Guide to the Best Guitar Gear for Jazz

From a genre standpoint, jazz can seem fairly impenetrable looking in from the outside. And that's before we've even discussed the equipment and tone required for the job. To help out, we've outlined some of the best gear to ensure you're prepared for your jazz guitar journey!

The History of Jazz Guitar

So you want to emulate your trailblazing jazz guitar heroes like Pat Metheny and Grant Green? The world of the jazz guitar has a lot to offer but, before you get started, there's lots to consider. To achieve the very best jazz sound, here's what you'll need:

 

 

·        Archtop or Semi-Hollow Guitar

·        Warm pickups with emphasis on the neck

·        Good clean amp or amp modeller

·        Effects pedals

 

To help out, we've outlined some of the best gear to ensure you're prepared for your jazz guitar journey. So let's dive into the details.

 

Jazz Guitar Bodies

Choosing the right guitar and related equipment is vital to achieve that quintessential warm, nimble, jazz sound. So what do you need to know? Let's start with the guitar body. When it comes to jazz guitars, there are two main types of body to consider.

Hollow / Semi Hollow Body Guitars

As their name suggests, these instruments are characterised by an eye-catching arched top and are formed from a hollow body. Their other main notable feature is their f-style sound holes, which lend the guitar a bolder sound with more presence. These instruments boast a larger body (when compared to their solid-body counterparts), but they remain comfortable to use.

Semi-Hollow Body Guitars

A semi-hollow body guitar can be just as good as its hollow body cousin but varies in a number of areas. They're regarded as being more versatile, and are usually smaller than a hollow body, but still remain larger than a solid body model. They deliver a sharper, slightly less warm, mellow jazz tone/feel (with a more modern edge), but are known to suffer from less feedback problems than their hollow body brethren. Semi-Hollow guitars better handle distorted sounds, allowing you to mess around with the traditional jazz tone if you so choose.  

Jazz Guitar Pickups

Pickups are the part of your guitar which detect the vibration of your strings and convert this into an electric signal, which is then transferred to your speaker and turned into sound. When it comes to jazz, you're probably going to want a set of Humbucker pickups. Humbuckers are characterised by a warm sound and an enhanced dynamic range. Both of these features contribute to that trademark jazz sound. Most Archtop and Semi-Hollow Body guitars come with Humbucker pickups as standard.

 

You'll also want to look at the positioning of a guitar's pickups. Generally, guitars suited to jazz will emphasise quality on a pickup placed on the neck. This is because neck pickups contribute a richer, fuller, tone, especially suited to a clean sound free of distortion.

 

Shop All Humbucker Pickups

Jazz Guitar Amps

To achieve the best jazz tone, you're going to want an amp with a good clean sound and plenty of headroom. 'Clean' refers to a lack of distortion, meaning that the sound of your playing, as heard through the amp, is crystal clear with no fuzzy edges. Headroom equates to the amount of amplification, ie: volume, your amplifier can achieve without the sound becoming distorted.

 

Valve combo amps, which boast enough headroom and offer clean volume, make an ideal option for the genre. They deliver that rich, warm (yet clear) tone, with a level of response that's essential if you really want to nail the jazz sound. They are usually slightly heavier, pricier and require more regular upkeep, however.

 

Solid-state amps, which some jazz guitar players prefer, deliver an equally good clean channel, with astounding clarity and natural, authentic tone to boot. Ultimately, it's all down to your personal preferences, budget, and depends on what you're looking for in your rig.

Valve Combo Amps

Jazz Guitar Amps Modellers

Amp modellers are physical or software units which can digitally replicate a variety of classic amp sounds. Some people swear by them, others prefer the 'real' thing. Nowadays, there are a number of excellent models to choose from, in both physical and computer software form, and an amp modeller which can reproduce the essentials as outlined above is certainly worth considering.

Guitar Amp Modellers

Jazz Guitar Effects Pedals

With jazz playing, effects pedals are used more as musical seasoning; they aren't heavily relied upon and are instead used to provide your style with additional flavour and emotion when it's needed.

 

The most common pedals used are compressor, chorus and reverb variants - however many players augment their tone using delay and overdrive pedals too. We've outlined why each effect is important for jazz guitar below...

