@greatvanzini]

Lollar makes some great stuff. Mad scientist that he is!

[@rsv2828]

I also use Thomastik-Infeld Flat Wound .012”-.050” Jazz Swing on my Epiphone Joe Pass Guitar and I like them very much, I buy them for Sweetwater, expensive but very good. I may use a set for one of my 2 Telecasters ( I have an Elite Thinline and a solid-chambered “rarities”) or maybe both, planning to buy a Gibson Hollowbody Jazz Guitar when I can afford a good one.I also use Thomastik-Infeld Flat Wound .010”-.044 Jazz Swing on my Gibson 335 and sometimes alternate or change the low strings for TI Flat Wound from my other sets. Great strings but costs almost $30. Thank you for another video.

[@composingmicha3776]

thank you for that good infos, very good video, greetings

[@noi5emaker]

Great video Richie. I saw your video on jazz guitar amps too. Highly recommended ! I also love the Jazz III picks. They are small enough to be easy to hold, have a nice grip, a useful pointy edge and a very handy thick edge too. Regarding pickups, I got a GREAT jazz tone from a Seymour Duncan ‘59, believe it or not, in a walnut and alder semi acoustic I built. I’m using flatwound 11s (perhaps I’ll upgrade to 12 on your advice!) which I think are a huge part of the tone. Everyone should have at least one guitar with flat wounds on it. I also have a tele-style guitar I built that is heavily chambered- almost hollow - and has a neck humbucker with 11s on it which is also great for jazz. One thing that can help get a more plummy tone is wiring the neck humbucker in series with the bridge pickup. It really warms it up a lot. And now for amps - I’ve noticed that bass turned up too high makes the bottom strings too boomy and I lose definition. Runs on lower strings just turn to mush, so sometimes I even turn down the bass to keep things clearer. The bass knob shouldn’t affect the top strings too much anyhow. Looking forward to your next video, Richie!

[@grif5332]

Love it! Just one little addition to the pickup part. (I ran into this when looking to jazzify my strat) before you run out and buy a humbucker, check your pickup route. Not every strat has a neck humbucker route or swimming pool route.

[@jpetes9046]

No “e” in the kind of rout you are talking about. Unless you are talking about a way to get from point A to point B (route), a hole in a guitar is spelled “rout”. Not being weird, it’s just that I couldn’t figure out what you were talking about at first.

[@burninglcd]

I absolutely adore my Joe Barden Gatton Tele pickups. The neck pick up is absolutely divine. It's closer to a humbucker sound than the bridge, which has a lot more of that classic Tele twang. It's full, fat, and is wonderful for jazz, and is a great option for people who don't want to mod their single coil guitar with routing, new pick guards, or want something with a bit more clarity than many humbuckers offer, at the cost of a thinner sound.

[@simoneric8183]

Thank you very much Sir, for those precious advice and info. Thank you also for the pleasure we get from playing some jazz on our instruments, whatever they are ! As for me, I'm one of those who decided to get off the beaten tracks, and I discovered that the association of the small Fender Frontman 15G with the AL-40 Sterling is an absolutely pure delight and jazz satisfactory ! The neck pickup of the Sterling has great presence and resonance. But after a while I noticed some unpleasant hum on the amp, maybe i should change it for some Roland... (I use a Microcube sometimes). I would like to grab the opportunity, if I may, to say a few more words on settings : in the begening I felt I had to play at low volume because of the neighbours (volume 2 or 3 on the guitar, with amp volume at 6-7) ... and following this rule led me to discover that the lower the sound, the more we can play (hi volumes everyday drains our energy)... and the purer and more musical the notes are.

[@prime4sd32]

I put some Gibson L-5 strings on a Strat (these are 12 - 56 guage) and it sounded great. Not only for jazz, but it made it a good all-round guitar. But as he said, bending strings pretty much came to an end for it.

[@brorsen-metcalf]

Muy buenos consejos, se agradece.

[@shred5]

I have Lollar Imperials in my LP Custom. They are a good choice because they are devoid of any mud in the neck position and very clean, more so than most current PAF replicas. Although if was going purely for the jazz tone, I would go for the low wind.

