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Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Jazz Guitar Amp And Guitars

By Leticia Jensen


Jazz guitars were conceived in the early 1930s due to the need to use amplification in order to increase the volume of conventional acoustic guitars in a live setting so it can be heard more clearly. Very few instruments have had a greater influence on the evolution of music since the start of the 20th century. The earliest forms of jazz guitars were acoustic but by the 1940s, musicians were playing with either a hollow body acoustic or electric guitars along with a jazz guitar amp.

Probably the most recognisable guitars used in this type of music is the archtop or hollowbody electric, It is instantly recognisable due to its large hollow body, f shaped sound holes like a violin, floating bridge and magnetic pickups. This type of guitar have been mass produced since the 1950s by leading guitar manufacturers.

Jazz guitar involved several playing styles, the most common being blowing, comping and soloing. Blowing refers to improvising over the top of a chord progression with phrases and ornaments. Comping is the playing of extended chords while another musician solos or plays a melody. Walking basslines often have walking basslines and improvisation will make use of modes, scales and arpeggios.

It is possible to play this form of music on any type of guitar, whether it is a hollow body, solid body or acoustic. However, the archtop hollowbody guitars produces the famous jazzy tone. Epiphone, Gibson, D'Angelico and Stromberg are among the most well known manufactures of archtop guitars. Hollowbody archtops are usually made from one piece of wood that has been shaped into an arch to form the guitar's shape, with a spruce top and maple back. Hollowbody archtop guitars enjoyed renewed popularity during the 1990s with the jazz musicians, pop musicians and rock musicians of the time.

The beautifully jazzy tone is best produced with a hollowbody archtop, due to its magnetic pickups and hollow body. Although, the desired "warm tone" from these guitars is best combined with a good amplifier that has been designed specifically for this kind of music.

Tube amps are the most popular type of amps but have some limitations. They are very heavy and require more maintenance than solid state amps. They also suffer from noise and cost more. One great alternative are digital modelling modules that can produce any classic tone and can be used on any amplifier. However, purists still prefer the tone of a tube amp.

One of the most popular amps for this style of music is the Roland J-120 Chorus Amp. Released in 1975 it was the first amp that came compete with effects built into into it, such as reverb, delay and distortion. George Benson, Larry Coryell and Pat Martino used the Roland J-20 Chorus Amp during live performances, making the amp a classic.

There are several excellent amps produced by Fender. These include: The Fender King, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Fender Blues JR and the very popular Fender Jazzmaster stack with amplifier head. Each one of these amps does a fantastic job of creating a beautiful and jazzy tone, especially when combined with a classic archtop or hollowbody.




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