The Strat is the everything guitar. I have used them for everything from high school jazz band to country bar bands to medium venue rock bands to Sunday worship. Over the almost five decades of playing I've played and tried just about everything out there. When it's all said and done give me a Stratocaster all day long.
Yes, there are quite a few examples, especially with flat wound strings, and the PRS Fiore is basically an HSS Strat that Mark Lettieri plays a fair amount of Jazz with.
Yes for sure! And yes Bill Frisell has used a strat at times. (Theres a great solo session on NPR where Bill Frisell plays versions of Beatles songs with a strat) Try pickup position 4 as well, also quite good for jazz,
Funnily enough, when I originally auditioned for a live Jazz ensemble several years back, I used my strat. Think I was on position 4 with adjusted vol/treb to taste. The conductor said "Good tone" as I was getting it set. Yes, I made the band. People were surprised, as they all had jazz boxes. I eventually got a hollow jazzer but still... The strat was sweet for jazz
Cecil Alexander and lorne lofsky for straight ahead jazz/bebop although lorne uses mini humbuckers on his ibanez. Thanks to Cecil i went back to play my strat (single coils) again and realized it's great for bebop lines. The Telecaster on the other hand has that "lush" tone for chords but not as great for bebop style soloing IMO.
Eldon Shamblin was given one of the early Strats by Leo Fender, and he used it from then on as the rhythm guitarist in Bob Wills western swing band. Eldon did have the bridge blocked on his.
You can play jazz on anything. Shoot even my Strat with EMGs can do jazz. Just needs the vibe and good smooth EQ that puts it where it belongs. Now that think I about it, Prince played Montreux Jazz Festival with a EMG-loaded Strat. Granted there were only a few "Jazz" songs they played in the set. Either way it sounded great with all the other instruments in the band.
Yes, danish guitarist Uffe Steen does. Check out the Uffe Steen & Jefsen Duo. Some of the most unusual tasteful guitar playing you‘ll ever try to mimic
Nir Fielder is the only one who comes to mind who plays jazz on a strat. It’s definitely possible but most jazz guitarists aren’t looking for that bright strat sound for their music. It’s an area some forward thinking individual could carve out an original voice in. On reflection, Ben Eunson also plays a strat at times and plays killer jazz stuff. He’s a monster
Oh quite a few players do/did Alan Holdsworth i've seen quite a few photos of him live playing a strat, Larry Carlton back in the 80's played strats pretty often, Oz Noy, Scott Henderson and here is a curveball for you Tommy Bolin. On Billy Cobhams Jazz/fusion album Spectrum he played a Strat and its really obvious on the wonderful instrumental song Red Baron.
Mark Lettieri and Bob Lanzetti from Snarky Puppy are both playing jazz fusion on strat-style guitars, in fact both of them have signature guitars that are based on strats
After owning soo many guitars over the years, I have come to the conclusion that Stratocaster is the king of all, it can do almost everything, looks great, comes in soo many variants from Fender itself, and soo many other builders, it's just a deign that will never get old, the only thing I don't like is the 21 fret fenders, my preference is the 22 fret fenders, I need that D note on the 1st string at times, and it's a mental block as well if i don't see the 22 frets, for me 21 frets is incomplete. apart from that my preference is maple lacquered fretboard and neck on an Alder body, use to like natural body finished early on, now prefer black with black starch plate, so all in all maybe a Gilmore Strat with 22 frets, and I don't like thin necks, it has to have some body to it.
Neck strat and neck tele pickup - there isn’t much difference there. I don’t think I could pick out the difference if blindfolded assuming they stayed off the whammy. More output perhaps on most teles. Just saying they aren’t night and day. Assuming no one flips to bridge and chicken picks in jazz. Maybe they should since jazz is so meh low energy professor music.
Beautiful playing and great tone. What more could you want? I’ve played humbuckers all my life except for a short time with a P-90 equipped Les Paul. Watching you and a few others has convinced me I need a Strat. Unfortunately it won’t make me a better player.😂
I’m pretty sure Lorne Lofsky played a sort of Strat variation. Check out his record with Ed Bickert. A jazz guitar classic Edit: not a lot of straight ahead jazz on strats, but plenty outside that world. Nir Felder, Wayne Krantz, Frisell occasionally
@@RoryagreenThat's good to know, i really dig your music and your tone! I tought they were flatwounds so i put thomastik 11-47 flats on my strat, and i enjoy them, but maybe i should try those!! Thanks for sharing!
