Humbucker on a Selmac, revisited

CalebFSU

Bob- I agree Freddie is the God of American swing rhythm guitar. His playing is sublime to me. One of the greatest compliments I have ever been paid as a musician was after a Big Band recital here at FSU where we had all 3 (Yes FSU has three big Bands) bands playing a professor (of what I am not sure maybe choral performance? so consider the source) told me "man you have the Freddie Green thing down". I was on cloud nine I didn't even care that I couldn't solo like Pat Martino for shit in my mind I had arrived. Thanks for posting that video I am gonna be listening to basie all weekend I believe.

P.S. another interesting aside is that the Big Band I was in was conducted or lead by Scotty Barnhart who is the trumpet soloist in the modern Basie band.

shega

Bob,
Thank you for the video links, I have to agree that the Freddie Green sound is something to love. Is this sound a very "identifiable" carved top sound? Marc has emphasized this as a special quality of a good sound for rhythm. But I am just beginning to pick this sound out from the rest.

Does anyone have any more examples of good archtop rhythm sound? I would be especially interested in a few posts that show acoustic archtop rhythm that someone finds admirable, and then also a post or two with good electrified—but still woody, acoustic sounding—archtop (such as your Benedetto, Michael...?)

How about good lead playing on an unamplified archtop (other than the electric bebop players)?

You fellows are a treasure trove of knowledge for a guy like myself. I learned to play on a selmac, and I played everything I liked only on that guitar, because it was what I had: Hendrix, SRV, Page, and of course, Django. I know the sound of the selmac, the feel of the selmac, and the tonal variety of a selmac. But archtops are a very new thing to me, and I am glad to have contact with so many players who like them.

MichaelHorowitz

[quote="shega"]

Does anyone have any more examples of good archtop rhythm sound? [/quote]

Check out Frank Vignola...especialy his work with Mark O'conner. He's playing a Benedetto.


[quote]How about good lead playing on an unamplified archtop (other than the electric bebop players)?[/quote]

Here he is playing Tico Tico on a Benedetto:



Also check out Martin Taylor, he does a lot of acoustic archtop stuff. See:








Martin
Taylor I'm Begining to See the Light



Martin
Taylor and David Grisman Tone Poems










There are others...but not much. Acoustic archtop playing is a rare thing...

-Michael

Charlie Ayers

Indeed, acoustic archtop playing seems hard to find. Here are some I've listened to:

Howard Alden- No Amps Allowed (http://www.audiolunchbox.com/album?a=32609)

Steve Greene- Acoustic Living (http://cdbaby.com/cd/stevegreenetrio1)

Bucky Pizzarelli (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7344273)

Charlie

Klezmorim

Allow me to throw in "deux centimes" for *John* Pizzarelli. His rhythm technique on the Benedetto is a must-listen.

Bob Holo

Jerry Krahn - he plays old Epiphones. Nice stuff. He does great solo versions of both Dinah & Indiana.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/krahn

constantine

What a great post, thanks guys!

C

shega

Thanks Bob,

I just did a quick search on Jerry Krahn, and he is outstanding. And here he is in a duet with a........tuba.



That really is a great sound. I think also, it is not a sound I can afford with the money in my pocket right now. But I think I see it in my future. Of course, I am talking about the tuba.


:!:

shega

With just a bit more searching, I found this article, written by Jerry Krahn, about achieving good results from an acoustic archtop. I really like this guy: he is a good addition to the pure acoustic genre that Marty Grosz exemplifies, although I don't know if Mr. Krahn also sings. Here is the article, which many people will surely appreciate:

http://www.freddiegreen.org/technique/krahn.html

you can also hear his various recordings here:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/krahn

I like the solo, "Indiana"

In this article, covers many things--including a favorite posting topic here--the live mic amplification setup. He actually doesn't voice the "condensers are best" opinion, which surprises me; right now, I use an AKG c1000s, which produ es a pure sound, but is very, very, sensitive—maybe I could get less feedback with a Shure SM58?

Jeffrey