Question about different kinds of guitars....

[Thor Von Clemson]

I have a question, and I hope I do not get lynched for it. Are there different kinds of guitars for different styles of music? I know lots of metal players use Jackson, Ibanez, B.C. Rich and some other kinds of guitars for many reasons (the shape, the sound, the playability, etc)I am wondering is there a specific type of guitar for a specific type of music. I am going to be learning jazz guitar next semester and I am thinking I might need to buy a new guitar since the only two I have are my Lightning Sky Rhoads and an Ibanez acoustic. Any input is appreciated..
Thanks,
Zach

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

I try and adapt whatever guitar I am playing to whatever musical style I am trying to play. I don't consider one particular type of guitar an absolute necessity to play certain types of music, although they may be slightly more adept for that particular style.

For example, fingerstyle may be typically played on a cedar-topped small-bodied steel string acoustic but nothing will stop me from using a spruce-topped jumbo to play the same music.

I can also get a pretty good country twang out of my Soloist even though a Tele may be the weapon of choice for country players.

And I play metal on my Taylor acoustic that's designed primarily for fingerstyle, and some clean fingerstyle on my Jackson Soloist.

The guitar is an extension of you and your musical creativity. Who knows, you might stand out in your jazz class if you brought in your pointy Jackson RR1. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ApeDosMil]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

bah, i played punk on my old jackson king v std, I play punk, flamenco stuff on my rr5. i play what ever the hell i want on them [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Thor Von Clemson]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

[ QUOTE ]
Who knows, you might stand out in your jazz class if you brought in your pointy Jackson RR1.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I brought it in the first day for lessons a few semesters ago and the teacher said "whoa, you've got a weapon" I thought it was funny but I never brought it back to class... Anyways I would like to be able to use the rr, problem is I keep it in drop c tuning. I do not want to have to standard tune it everytime I go to class. I agree though, it is all about adapting to the guitar. I recall twisteramps ( think it was him anyways... forgive me if it was not) posting a clip of him shredding on a telecaster a while back. I think I am more or less trying to get a lead on a guitar that plays well and has warm, full tone in the 700-1000 range.

[442w30]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

A Washburn J-6 would do well, but the body is real thick and the stock pickups can feedback on you. Of course in a Jazz class, you probably won't be cranking it up. They can be had real cheap on eBay even though they sell for $800 at stores. I am VERY happy with mine, but you may want to swap the neck pickup. Of course, the feedback may be from the resonance of the hollow body and the volume it is being used and not the pickups after all. The stock pickups sound good other than a tendency to FB.

[Ace]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

For styles other than metal, I love Gibsons. You can get a good used Les Paul Studio for that price range.

[Accept2]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

I once saw an old jazz dude play his solo jazz using flying
Vs and other metal guitars. He was about 80 years old. He played them because he could buy them cheaper than real jazz boxes. And he jazzed............

[1trussell]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

Check out a used Hamer Artist. You can get a mahogany or korina Artist in that price range (maybe even a Custom if you look hard enough). They are an excellent semi-hollowbody that can perform just about anything.

[kmanick]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

The new Ibanez Jazz guitars are supposedly real nice and can be bought new in the range you're looking in. I agree with these guys use your "weapon" if possible but if you have to retune it every time that that can be a real pain in the butt.

[jgcable]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

[ QUOTE ]
I have a question, and I hope I do not get lynched for it. Are there different kinds of guitars for different styles of music? I know lots of metal players use Jackson, Ibanez, B.C. Rich and some other kinds of guitars for many reasons (the shape, the sound, the playability, etc)I am wondering is there a specific type of guitar for a specific type of music. I am going to be learning jazz guitar next semester and I am thinking I might need to buy a new guitar since the only two I have are my Lightning Sky Rhoads and an Ibanez acoustic. Any input is appreciated..
Thanks,


Zach

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes there certainly is a difference. Neither your lightning sky Rhoads or the Ibanez are appropriate for jazz. You should look into a semi-hollow jazz box or a solid bodied electric that is chambered. Can you play jazz on one of your guitars?? Yes. Will it sounds as good as a guitar designed for jazz?? No. Will the guitars you currently own look appropriate and have the features required for playing jazz?? No. Do youself a favor and don't listen to many of the yahoo's (who you callin a yahoo!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]) here who think it would be "so cool" to play a Lightning Sky Rhoads during Jazz lessons. It's not cool unless of course you have a mullet and still wear spandex. You can get a decent jazz box pretty cheap. Do some research. Epiphone makes several affordable models. The Washburn J6 is outstanding. A Les Paul would do it too. Lots of guys use strats for Jazz too.

[SEEGERMANY]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

It's a little pricey, but I use a Gibson Les Paul Supreme for my jazzy noodling. It has an arched front and back as well as tone chambers. The pickups provide warm, fat, clean tones. Having said that, depending on your amp settings, it can also growl like a mofo.

Keep your eyes on ebay. The Supreme was not one of Gibson's huge sellers. Personally, I love them and they are absolutely gorgeous. Jazz On!

[thetroy]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

Depends on what kind of jazz you're talking about. The more aggressive stuff would be fine on a metal guitar, but the mellow stuff might be harder to do. I would get a Soloist, but I'm slightly insane

[atomic charvel guy]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

got lots of money? jazz is best played on something like a gibson johnny smith, or es175,335's, etc.
nothing like hearing real jazz being played on one of those.

[hippietim]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

The $300-400 Ibanez hollow bodies are surprisingly good guitars. Much better than the Epiphones IMO.

FWIW, I studied jazz for a few semesters in college. I didn't have money for another guitar so I just showed up with my only guitar which was an SD Rhoads w/Rising Sun graphic. I plugged into a little 60-watt Roland Cube keyboard amp I had. Once they heard the sound of the guitar, nobody said a word.

[j2379]

Re: Question about different kinds of guitars....

you can play jazz on any guitar. when i took jazz many moons ago my instructor used a tele parts mutt w/2 hums. for an authenitic (ron) old style jazz sound its best with a hollow or semi with huge flatwounds. tho many modern Jazz players use solid bodies. my old BCRs with the varitone circuit I can gets tones pretty close to that of a semi hollow. especially when i run the pickups in parallel, they sound like P90's.