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Reverb for GJ
I'm wondering what is the stance on the reverb applied to the acoustic GJ guitar sound (eg. mic and AER), and/or to the electric sound (eg. Stimer + tube amp).
Is it necessary? Or in contrary, it's not recommended.
I have an acoustic amp, and a tube amp and neither one has built in reverb...
Comments
It is personal preference more than anything but depends on the room as well. In general I think you'll find most players don't use reverb or use it as unobtrusively as possible. Personally I don't use it for GJ.
If it's a sound you like - go for it! If in doubt I would tend to not use any reverb but I think some short percussive reverbs like short spring reverb or chess records style plate reverb can be very cool - but then again, certainly not for every song and I personally would want it only on lead guitar. The long cathedral like reverb trails that tend to be inbuilt on acoustic amps I really don't like on gj guitar though, but as pointed out above, it's all a matter of taste.
On the topic of reverb applied to GJ guitar, regardless of electric or acoustic sound, I'll make no comment.
I will just advise that Santa Claus is likely to be lurking, watching this thread with great interest. He's making a list. He's checking it twice.
If you want reverb play in a cathedral 😆
I've always quite liked Maurice Ferret's electric tone -- bright, and reverb-soaked.
Love it! I think spring reverb fits the percussive lead style very well! Another example I love:
I have to admit, I never understand people that are such big fans of reverb. My electric tone was always bone dry. My GJ gigs as well. But then a few days ago, on a whim I cranked up the reverb on my amp and, I'm not gonna lie, the result was nice. It felt my guitar was much more present in the room, vs a direct, location specific sound without it.
My electric tone is dry as well. Unless I'm playing surf. If I'm playing rockabilly it will have slap echo. 99% it's dry.
I like a little reverb when I use my archtop and I use a hint of it when I use my GJ guitar. Buco, that's interesting that you found it intriguing. But here's the thing for me with all these rules and stipulations for playing this music that we all love so dearly: Django did it his own way, and I think he would respect others that followed that same line of thinking. To me, the most important thing is to be innovative and to constantly seek out what makes your playing inspired. And that can be a moving target as your skills and tastes develop. Maybe it's using reverb today and not tomorrow, maybe it's using that new weird pick, maybe it's muting the 2 and 4 on your la pompe, who knows? My guess is that Django would find it silly that so many players were trying to do things just the way he did things. He, like many of the greats, was an innovator who did it his own way. I think our scene would benefit from more of us doing just that.
I’m probably not the first to use this trick but here goes.
I find it gives my guitar a fatter sound if I turn the reverb up just high enough that I can hear it, and then dial it down very slightly so the reverb is still lurking there, but just below the point being conciously audible.
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
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