Sonic Youth Gossip - Guitar players

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I'm thinking of trading this:

http://www.rare-guitars.co.uk/guitar...PaulStudio.jpg

(not a pic of my actual one, just close enough...mine has gold knobs and doesnt sit in rick james sparkly living room)

for this:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_i...7207fabd8a.jpg

thoughts?

if I get the jazzmaster, it'll be my first one. Does this model have string snapping issues or comes undone like some reviews said? Should I lock it?

Do it. That jazz is nice.

fuck Les Pauls.

'pends, what sound are you looking for?

Value: looks like about a $800 Jazzmaster / $1200 LP Studio (+$4000 if it sparkles like that). Is the Jazzmaster new?

I don't have a Jazzmaster, but I do personally prefer Fenders for the sound and feel, although the LP is easiest to play. I have a Les Paul, wouldn't get rid of it. It's dark, superb sustain, breaks up and overdrives best, superior quality plus more.... but they're not Fenders. If I had to have either a LP or Fender, I'd choose a Fender.... Jazzmaster included. I've been interested in the Jazzmaster myself, and also have considered a Baritone Jaguar.

My suggestion, pull a couple doubles, or jack and hock a few car stereos and buy the Fender, have both.

I fucking hate les pauls, so I say do it. The only one that I've seen that was even slightly sexy was totally custom/modded up.

Mine is custom/modded up, but done so with zack wylde emgs, so whatever. I didnt do that, obviously hehe.

The one thing I'm wondering about is the jumbo frets, wonder if I may get handcramps after awhile

at that point...you'll just have to man up.

and about distortion...I havent heard the jazzmaster distorted yet but I can't imagine it would be bad. Basically here's my situation. I have a japanese strat and a les paul, can do some weird bendy sounds with the strat, has a nice vicious sloppy garage tone.

My les paul is my "nicer" tone guitar, but im sick of how heavy it is (not a big deal) but just mainly sick of all black and gold, kind of dreary. I want a sunburst guitar again. I feel tobacco burst is my personality.

But also I need a guitar that has better, harder, mid range bite, so far I played a tele and the jazzmaster and this jazzmaster beat out the tele in the same price range!

The emg's on my les paul arent cutting it. It breaks up the tone too much clean when it's loud, and when it's distorted its fine, but almost too metal sounding.

I play alot of surf/garage rock/we're a 3 piece so alot of clean/loud/pixies nirvana techniques and also alot of two note droning with the E and A string and walk around alot so I want something real mid-range and defined.

I played the jazzmaster thru a Fender bassman which is my amp, and it sounded great, now I just need to hear what it sounds like distorted with the bad monkey overdrive I use

Quote:

Originally Posted by EVOLghost

at that point...you'll just have to man up.

Probably true, I mean, my band usually plays 12 gigs a month so either I'll get used to it or die.

can't be worse than before my band when I played acoustic gigs all the time and refused to play open chords haha

If your Jazzmaster is stock you will have to mod the pickups to get it anywhere close to the quality of sound of even stock Les Paul pickups, and I would recommend changing out the crap stock bridge and tuning pegs.

I like the look and neck feel of Fenders but they don't even come close to the manufacturing quality of Gibson in my opinion. That said I still own more Fenders ;)

I didnt mind the soap bars, I thought they sounded better than the emgs

The only thing I would do to it is get the bridge locked so it wont go out of tune easy and etc.

responses in bold

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadDiscoDildo

and about distortion...I havent heard the jazzmaster distorted yet but I can't imagine it would be bad. Basically here's my situation. I have a japanese strat and a les paul, can do some weird bendy sounds with the strat, has a nice vicious sloppy garage tone.

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll get a world of different (or even better) tone from the Jazzmaster than the Strat. Both fender'y sounding and more like each other than a tele for example. To have a LP and Strat, gives you a lot to work with. Just my take on it. But, if you're over the LP sound.... going all Fender isn't a shame.