[@kevinofficial6980]

OMG, I found a Jazz Master, I learn 1 things from you today. As always I want to change to medium strings but my friend is keep telling me no no no Kevin. I will do it right after ID4 holiday for my F Start and G Les Paul. Thank you so much for very valued lesson today,

[@mark5150ty]

I get a great jazz tone out of a Stratocaster using the neck pickup and the center pickup together

[@larsfocken3456]

Fender Stratocasters from the fifties have been delivered with heavy flatwound strings with a wound G-string, not plain steel. Therefore the pickups have staggered pole pieces. I once tried flatwounds out on a 50s - style strat to get that Buddy Holly rock'n' roll sound and it worked! So check it out. However that required a total new setup especially for the tremolo.

[@wjes775tube]

Respectfully, I'm going to take a contrarian view on bending based on my personal experience. I've used D'Addario EJ21 12,16,24w,32,42,52 nickel round wound strings on guitars such as a Les Paul Deluxe, Guild CE100, Gibson ES-775, Gibson ES-225 and 275 for at minimum 30 years and you can indeed get a good jazz tone and incorporate bending using both TOM and wooden saddle bridges. Not as much bending as a set of 10s playing blues, and usually (but not always) limiting it to a half-tone, and the B, G and D strings, but you can train your hand to bend. In all that time I've broken just a couple of E and B strings (and admittedly, usually have a back-up guitar on stage to provide peace of mind). And for those who think "there's no bending in jazz guitar", someone should tell Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, George Barnes and Barney Kessel they're playing guitar wrong.

[@justinbeech2681]

Hey great video I liked everything you said regarding Jazz tone from a solid body guitar , I don’t like endorsing products on anyone’s channel or platform but I bought a Chinese amp called Stage right or Mono price and it’s all tube and can actually get a decent Jazz tone , it’s only 15 watts but it is very cheap $ So if any of your other subscribers are looking for a good entry level amp , I’d highly recommend this little amp ! Cheers

[@apio3172]

I use a ibanez q 54 and the alter switch that connects both single pickups from the neck with the tone at 5/6 and mid sounds great, best part is that i can switch those settings to fit other music genres, and for strings the heavy slinky work good for me, 0.10s on the higher strings but heavier on the low strings. And for the pic the gator grip jazz iii are my favorite, i use the tip with a light fretting hand grip and it gives me like a snapping feeling when i pluck the strings and it feels easy to play fast while sounding great. For the amp settings i followed your advice and it does sound better, great video

[@bluesyjazzcat31]

I usually play a strat through a fender deluxe reverb but I also had an ampeg bass amp. I plugged the stat into the amp which was eq’ed for my jazz bass and I got a super cool jazz tone that really surprised me. The amp was a BA 210 450w and I barely had it around 3 or 4 but I was a great combo with a strat neck pickup with the tone rolled to about 5

[@clevermethodistchurch8392]

I've got a Strat and was considering the very thing you mentioned. Thanks!!!

[@steveno.8248]

Thank you, Sir! :)

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Hmm. Tone knob, yes, but something that players sometime miss, is that especially with passive pickups, the volume knob placement is critical.

[@RichieZellon]

Absolutely!

[@Martian128]

@@RichieZellon Newbie here - what is the "volume knob replacement"? Simply a larger knob, or is the pot (or other electronics) involved? I got an "American Performer" Tele, wanting to play some (in-tune) jazz-voiced rhythm with maybe an occasional timid foray into a few melodic notes. But i also want to have a little more timbral flexibility than a typical traditional jazz guitar (boring!) tone. Larger circumference volume knob sounds like a good idea. Any specific suggestions? Thanks!

[@Martian128]

Nvm! I see you actually said "placement" not "re-placement!" My bad.

[@dlew919]

Filtertron's give a slightly brighter tone with a mellow bass. I have a gretsch and a telecaster with filtertrons. It gets you away from the 'jazz no-tone' and towards a cooler (or brighter) tone, and slightly away from a 'warmer' (or 'darker) tone.

[@gertzpalma]

Thanks!

[@simoneric8183]

I subscribe ! (wishing more people would do so, because you are such a good teacher !).

[@RichieZellon]

Thanks Simon...much appreciated!

[@guitarman4899]

Blue chip picks will not wear out. They produce an excellent tone and as an extra, the produce no pick dust. I have 3 of them they are great and hard to get now. Great video. I will use it for my students in a rep class.