Most people don’t utilize the volume / tone controls adequately & same regarding amp setup … Strats can sound killer for jazz.. Grant Green w Sam Lazar for instance
my trick for strat jazz tone is to run a blues breaker pedal barely clipping and turn my vol knob down to 8...sounds amazing..super fat and clear. I dont like the jazzbox tone. its all in the fingers anyway
Sounds really beautiful to me. I like the sound of a big box Gibson like a 175 for a very traditional sound, but I think using a Tele or a Strat gives a maybe more contemporary sound. Heavier strings, maybe 11's, possibly works even better for jazzy stuff. In the end though, it always all comes down to the player, doesn't it, and what you're playing would sound very nice on just about anything.
Nice TONE John, well with JNC any style is Possible. Look up Joe Pass using a fender jazzmaster. Julian Lage/telecaster is quite GOOD. EJ of course, but on records and live sometimes switches to sg or 335 for the Jazzier songs. He does demo WES Montgomery on the Total Electric Guitar video; HOT LICKS from about 1989, when that came out I WAS FLOORED, my favorites of the Hot licks/Star Licks series videos. Danny Gattons is great to, of course there were a Ton of Shredder ones done as well.
Sounds Ace!! 👍😎 what pickups do you have in there? I play Jazz on a strat! 😅 I did swap the pickups for Eric Johnson ones and added a 0.1mf capacitor from Luxe. It was really by accident that this happened as I was looking for a strat for blues but I just love this strat and with some tweaking ended up playing jazz with it. I find it adds something very different to the mix at the jazz club! 😊
Lorn Lofsky comes to mind. Not sure what kind of pickups he uses... But perhaps with the right string gauge and some tone knob manipulations it can sound alright.
#1 a great guitar player (such-as-yourself) can play most anything on any guitar. #2 a Strat is truly the most versatile guitar ever made = "Facts" - always enjoy your playing brother. oNe LovE from NYC
Rock guitarists vary sometimes in widely differing use of dirt and effects. Jazz recordings on the other hand demonstrate a huge variety of clean tones with little use of effects. Sometimes this allows the tonal character of the instrument alone to shine through. Clean tones rule! 😋
@@Roryagreen I Love Thomastik! wanted to try the Cobalt Flats with the Thinline Strat... Cobalt's feel different, not as silky smooth as Thomastik or Chromes.. they do retain some of the high frequency harmonic content. It's like a middle ground between Flats & Roundwounds. Maybe it's due to the higher magnetism in Cobalt or the Not-so polished texture of the strings. And They are half the price of T.I. strings.
Ronnie Earl plays a jazzier form of blues and some outright jazz on Strats. His nuance and tone are amazing. I actually like jazz on a Strat. There is a bit more energy and oomph to it. Who decided that jazz tone can only be done with a dark and muffled sounding semi-hollow or hollowbody humbucker guitar or that there is no vibrato allowed? A lot of these rules are dumb preoccupations of purists. Back to Ronnie Earl. Listening to his music enlightened me that you can mix things up and get something more interesting and dynamic.
![Lil Uzi Vert - Chill Bae [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D7F42F_JM3U/mqdefault.jpg)
No, it is illegal to do so
Sorry…
🤣🤣🤣🤣
What if you put 13 gauge flatwounds on an SRV Strat?…. Imagine SRV using flatwounds come to think of it 😅
@@josephdraper9267 I used to play my SRV strat with flatwound 13s but I don't really remember how that sounded
It sounded awesome that’s how it sounded 😂
Thankfully Jazz is not about any instrument in particular but rather about a style of music which can be performed with any instrument.
What a difference a Strat makes.
The Strat is the everything guitar. I have used them for everything from high school jazz band to country bar bands to medium venue rock bands to Sunday worship. Over the almost five decades of playing I've played and tried just about everything out there. When it's all said and done give me a Stratocaster all day long.
Its the Tele.
Tho I still love my strat more
SICK run starting at 3:27. Very clean. Nice.
Yes, there are quite a few examples, especially with flat wound strings, and the PRS Fiore is basically an HSS Strat that Mark Lettieri plays a fair amount of Jazz with.
Yes for sure!
And yes Bill Frisell has used a strat at times.
(Theres a great solo session on NPR where Bill Frisell plays versions of Beatles songs with a strat)
Try pickup position 4 as well, also quite good for jazz,
Nir Felder, Ben Eunson and Oz Noy do.
Jeff Beck played some jazz on his strat. Love his version of Goodbye Porkpie Hat
Funnily enough, when I originally auditioned for a live Jazz ensemble several years back, I used my strat. Think I was on position 4 with adjusted vol/treb to taste. The conductor said "Good tone" as I was getting it set. Yes, I made the band. People were surprised, as they all had jazz boxes. I eventually got a hollow jazzer but still... The strat was sweet for jazz
Position 4 👍
I agree, great time for jazz
Cecil Alexander and lorne lofsky for straight ahead jazz/bebop although lorne uses mini humbuckers on his ibanez.