 

Chorus

  • Harness rich, clean tones. Used to compliment a warm guitar sound.  
  • Increases ambience and depth.
  • Provides the illusion of two individual stereo guitar signals.
  • Combine with reverb for exciting sonic experimentation.
  • Works best with clean signals (not distorted ones).

Compressor

  • Ensures your volume remains consistent.
  • Boosts your quiet frequencies.
  • Reduces louder frequencies.
  • Augments cleaner tones with additional dynamics.
  • Improves note sustainability.
  • Increased presence/volume.

Reverb

  • Adds more ambience/space/depth to a clean tone.  
  • Adds further texture and emotion to your sound.
  • Mimic the reflections of an environment.
  • Spring reverb is especially common among traditional players.

Overdrive

  • Increase warmth and low-end. Especially good at enhancing a lead tone. Add aggression and bite to your sound (maybe more relevant for certain parts of a song, or more modern/experimental jazz). Use a minimal amount; using too much can ruin your desired clean, smooth tone.

Delay

    •  
  • Use in combination with reverb for intriguing sonics.
  • Extended trailing notes.
  • Use shorter delays for slap back.
  • Provides the illusion of a doubled-up guitar signal/space.

Best Guitars for Jazz

Taking into account all we've discussed above, there are great jazz guitars available to suit every budget. Here are some popular brands and models to consider:

 

D'Angelico

Hailing from New York City's Little Italy district, D'Angelico have carved out a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest manufacturers of archtop guitars. Their flagship EXL-1 model delivers incredible sound for its price. Inspired by the original 1947 model, this modern take features a full-sized Seymour Duncan 59 Humbucker pickup up placed in the neck, for rich, sustained tones.

 

Heritage

An iconic brand, American-made Heritage guitars come with a guarantee of excellence. Their Standard series of hollow body electric guitars fuse the best of traditional and modern techniques. At the top of the tree, price-wise, Heritage's Eagle Class model features premium tonewoods, pickups, and electronics for an unbelievable jazz sound.

 

Ibanez

Japanese company Ibanez have been producing guitars since 1957, and their low to mid-range jazz guitars offer excellent value for money, with even their entry level AF55 semi-hollow body model offering a full and rich sound.

 

Best Pedals for Jazz

Ever since the 1970s, when jazz fusion music (crossing jazz with rock) became increasingly popular, jazz guitarists have sought to use effects pedals to add a striking twist to their sound. If you're going to use one, you'll want to choose a model capable of doing justice to the nuances of jazz playing. Here are some recommendations to get you started:

 

Boss RV-6

Providing excellent value for money, the Boss RV-6 reverb pedal has become a staple for many jazz guitarists. You can rely on it for lush, atmospheric sounds across eight different settings.

 

TC Electronic Flashback 2 Delay & Looper Pedal

TC Electronic's effect pedals have been a go-to for jazz guitarists for some time now, and, for delay, you can't get much better than the Flashback 2. You'll get a huge tonal palette to play with, plus a built-in looper function for good measure!

 

BOSS CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus Pedal

Boss have you covered once again here, with the excellent CE-2W. Featuring the best of both worlds, with this powerful little unit you can recreate the classic 1976 CE-1 Boss sound or come right up to date with its modern variant.

 

Wampler EGO Compressor Pedal

This fantastic device gives you a superb, clear sound with huge sustain across an endless possibility of sound shapes, with your core tone untouched.

Jazz Guitar For The 21st Century

Extended Range Guitars

Many jazz guitarists play an Extended Range instrument – essentially, any guitar featuring more than 6 strings. More notes equal more chord voicings, textures, and tonalities. Obviously, these are not recommended for the beginner player, but for more advanced students they really are worth considering.

 

Multi-Scale Guitars

These curious looking instruments are a newer invention that many people see as a way forward in guitar technology. On a multi-scale guitar, each string has its own individual scale length. They allow for fantastic accuracy and enhanced intonation – perfect for playing jazz! Whilst they may look bizarre at first sight, multi-scale guitars are actually a logical step forward and feel natural- to play.

 

Conclusion

Becoming a jazz guitarist might seem daunting, but the results are rewarding. Consider, also, that a good grounding in jazz guitar playing will serve you well across all genres of music. There's a reason why so many top session musicians started off in jazz.

As ever, when it comes to equipment, it's really down to personal choice and budget. Whatever set-up you choose, we're confident that your jazz journey will prove unforgettable.

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