Jazz preset recommends?

[FullReverse]

I can’t seem to find much info on this subject. I have an FM9 incoming. I know this thing can do clean to metal tones outstandingly, but is there a specific amp to look at for straight ahead jazz tones? Polytone, Henirksen, etc.. something that will sound great with an archtop.

All clean tones I’ve seen have been drenched in effects. Which is good for the other stuff I do, but not jazz.

(Now that AustinBuddy shot down my “Jazz through the ages” preset pack idea )

 

[OrganicZed]

There are numerous amps that would fit the bill. Check out the Fender models and the Roland JC120 model (featured in a factory preset titled smokey jazz) for starters. Also, many amps can be dialed in to have a great clean tone that you might not expect such as the D60 less (based on the Fryette Deliverance 60W).

Hopefully someone who actually plays jazz guitar will give you their suggestions as well.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Turn the effects off?

Many amps in these devices will do clean, including some that also do gain.

I'm not a real jazz guy at all, but I particularly like the Archean Clean. Jazz 120 for very clean solid state.

 

[FullReverse]

Thanks. Do you know if any jazz centric amps were modeled in the FM9? I could (probably) get there with a fender model, but was curious if there was an iconic jazz amp (aside from the Jazz Chorus [whis is never recommended for jazz by “jazz guys”]) that is tailored toward an archtop guitar.

Edit: I will RTFM myself for which amps are modeled to look for Jazz amps

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Thanks. Do you know if any jazz centric amps were modeled in the FM9? I could (probably) get there with a fender model, but was curious if there was an iconic jazz amp (aside from the Jazz Chorus [whis is never recommended for jazz by “jazz guys”]) that is tailored toward an archtop guitar.

Edit: I will RTFM myself for which amps are modeled to look for Jazz amps

People like to label amps as "Jazz", "Metal", "Country", but that's because someone in the genre they like uses that amp so they assume that's what it's good for, but few are fine-tuned for one specific style, instead they cover a range because they're just amps with knobs to twiddle and they sound good. What they DO fine-tune are things like headroom, early or late breakup, and the ability to adjust the overall tonality but those really just make the amp more flexible. And, in the Fractal world, we laugh at the rigid definitions because we can freely change so many parts of the amp without it blowing up.

The factory presets are useful for browsing…

• 023 - SMOKEY JAZZ
  Jazzy guitar tone, based on Roland's JC-120 amplifier and its built-in chorus. Amp: Jazz 120.
• 054 - EAST WES
  Clean tone with compression, delay, reverb, and some chorus, based on the jazzy song "East Wes" by Eric Johnson. Amp: Vibrato Verb.
• 096 - EJ CLEAN — Eric Johnson's clean signature sound, using a Fender Vibroverb, chorus and tape echo. "ACL" means "Austin City Limits". Some scenes were created by Cooper Carter. Control Switch 1 freezes the delay.

Start turning the tone knobs in the amp block and maybe adjust the Cab IR and I'm sure you'll find sounds you really like.

I attached two I put together, kinda based on the ones above, for somewhat of a Wes Montgomery or Pat Methany sound. They sound nice with my Strats, my PRS SC-245 (like a Les Paul) and Custom 22 Semi-Hollow (kind of like an ES-335), all of which have been used by various jazz artists. The important thing about the guitar is that its pickup isn't too hot and that it has a good frequency response. The body construction affects the frequency response too, but so does the tone control on the guitar. The choice of amp and cab controls the rest of the sound.

The Fender Princeton, Deluxe and Twin models, maybe Vox-ish and class A amps, are where I'd start, but do not ignore things like the Marshall and Mesa-type amps which can get very clean and sound great. Heck, look into the Tweed models because set right they're big and fat and clean.

 

[Brucegregori]

What are you thinking when it comes to jazz? That is a broad category for guitar players. For example for George Benson things I certainly use a Double Verb. I could also get away with this sound with any 50's bebop players since they all basically played through smaller tube combos of the time - maybe even a tweed deluxe. But throw a DS-1 and a little pitch in front of a Twin and you have Mike Stern. So, kind of a "depends" question....For more modern bebop sounds I also like the Shiver, PRS Archon (Archeon) clean. I never liked things like a Jazz Chorus for jazz....they sound sterile to me but for the solid state clean sound like ala later Pat Martino that is also effective. Send me a message if you want to set up a session on sounds...I do a whole bunch of profiles on this topic.

 

[FullReverse]

If I can get this tone (the henriksen at ~1 min 37 seconds), I’d be pretty happy. It’s warm yet still solid/defined/punchy.




Which goes beyond “just rolling the tone knob back” which seems to be what non jazz people always say.

 

[Brucegregori]

If I can get this tone (the henriksen at ~1 min 37 seconds), I’d be pretty happy. It’s warm yet still solid/defined/punchy.




Which goes beyond “just rolling the tone knob back” which seems to be what non jazz people always say.

For that sound I would use Vibrato Verb or Tweed Deluxe with a bit of Reverb and a 212 cab. I have few presets like this. Set the amps flat all controls at 5. Very low on the gain side so you can actually put your guitar all the way up. Pete made me a few amps and in fact he made me the very first Bud 10 and 12! Nice amps for straight ahead jazz but not my thing.

 

[Lolo-G]

Turn the effects off?

Many amps in these devices will do clean, including some that also do gain.

I'm not a real jazz guy at all, but I particularly like the Archean Clean. Jazz 120 for very clean solid state.

Same choice for the amp and the CAB, I also mix a CAB JC120 with 4X12! The CA3+ could also be suitable.
I control the crunch of the amp with the Drive and Input trim