Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Jazz Guitar Amp And Guitar

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 type of guitars used for this type of music is the archtop. It has a large hollow sound box, magnetic pickups, floating bridge and violin style f shaped sound holes. These guitars are also known as hollow body guitars and have been available to purchase since the 1950s from famous 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.

Archtops or hollowbody guitars may be responsible for the famous "warm" jazzy tone, but the amplifier also plays a major part. Tube amps are usually the most popular form of amp for guitarists and there are many amplifiers that are dedicated to helping create the classic jazzy tone.

Tube amps may have have a great tone and a far more musical overdriven sound compared to solid state amps, but they are very heavy and they are difficult to maintain. They also suffer from more noise than solid state amps and are more expensive.

One of the most popular amps that produce jazzy tones is the superb Roland JC120 Chorus. It was introduced in 1975 and has been used by legendary musicians, such as George Benson, Larry Coryell, Pat Matino and many others. This beautiful amp is the first to have special effects built into it, including delay, reverb and overdrive.

Fender also make very popular amps. These include the Hot Rod Deluxe, Fender King, Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight Speaker Cabinet with Amp Head, Fender Blues Junior, All of these amps are capable of producing that classic and instantly recognisable jazzy tone that is so sought after. Modelling hardware and software is also available that can produce the classic tone and can be used with any type of amp.




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