How To Get That Gibson "plummy" Jazz Sound Help!

lee phay

lee phay

Member
Hi guys,

I am new to jazz to just bear with me haha. I own an Eastman AR371 (ES 175 copy), running into an Axe FX II. The closest I have gotten to a decent jazz sound is in the video below.

That wasn't too impossible as I was going for a Pat Martino "live at Yoshi's:" tone, although I still could not get that Pat Martino punchiness. However these days, I am trying to go for a more traditional gibson jazz tone. If I had to describe it, it is a plum sound that is less acoustic in nature. The Eastman can be rather bright and flat sounding in the mids, and I have spent hours trying to tweak my Axe FX (Fender Vibrato King Model with reverb), but I just can't get it. When I try to boost the mids & bass to give it body, it gets muddy and dead sounding. I am using D'addario Chromes and Jazz III picks. I am convinced getting that tone is possible with the Axe Fx, I just need some pointers.

Here is the tone I am looking for:


Pat Kelley's sound here:


This guy really nailed that ES175 tone I hear in my head:
https://soundcloud.com/grahambop/bb-blues

Thanks in advance :D:D:D

Lee Phay
 
Well, I don't own a hollow body guitar, but on my dual hum bucker guitars i tend to choose a fat sounding IR (the CK Euro pack is surprisingly good for this, otherwise the Rumble EV12L factory cab or the 2x12 bogner with Fane speakers from the Ultra-Res folder that comes with FW-updates. The trip-trim 1x12 is also good, if I remember correctly. Try some of these or something similar, they should get you going). I don't now, what other people think when they hear the term "fat", but for me it means a strong and solid representation of the middle frequency, especially the low-mids. Then I adjust the amp to be a little brighter than needed, so that I still have opportunity to control my sound with the tone and volume pots on the guitar. Then I cut the lows to make the "boomy" lows go away. This seems to do the trick for me - I hope it helps!

/Martin
 
Try the Doubleverb (Twin) amp sim.
If you're monitoring FRFR, try the new stock Bludotone 1 X 12 cab ir.
 
lee phay said:
Pat Kelley's sound here:
Click to expand...


Great playing first off, I have considered many times "getting into" jazz to improve my chops. In the Pat Kelley video one of them is playing through a Matchless so give the Matchbox D-30 a try with a G12M+G12H 2x12 cab or 1x12 Studio cab. Pull the Overdrive down and pump the bass a bit. Might also require a compressor out front to give it that punchy tone.

Good luck mate!!
 
Try the VibraKing amp, ODS-100 Clean, or TX Star Clean. All three give me nice, fat, jazzy tones even with high gain pups. The ElectricGypsy preset is nice if you turn off all the factory effects and start with the amp and cab only. Copy and paste it to a new preset slot and go from there.
 
it says that ES175 tone that really "nails" it was recorded direct....no amp! i guess the less you try to colour the tone, the better. i got a nice pat metheny sound the other day using the tube pre (master on 10, everything else on 5) and two different ir's of 15" speakers in a stereo cab block
 
Yes, that's a beautiful tone. My v18 Jazz tone is a combination of JC120 & Double Verb. (Two amp blocks) You might play around with that. Also, don't discount how much of the tone is coming from that L-4's body, it does come across as very "acoustic" in nature to me. As said before, don't roll your tone knob off too much. You might think about using a PEQ block (either before and/or after the amp block) to sculpt your tone.

Gotta love that ES-175 tone, I love mine, but hate to play it...it's a beast. Nowadays I just use my PRS hollowbody with the Gibson '57 Classic in the neck position. It's not exactly the ES-175 tone, but the playability more than makes up for it.
 
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