Thanks to Cecil i went back to play my strat (single coils) again and realized it's great for bebop lines.
The Telecaster on the other hand has that "lush" tone for chords but not as great for bebop style soloing IMO.
Thanks for the mention John!!
Larry Carlton in the 80s also used a strat for his jazz type songs
Hello! The great Scott Henderson!
Yep he came to mind. He used to be all Fender before he joined Suhr.
Eldon Shamblin was given one of the early Strats by Leo Fender, and he used it from then on as the rhythm guitarist in Bob Wills western swing band. Eldon did have the bridge blocked on his.
You can play jazz on anything. Shoot even my Strat with EMGs can do jazz. Just needs the vibe and good smooth EQ that puts it where it belongs. Now that think I about it, Prince played Montreux Jazz Festival with a EMG-loaded Strat. Granted there were only a few "Jazz" songs they played in the set. Either way it sounded great with all the other instruments in the band.
Very well suited when in the hands of a master. ❤
Yes, danish guitarist Uffe Steen does. Check out the Uffe Steen & Jefsen Duo. Some of the most unusual tasteful guitar playing you‘ll ever try to mimic
I was going to mention Uffe too. What an incredible musician!
Carlton used a strat on Emotions Wound Us So on Last Nite.
Nir Fielder is the only one who comes to mind who plays jazz on a strat. It’s definitely possible but most jazz guitarists aren’t looking for that bright strat sound for their music. It’s an area some forward thinking individual could carve out an original voice in.
On reflection, Ben Eunson also plays a strat at times and plays killer jazz stuff. He’s a monster
I've seen a tiny desk concert with Bill Frisell on a strat
Strats for Jazz is always a good idea!
Absolutely!
Oh quite a few players do/did Alan Holdsworth i've seen quite a few photos of him live playing a strat, Larry Carlton back in the 80's played strats pretty often, Oz Noy, Scott Henderson and here is a curveball for you Tommy Bolin. On Billy Cobhams Jazz/fusion album Spectrum he played a Strat and its really obvious on the wonderful instrumental song Red Baron.
Great playing. Cecil Alexander recently with a strat and jackson, Will Brahm and Eef Albers
Tip to get a Jazz tone out of the strat, Lower the Highs on the Amp, and increase the Mids,
Mark Lettieri and Bob Lanzetti from Snarky Puppy are both playing jazz fusion on strat-style guitars, in fact both of them have signature guitars that are based on strats
Always love your jazz stuff
Just lovely stuff John! Thanks for sharing.
Lovely playing and beautiful sounds with the tone knob half way back.
Thanks from my heart to make a depressed like me calme i hope your playing never stop. Thanks
My strat wont play jazz, they must have painted it the wrong colour or something. ❤️🎸. Beautiful playing.
Red helps!
After owning soo many guitars over the years, I have come to the conclusion that Stratocaster is the king of all, it can do almost everything, looks great, comes in soo many variants from Fender itself, and soo many other builders, it's just a deign that will never get old, the only thing I don't like is the 21 fret fenders, my preference is the 22 fret fenders, I need that D note on the 1st string at times, and it's a mental block as well if i don't see the 22 frets, for me 21 frets is incomplete. apart from that my preference is maple lacquered fretboard and neck on an Alder body, use to like natural body finished early on, now prefer black with black starch plate, so all in all maybe a Gilmore Strat with 22 frets, and I don't like thin necks, it has to have some body to it.
Another great jazz/strat artist is Mareille Merck. Beautiful tones.
Hadn't heard of her before. She's great!! Streaming her album now. Thanks.
same, thanks
I love the strat for almost anything... but not for most jazz. Maybe just used to the traditional sounds. But a tele- now thats a sweet jazz machine!
Neck strat and neck tele pickup - there isn’t much difference there. I don’t think I could pick out the difference if blindfolded assuming they stayed off the whammy. More output perhaps on most teles. Just saying they aren’t night and day. Assuming no one flips to bridge and chicken picks in jazz. Maybe they should since jazz is so meh low energy professor music.
Beautiful playing and great tone. What more could you want? I’ve played humbuckers all my life except for a short time with a P-90 equipped Les Paul. Watching you and a few others has convinced me I need a Strat. Unfortunately it won’t make me a better player.😂
Well, Bireli Lagrene for one. BTW, beautiful playing. Very inspiring.
It’s a lovely sound by itself. I like humbuckers with acoustic instruments but it could be different in a louder band.
Mike Stern says before he started with the Telecaster, he'd found a strat that played so well it was his n°1. Then it got lost or stolen.
Lee Ritenour plays a souped up Floyded strat, so yeah 😊
Hey JNC I just wanted to say I really enjoy your playing
Oz Noy/ Adam Rogers/ Cecil Alexander
Love that tone, what are you playing through? Is that a preset on the stomp?