[@davicola9695]

I get some really nice jazzy tone with p90's in my semi acoustic PRS.

[@nerfnerfification]

I use a Gibson Les Paul recording model solid body with medium gauge strings (12-50 round wounds) - it has the weird low impedance black pickups. It was used and relatively cheap compared to say a Les Paul standard or Custom as nobody seemed to want them a few years back and means, if you use a solid body normally, you don't have to make the posture changes a hollow body seems to require.

[@kelalamusic9258]

This is a great video. I've always been a rhythm guitarist, and lately, my taste in music is changing towards that nice warm jazz sound. Along with always being a rhythm guitarist, I've always played a tele. I just love the feel of it, and the tonal range. For a solid body guitar, I think it's one of the best. But, of course, that is debatable. I've seen jazz guitarists play on a tele and have wondered how they get that beautiful warm sound. Obviously, one important factor I have learned here from you is the type of strings used. I'm going to change out to heavier gauge flat wounds. I've never been into bending stings, so that doesn't concern me. Although the bridge pickup is a single coil, I'm sure I can achieve the sound I want. Any Advice from you and others here would be greatly appreciated. Much thanks!!

[@fransvanoostrom591]

Most important indeed #6

[@AzenBerries]

To anyone with a guitar that has the Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient set, the neck pickup works fine for Jazz if you aren't willing to trade out pickups.

[@rebeccaabraham8652]

I’ve just been getting into jazz and blues for between 1 and 2 years - and my modelling amp wasn’t giving me a ‘jazz tone’ that I liked. I play a 70’s strat clone that I bought in 1978 - and recently bought a Vox Amplug 2 ‘Clean’. With some reverb on the ‘orange’ channel and fingerpicking off of the neck pickup, I now get a glorious jazz-style tone when I use the headphone amp and bypass the modelling on the big amp, via the aux-in. Maybe not everyone’s ‘cup-of-tea’ but it gives me what I’m looking for and I keep my 009’s for the blues - and when I want to try soloing - I have my homemade hardwood ‘small-jazz’ style picks (I do like bottlebrush, rimu and pohutakawa - they give me a lovely tone and I hate the sound of plastic pics now!).

[@frakognome4434]

As far as I know Mike Stern mounts 0.12", with High action (partly due to a huge neck relief). Very informative video, thank you!

[@chrissanderson5850]

#6 was my favorite!

[@afgafg6471]

I’ve recently discovered the benefits of REMOVING a lot of the bass frequencies. This also helps the amp produce cleaner output as the bass frequencies will drive your amp more quickly into distortion. Use a 10-Band graphic or even better, a fully parametric EQ pedal or module in your modeler BEFORE the amp model. Start by removing several decibels below 300hz keep the ones between 400hz and 1Khz, and remove some of the highs from 1K up. Don’t kill ALL of the 5-20K so that you maintain some attack. By using a bass-cut circuit in your guitar (see several modification articles), or simply placing and EQ before your amp to cut the ultra-low frequencies, your sound will be much cleaner, clearer and still have the Jazz-Box warmth. 👍

[@davidkornblatt991]

I believe the best choice for a jazz neck pickup is the GIBSON P90 Wes and Joe pass played guitars with it

[@teknomanning]

Integrate and wor on your git and amp. I have an esp horizon, supposedly a metal guitar, great sound for jazz ,but the prejudice of jazzers are amazing.. As for just humbuckers uhh tel Julian Lage and Bill Frisesll and all us teleguys

[@martincrowe81]

Bog-standard telecaster neck pickups are really nice for a jazz tone, because they tend towards a soft attack and can be nice and full. The low output can sound a bit thin, but folks who don't mind carrying a pedalboard with them (or who are using an all-in-one modeler like a Helix or what have you) can benefit from putting a clean boost in front of the amp to beef things up a bit. Picking near the neck pickup also makes a big difference, and finger-picking sounds great if you're into that sort of thing. It's (mostly) all about phrasing anyway.