My les paul is my "nicer" tone guitar, but im sick of how heavy it is (not a big deal) but just mainly sick of all black and gold, kind of dreary. I want a sunburst guitar again. I feel tobacco burst is my personality.
But also I need a guitar that has better, harder, mid range bite, so far I played a tele and the jazzmaster and this jazzmaster beat out the tele in the same price range!

My thoughts exactly, the LP is more mellow sounding, that's why you'll get really full, lush overdrive w/ them. The Fenders are more round sounding (more in the mids) but the overdrives are more muddy, gritty, etc.... could be a good thing for your sound?

The emg's on my les paul arent cutting it. It breaks up the tone too much clean when it's loud, and when it's distorted its fine, but almost too metal sounding.

Hard to hear by just the description, but try to lower the p/u's position significantly and see what happens. You can also move them closer to the strings and it can totally change the dynamics. same basic tone, but highs to mids to lows will change. Generally, if you pull the p/u's away from the strings, they'll be more full and break-up smoother. If you move them to towards, they can sound thinner and hot. Might find something you like just by moving the p/u's.

I play alot of surf/garage rock/we're a 3 piece so alot of clean/loud/pixies nirvana techniques and also alot of two note droning with the E and A string and walk around alot so I want something real mid-range and defined.
I played the jazzmaster thru a Fender bassman which is my amp, and it sounded great, now I just need to hear what it sounds like distorted with the bad monkey overdrive I use

Mid Rangey and Defined = Jazzmaster, and Fender's in general (your on to something). Not teasing, but it's kinda interesting how you're playing surf rock, and play through a Fender Bassman. Ideal and iconic to that music style is the Reverb. Bassman's are about the only thing Fender does without Reverb's. Sounds interesting. Also, Bassmans are great amps, but have you experimented with other Fenders? They aren't well suited for those styles. They are a pretty decent pedal platform but of all Fender amps, tend to be the muddiest sounding, especially when trying to drive them (pedals or not).

I use a badmonkey pedal to overdrive, it's subtle but gets the job done, and I use the new boss fender reverb pedal, based off the 63 spring verb amp because like you said, the bassman is dry. Its good because I am the only guitarist. So it has a nice thick sound and I play ALOT of bar chords and other weird chords and I strum heavy and sometimes play leads licks too but play heavy as well becasue Im doing triplets and surf solos more than blues shit over indie rock basically.

I like the amp alittle dirty anyways, lots of reverb too...

I've played the super reverb, which is awesome. But the bassman is just a bit richer, I dig it

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadDiscoDildo

I didnt mind the soap bars, I thought they sounded better than the emgs

I would think the stock Paul pickups would sound better than the emgs???
The soap bars always sound a bit thin to me... but they might be a-ok for the style you are playing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadDiscoDildo

The only thing I would do to it is get the bridge locked so it wont go out of tune easy and etc.

good idea. isn't there is a good mod part you can buy to lock the bridge?
*cough* tuning pegs *cough*

Yeah I would think stock les paul pickups would sound better too, I didnt make the switch, I bought it used like that and dealt with it because it was the only Gibson I could afford. This is when I was still alittle younger and idealistic and not as wise.

You might be very pleased with the Les Paul if you switched out the pickups. My Les Paul has Gibson 57 Classic's in it and they are just right. Like I said, they're dark and lush, but can still be tight and punchy.

My friend has an Epiphone LP and he upgraded the pick-ups. I don't remember what he went with, but practically sounds as nice as my US Standard. The Studios are great. I was actually shopping for one when I came across a better deal on a Standard. I know if you upgrade the pick-ups, you'll have a nice guitar. You might want to read about different types. The Vintage series aren't really "hot" sounding like you might be wanting.

My strat has a "Seymor Duncan Pearly Gates" in the Bridge. This is the best sounding p/u I've ever heard and bar far my favorite p/u of all, on all my guitars. It's so versatile and so musical sounding. So, saying that, I'd REALLY recommend you checking them out.

.... like I said though, I personally prefer Fenders hands down. It'd just be a shame to see you loose a guitar with a lot of potential. Throw a set of Texas Specials in your strat and watch it come to life too.

have you decided now and just discussing the details? post pics when you have it.

if you can't choose get a tuba!