Classic Jazz sound

G

gibsonash

Experienced
Hi Jazz Guys ,what amp to start for a "classic jazz sound" , Pass , Hall , Benson , Metheny ... ? PRS Hollowbody II Piezo
Thanks !
No JC120 please ;)
 
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Many of those players use very different amps, and have even used different amps through the years. Many classic jazz guitar recordings were done using a Fender Tweed deluxe. After the 60s many players started using blackface Fenders like Twin or Deluxe reverb.

Some of the players you mention moved to using solid state amps like a polytone in their later years. We don't have any good amps for that in the Fractal, but the whole point of those amps are just to amplify the guitar as cleanly as possible. So you could get close to that sound by using just an IR and some reverb. Some compression with the compressor block could also work in that context.

I like the Silverface Priceton (Princetone AA94) or Vibrato verbAA for jazz. The vibratoverb needs the input trim to be lowered to get clean enough, but I like it for jazz. I have also used the Tucana clean for jazz. Any clean fender style amp would work well, especially when lowering the input trim to 0.5 to simulate the "low" input on a amp.
 
Main thing is the guitar, strings, and the player. Yes, a floating neck pick up in an archtop is going sound and feel different than a Tele, but both wind up producing great music.

I was actually getting really nice results from the Emerald Virtuo, using both the neck magnetic pickup and the piezo through the Zoom AC-3 Acoustic Creator or the Ethos Clean II.

There are so many different jazz and jazz-style guitarists out there. Their distinct sound ranges from downright muddy (yes, Pat Martino, who is one of the all-time greats) to bright and even overdriven.

Just depends on what you want.
 
PatrickWD said:
Many of those players use very different amps, and have even used different amps through the years. Many classic jazz guitar recordings were done using a Fender Tweed deluxe. After the 60s many players started using blackface Fenders like Twin or Deluxe reverb.

Some of the players you mention moved to using solid state amps like a polytone in their later years. We don't have any good amps for that in the Fractal, but the whole point of those amps are just to amplify the guitar as cleanly as possible. So you could get close to that sound by using just an IR and some reverb. Some compression with the compressor block could also work in that context.

I like the Silverface Priceton (Princetone AA94) or Vibrato verbAA for jazz. The vibratoverb needs the input trim to be lowered to get clean enough, but I like it for jazz. I have also used the Tucana clean for jazz. Any clean fender style amp would work well, especially when lowering the input trim to 0.5 to simulate the "low" input on a amp.
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Thanks fot the tips , it can help .
 
PatrickWD said:
The Roland Jazz Chorus, even though it has jazz in its name, is not an amp that most jazz players like. It is a solid state amp though, but does not sound anything like a polytone, acoustic image or Hendriksen that the jazz players that use solid state use.
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I realize that but it is a solid state clean amp in Fractal land and with the new comp algo's it get's pretty nice. USA pre clean is also a good option as is the Blues Jr. and Twin
 
Check out Jeff Golub, died too young. His roots were jAzz like his stuff with avenue Blue. He liked Twin Reverbs. I agree that semi or hollow body guitars lend a lot to the Jazz sound, n but I prefer Jeff Golubs approach to jazz. Used a Semi Hollow body then but later switched to a Fender Red Start for more bluesy tones.

 
PatrickWD said:
The Roland Jazz Chorus, even though it has jazz in its name, is not an amp that most jazz players like. It is a solid state amp though, but does not sound anything like a polytone, acoustic image or Hendriksen that the jazz players that use solid state use.
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I've had success using the Jazz Chorus amp paired with an IR of a Polytone. Dr. Bonkers has some nice, inexpensive ones for sale on his website. I also have some free IRs in the IR forum here of my Polytone Minibrute IV 1x15.
 
For ultra clear sound I use the USA PRE CLEAN model with the Dumble IR.
Here are some details:
Comp : Optical Compressor
USA Pre Clean amp model with a 2X12 Jazz 120 impedance curve
IR: Dyna CAB 4X12 Rumble EV12L

This is the setup I play some Jazz Defenders songs with.
It works well in the band and to my ears too
 

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After a long time using the USA PRE Clean model I needed something new. I opted for the Capt Hook 1A for my clean sounds (jazz) it works very well.
I kept the impedance curve proposed with the Capt Hook and I did not change the IR
 
Try the Gibtone Scout and/or Nuclear Tone with the gain pretty low - I really love those for fat cleans in a jazzy mode, more than something more "solid state" like. I did some jazzy parts recently for a pop tune and used the Scout, absolutely nailed the feel.

And it goes without saying that the IR/cab makes a huge difference - I think I went with one of the Dumble 4x12 Dyna-cabs on that recording, but it could have been one of the Fender 1x12's or the Lead 80 cab.
 
Stratman68 said:
Check out Jeff Golub, died too young. His roots were jAzz like his stuff with avenue Blue. He liked Twin Reverbs. I agree that semi or hollow body guitars lend a lot to the Jazz sound, n but I prefer Jeff Golubs approach to jazz. Used a Semi Hollow body then but later switched to a Fender Red Start for more bluesy tones.

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Thanks for posting this. Very great sound. Will explore this guy's music more.
 
Having owned several archtops (various Ibanez and Gibson) and several hollow bodies (PRS, Fender, Gretsch), I personally do not think your PRS is going to really get you there. Amp would be a secondary consideration for the "classic" tone you're looking for IMHO.
 
As the longtime owner of a PRS Hollowbody Spruce, I agree somewhat with CactusTone. Maybe perhaps by nature of the smaller body size, the bridge block that connects the top to the back, the pickups, or just the overall voicing of PRS writ large, but mine did not easily go to "traditional" jazz tone until I moved to heavier flatwound strings. It mellowed out the trebles of the guitar in general and brought more of the fundamental of the note forward. Now, I can use that into a number of different clean amp models (including Rambler, CAE, and Swart) for those kinds of sounds... sort of.

I think that is in all sorts of guitar styles, right hand technique can make all the difference in achieving a genre-specific tone. Everytime I see a Ted Greene clip I'm just blown away by the tone he gets from a tele.
 
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