[Dixielandjazz] Guitar Volume

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

It may have been that the band had the rather quaint idea that they should 
listen to the other musicians and balance with them.  Who has to think about 
balance if the guy can just twist a knob?  It's a lost art.

On the other hand rhythm guitar is a bit of a different animal and with a 
stiff pick can cut through and can balance a piano/upright bass/drum rhythm 
section easily but is a little harsh that way.  If the player plays near the 
bridge the guitar is a lot brighter and that will cut through more.  I think 
arch top guitars are brighter sounding too.

They used a different string set up on the instrument then.  I played one 
time back in the 60's with a guy that was about 20 years older than me.  He 
was a wonderful guitar player and didn't need an amp but his strings were 
heavy gauge and a whole lot higher from the fingerboard than guys use today. 
Both things can produce more volume but take really good playing chops.  If 
the strings are low they will buzz if the player plays hard.  I was 
surprised at how high his strings were off the fingerboard.  When I first 
got in the AF band in 58 there was a Gibson arch top guitar in supply that 
was set up exactly the same way.

Today they are low and light gauge.  String buzz isn't as much of a problem 
and resonance can be added electronically to make up for the Twinkie sound 
of a lighter string.  Light and medium light strings make the instrument a 
whole lot easier to play and then electronics do the rest.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 11:33 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Guitar Volume


> With all the conjecture about the lack of volume with guitars, how on 
> earth
> then, did Freddie Green manage to be heard, UNAMPLIFIED, in Basie's Band?
> Man, he anchored that rhythm section like a metronome and as many times as 
> I
> saw that band, I always heard Green's pulse from wherever I sat.
>
> ---snip
>
> Freddie said he once tried the electric guitar but added. "I've still got
> the thing sitting up in my room. It was about four or five years ago. I
> didn't stay with it long. I couldn't get the sound I wanted, and it was 
> hard
> getting the tone adjusted so it wouldn't sound too loud over the band. I
> didn't get with it, and I don't think Basie had too much eyes for it. 
> Every
> once in a while, he'd say 'Soften down', and so finally I just put it 
> away.
>
> Green went on to talk of his favorites in the increasingly rare art of
> unamplified rhythm guitar. He cites Allan Reuss, the late John Truehart
> (with Chick Webb), Freddie Guy, and Charlie Christian. Freddie also 
> enjoyed
> Christian as a soloist, "He revolutionized the guitar."
>
> ---end snip
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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