Jaguar

[Bluesnote]

I came across this video with a young-ish JP.
Just goes to show, its not entirely the instrument but who plays it.
I've only ever heard Jags playing pop or Shads music.
Interestingly, he uses a pick, I''ve only ever known him to fingerpick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IDvFRqo04g

[cockroach]

As someone said on the comments, Joe was lent that guitar by Synanon, the rehab clinic which he was attending at the time (about 1963) for heroin addiction....

As Ivor Mairants, the late great British jazz guitarist, guitar teacher and guitar shop owner said...you can play jazz on any electric guitar. Or in fact any music style can be played on any guitar!!

Amazing isn't it?

[JimN]

As Ivor Mairants, the late great British jazz guitarist, guitar teacher and guitar shop owner said...you can play jazz on any electric guitar.

I remember that article (in the Melody Maker, late 1968 or early 1969).

The Gibson Les Paul single-cutaway solid archtop had just been reintroduced at the 1968 NAMM trade fair and was just starting to be seen in numbers at Selmer dealers' shops. But... whereas the highly-prized original model had been the "Standard" in sunburst with two humbucking pickups, Gibson had brought the Les Paul back into the catalogue in only two variants, neither of which was the Jeff Beck / Eric Clapton / John Sebastian / Keith Richards "sunburst" type. The two available were the Custom in black (with pickup count reduced from three to two) and the "Standard" in its original mid-50s guise of gold-top with two cream-coloured P90 single-coil pickups. They were priced at 449 and 339 guineas respectively.

Players who wanted a LP were in quandary: the Standard looked the part more so than the Custom, but lacked the all-important humbuckers.

One such confused player wrote to the Melody Maker asking which of the two was "better for jazz" - and received a delicious put-down in print from Ivor Mairants (asked by the paper to provide the response, as one of the UK's top experts on Gibson guitars at the time). The more complete version of his reply was: "If you're a jazz guitarist, you can play jazz on any old electric guitar". He went on to add a condition about the fact that which guitar Eric Clapton played was neither here nor there. The letter-writer had not mentioned rock music (unless it was edited out for publication), but Ivor, I rather fancy, had the measure of him.

JN

[cockroach]

Thanks Jim for providing the history of that quote!

I was lucky enough to meet and speak to Ivor when I was visiting the UK in 1993- I met him at a small recital he had organised to showcase Richard Smith and his trio (his two brothers) in a pub in London- Richard was and still is a marvellous player..

Funny the quote came about in relation to those re-issue Les Pauls. I was doing some recording with a couple of friends in the late '70's, and one of the guys lent me his black 1968 Les Paul Custom (my Maton electric guitar was in my mate's guitar shop for sale by consignment at the time)

At the time I was using a Japanese amp called an Evans, it was an exact Mesa Boogie copy- but transistor, not valve! It had a graphic equaliser built in, and with this device I found I could make the Les Paul sound like a Strat- like Mark Knopfler's sound in fact, which was the latest sound at that time..

I still think that with thoughtful use of guitar and amp tone controls, and an open mind, you can play any style on any guitar.

I have played jazz on a Chinese Squier Bullet Strat (the cheapest one) with some of the best local jazz players- no one bitched because I didn't use a Gibson L5 or whatever- I'd managed to cut it with these great players, and bugger what guitar I used! I was using heavier strings with a wound third however...

To get back to the thread, there used to be a Hungarian immigrant cabaret artist locally here, he did a sort of Les Paul swing jazz type solo guitar act in clubs, on TV etc- he used a Jaguar too!

[JimN]

Great story, John.

I've long been a fan of the Fender "offset waist" models: the Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Electric XII, Bass VI, etc. There is a discussion board like this one dedicated to those guitars, their players and their owners and users: http://www.offsetguitars.com. You can even use the "dressing room" facility there to mock up a Jag or Jazzmaster in any guise you want as regards finish, materials, pickups, trem unit, bridge, switching, etc. A bit like those paper games where models can be dressed up in a variety of outfits - or even a bit like Barbie, I suppose.

I've had them all: Jazzmaster (2), Jaguar, Bass VI, Electric XII and the (Squier) Jagmaster. They all look pretty cool in my opinion - and my current Jazzmaster (a J Mascis model I got from David Martin) has now been outfitted with Cats Whisker "P90s in Jazzmaster covers" and is a total tone monster. At SMSE the other night, I was driving everything into distortion because of the sheer power of those pickups. As our resident ex-Jennings electronic guru Pete Phillips said: "Your guitar is three times louder than anything else here"!

Best wishes,

JN