Struggling to stay interested in electric guitar! Any advice

AndrewUlle

I rarely play rock and roll since buying my Dell Arte 2+ years ago, so my electrics have just sat in their cases since then. The only times they come out is if I'm called to sit in with any friends' bands (none of whom are into GJ). It does still feel good knock out a Beatles or Stones song on autopilot. A nice side effect of stringing my electrics with flat wounds (great for early 60s) is that they last literally for years without changing and still sound great.

I've always been a minimalist - my only pedals were a tube overdrive and Roland Space Echo (which I stupidly sold after retiring from gigging). I used Vox amps: a solid-state germanium output Pacemaker (Thomas Organ - USA), and a JMI tube AC-50 (UK).

Phil

Julian Lage
Rez Abbasi
Gilad Hekselman
Lage Lund
Peter Bernstein
Jonathan Kreisberg
Bireli on electric!

fourowls

Phil wrote: »

Julian Lage
Rez Abbasi
Gilad Hekselman
Lage Lund
Peter Bernstein
Jonathan Kreisberg
Bireli on electric!

Thanks kindly! I saw Bireli on a Stratocaster and I hadn't seen someone use an electric quite like that! I will check others on your list. I guess Al Di Meola may be a contender too I guess! Cheers..

Russell Letson

I suppose what instruments one keeps--and what music gets played on them--depends partly on what one listens to and/or aspires to play and/or who one plays with. On the listening side, for jazz on Teles and Strats, I would think that Ed Bickert, Ted Greene, and Bill Frisell alone could supply a lifetime's worth of interest and inspiration. The rest of electric jazz spreads out as far as the ear can see--my favorites include Pizzarelli father and son, George Barnes, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel, Russell Malone, among the more traditional/straight-ahead players.

I've been playing for a long, long time, and I seem unable to abandon any of the styles I've attempted*--or the guitars on which I've attempted them. So I've always had both steel- and nylon-string acoustics, plus (over the last decade or so) archtops and Selmer-styles. And because I've had the good fortune of playing out with eclectic musicians, everything except the nylon-stringers have pickups of some kind. I don't see myself divesting any of the core gear until that time when I'm physically unable to play anything.

* My reach far exceeds my grasp, which is no reason not to keep reaching. Perhaps someday I will deserve my guitars.

fourowls

Russell Letson wrote: »

I suppose what instruments one keeps--and what music gets played on them--depends partly on what one listens to and/or aspires to play and/or who one plays with. On the listening side, for jazz on Teles and Strats, I would think that Ed Bickert, Ted Greene, and Bill Frisell alone could supply a lifetime's worth of interest and inspiration. The rest of electric jazz spreads out as far as the ear can see--my favorites include Pizzarelli father and son, George Barnes, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel, Russell Malone, among the more traditional/straight-ahead players.

I've been playing for a long, long time, and I seem unable to abandon any of the styles I've attempted*--or the guitars on which I've attempted them. So I've always had both steel- and nylon-string acoustics, plus (over the last decade or so) archtops and Selmer-styles. And because I've had the good fortune of playing out with eclectic musicians, everything except the nylon-stringers have pickups of some kind. I don't see myself divesting any of the core gear until that time when I'm physically unable to play anything.

* My reach far exceeds my grasp, which is no reason not to keep reaching. Perhaps someday I will deserve my guitars.

Thanks kindly and a well-balanced answer. I have been listening to a lot of Gypsy Jazz (DeBarre, Rosenberg Trio etc) as I just love it but also from a wanting to absorb it. I actually don't listen to a lot of the original Django as some of it I find a bit dated for my 'modern' ears and I am finding GJ quite an diverse field with a lot of variation and a sense of play according to who you are rather than copy a strict template. I will keep my lovely 2 by 10" 30 year Fender amp...I may regret losing such a stellar tone and as you mentioned we do go up and down and need various influences. Anyway, music is a journey and bound up with who we are too..

Jazzaferri

what is not dated and never will be is Django's phrasing. All the top players in this genre agree on that. Hopefully one day for you too. I started listening to DR in the late 60's. Went through a modern player period about 10 years ago but am back to listening to Django.

FWlittleIW Django Bickert Aleman and Burrell are my jazz guitar tastes

fourowls

Jazzaferri wrote: »

what is not dated and never will be is Django's phrasing. All the top players in this genre agree on that. Hopefully one day for you too. I started listening to DR in the late 60's. Went through a modern player period about 10 years ago but am back to listening to Django.

FWlittleIW Django Bickert Aleman and Burrell are my jazz guitar tastes

I agree, and yes Django's phrasing was exquisite and so tasteful. I guess I meant dated in the old sounding recording compared to more hi fidelity recordings from people such as the Rosenberg Trio amongst others. Yes I do listen to Django but more so from a musically instructive perspective rather than a pure enjoyment. Perhaps I will grow to like it more and some of it is really good, others I find a struggle to listen to (at this stage of my GJ development!).

Matteo

Wow, how times have changed! I started to listen to Django in the late 1980's and didn't find out about gypsy jazz (or rather jazz manouche/swing manouche) – that is, contemporary musicians playing in the style of the French Hot Quartet – until a trip to Paris in the mid 90's. What a surprise! Anyway, the poor recording quality of the old Django LP's only made the music more magic to me; as if it came from a whole different universe! Listening to it was like a journey in both space and time. And how little I knew back then. How could they make those strange looking Selmer guitars sound like that? Did they use nylon or steel strings (it sounded like something in-between). Although, I must confess that it took a little time to get used to, and really appreciate, the "la pompe" rhythm. That, and the violin, did sound a little bit corny to the young rock fan I was then.

AndrewUlle

"Although, I must confess that it took a little time to get used to, and really appreciate, the "la pompe" rhythm. That, and the violin, did sound a little bit corny to the young rock fan I was then."

Every time I play GJ to a friend who has never heard it, they always say it sound either like old cartoon music, or something from a Pixar soundtrack, or maybe from the kids film Ratatouille.

alton

Andrew Ulle wrote: »

Every time I play GJ to a friend who has never heard it, they always say it sound either like old cartoon music, or something from a Pixar soundtrack, or maybe from the kids film Ratatouille.

I get the same thing from my friends.