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

Telecasters make great guitars for jazz. A Tele player not mentioned in the video who used one was Ted Green, to add another name to the list of jazz guitarists who prefer Telecasters. I'll bet Ted loved the sustain he could get from a solid-body since he played solo guitar so often. No troublesome hollow-body feedback to deal with, either - always a plus. If you have smaller or less well-conditioned hands, beware, though - because throwing a set of medium or heavy gauged flat-wounds on your Tele is going to take some hand strength to play because of the longer-scale in comparison to many arch-top guitars. The way around that is to tune down a half-step > from low to high, open strings E-Flat, A-Flat, D-Flat, G-Flat, B-Flat and E-Flat. an added benefit of doing this is that you have all of those nice open strings in tones/key centers common in jazz compositions. I have a nice arch-top which I love to play, and won't ever sell - it sounds like a dream - but I still like playing jazz on my Telecaster once in a while, and I take it on the road with me, too, as it is a great travel guitar.

[@torindavies1176]

martincrowe81 I actually enjoy playing strats for jazz too!

[@DilettanteXyz]

Ed Bickert eventually did eventually replace the Tele nick pickup with a humbucker, as shown in this video; but on some jazz b-board not too long ago, someone said that he did this only because the original pickup was too noisy in a studio setting and even in some clubs.

[@martincrowe81]

er: this is in response to Tiege's post about Strats, but attribution got garbled somehow. Me too! I actually quite like the neck/middle blended position, with some tweaking of both tone knobs. The blend knocks off some high-end zing by its nature, and it doesn't hurt that it's noise-cancelling on most modern pickup sets. Don't tell any purists, but this can sound really good with a fuzz or a mid-heavy overdrive for a slightly dirtier early jazz guitar tone. Should work with a neon '80s shredder too, but you may need to pack some kind of cardboard archtop disguise if your jam is full of olds.

[@carmenjames1705]

@@martincrowe81 you we

[@jean-marieboucherit4716]

You just saved my ( musical) life!!!!!!!

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Your video is very welcomed! * subscribed

[@rveurope]

Great content, I am not in jazz..but interested, love to listen jazz rock.....about blue chip picks, Keith from 5 watt world is in it!!

[@NemoNepersonne]

Right on all six! I wanted a light travel guitar that sounds like a jazz guitar. I bought an acoustic Washburn Rover, which has a tiny body and not much sound but a good neck. I installed a Kent Armstrong jazz pickup and Thomastick flatwound strings., George Benson model, and added a tiny Gretch lap steel gig bag. It sounds convincingly jazzy and weighs almost nothing. Properly set up, very nice for anyone who finds a solid body guitar or big jazz guitar too heavy. With an Effectuator gadget from Amazon that plugs into the guitar and has Bluetooth for playing band trax from my iPod and a set of earplugs plugged not that, I can play silently anywhere and take it onto airplanes with ease.

[@RichieZellon]

Interesting..which brings to mind... I have to research the new wave of travel guitars and see if there is anything good.

[@michaelanderson3844]

Great Neck pickup on a budget---GFS Fat Pat. Medium output, very round and full tone, with just enough treble. Street price $29.95 Have them on an SX ISIS (PRS clone) now, with a Gotoh 510 wraparound bridge, and they sound great.

[@robyntetla945]

Great info for us beginners!

[@RichieZellon]

Thx!

[@gitaar335]

Hi I have a Blue Chip Jazz Pick (BC JAZZ 100), before that I used JD JAZZ III and more recent the JD Stubby 3.0 mm and wouldn’t want to go back that. I tried on at my guitartech’s place. They are expensive!! But worth it: the pick is very smooth (Teflon-like)so it glides off the string(s), (but strangely you’ll need less grip to hold it. That made my picking hand more relaxed and there made me started softer picking. I play flat wounds and on all my guitars I’ve gone one gauge lighter. With no loss of tone. It’s sounds more round like picking with a thumb. They don’t wear out I have this on for over eight years and never lost it. I bought a thinner one a JAZZ 75, but that doesn’t work for me (tone gets harsher). This and a good professional setup are my best investments. I play sometimes on any amp that is available at rehearsal, gig or session, but I always get a good tone. His and a good professional setup are my best investments. I play sometimes on any amp that is available at rehearsal, gig or session, but I always get a good tone. So: good tone, lower musletonus at both hands, lighter strings. Only sometimes fear of losing the pick!

[@shoominati23]

A charlie christian pickup.. I'm doing a jazzbox soon with a Charlie in the neck and a TV jones goldfoil in the bridge.

[@jonasavall1046]

Plectrum choice is important. The best I have played with is the David Grissman plectrum. It makes a wonderful warm tone.