I’m pretty sure Lorne Lofsky played a sort of Strat variation. Check out his record with Ed Bickert. A jazz guitar classic
Edit: not a lot of straight ahead jazz on strats, but plenty outside that world. Nir Felder, Wayne Krantz, Frisell occasionally
I bought my CS strat from a jazz player. He put Thomastik Bebop 13-52 strings on it, it sounded SO jazzy!
That’s what I’ve got on mine! Sound amazing!
@@RoryagreenThat's good to know, i really dig your music and your tone! I tought they were flatwounds so i put thomastik 11-47 flats on my strat, and i enjoy them, but maybe i should try those!! Thanks for sharing!
@@inigomiscellaneous oh thank you so much!! I really appreciate that! I love Thomastik’s
I using 12s on my strat now!
will brahm, is a hell of a jazz/fusion guitarist!
canadian legends the late ed bickert and lorne lofsky both play solid bodies and have used single coil pickups in the past
Most people don’t utilize the volume / tone controls adequately & same regarding amp setup … Strats can sound killer for jazz.. Grant Green w Sam Lazar for instance
my trick for strat jazz tone is to run a blues breaker pedal barely clipping and turn my vol knob down to 8...sounds amazing..super fat and clear. I dont like the jazzbox tone. its all in the fingers anyway
Sounds really beautiful to me. I like the sound of a big box Gibson like a 175 for a very traditional sound, but I think using a Tele or a Strat gives a maybe more contemporary sound. Heavier strings, maybe 11's, possibly works even better for jazzy stuff. In the end though, it always all comes down to the player, doesn't it, and what you're playing would sound very nice on just about anything.
Nice TONE John, well with JNC any style is Possible. Look up Joe Pass using a fender jazzmaster. Julian Lage/telecaster is quite GOOD. EJ of course, but on records and live sometimes switches to sg or 335 for the Jazzier songs. He does demo WES Montgomery on the Total Electric Guitar video; HOT LICKS from about 1989, when that came out I WAS FLOORED, my favorites of the Hot licks/Star Licks series videos. Danny Gattons is great to, of course there were a Ton of Shredder ones done as well.
Yotam Silberstein uses a strat quite often
great player
Nice playing...thanks
Dean Brown, mike stern 🤗
Depends on the radius
Explain
Michael Landau
Wayne Krantz! Great player
That' s a great sound. Unfortunately, cant find anything here o😊n the signal path
Wayne Krantz!!!
Sounds Ace!! 👍😎 what pickups do you have in there? I play Jazz on a strat! 😅 I did swap the pickups for Eric Johnson ones and added a 0.1mf capacitor from Luxe. It was really by accident that this happened as I was looking for a strat for blues but I just love this strat and with some tweaking ended up playing jazz with it. I find it adds something very different to the mix at the jazz club! 😊
Lorn Lofsky comes to mind. Not sure what kind of pickups he uses... But perhaps with the right string gauge and some tone knob manipulations it can sound alright.
A few more..... Bill Connors, Allan Holdsworth, Chris Crocco, Wayne Krantz...
Hello John, great Inspiration, thx. Is it over amp or helix?
Greetings
Oz Noy plays a strat.
How about Wayne Krantz? Does he count?
Eric Johnson when he goes into his Holdsworth esque clean stuff
#1 a great guitar player (such-as-yourself) can play most anything on any guitar. #2 a Strat is truly the most versatile guitar ever made = "Facts" - always enjoy your playing brother. oNe LovE from NYC
Rock guitarists vary sometimes in widely differing use of dirt and effects. Jazz recordings on the other hand demonstrate a huge variety of clean tones with little use of effects. Sometimes this allows the tonal character of the instrument alone to shine through. Clean tones rule! 😋
I don’t use the word lovely often… but it fits 👍
Would love to see you try flatwounds on a strat! It’s a really interesting experience
I have the new Cobalt Flatwounds (11-49) from Ernie Ball on an EJ Strat.
@@CRP2426 oh I’m trying those next! I use Thomastik Infeld 10-49!
@@Roryagreen I Love Thomastik! wanted to try the Cobalt Flats with the Thinline Strat... Cobalt's feel different, not as silky smooth as Thomastik or Chromes.. they do retain some of the high frequency harmonic content. It's like a middle ground between Flats & Roundwounds. Maybe it's due to the higher magnetism in Cobalt or the Not-so polished texture of the strings.
And They are half the price of T.I. strings.
That lick from 8:56 to 9:02 - wow!!
Ronnie Earl plays a jazzier form of blues and some outright jazz on Strats. His nuance and tone are amazing. I actually like jazz on a Strat. There is a bit more energy and oomph to it. Who decided that jazz tone can only be done with a dark and muffled sounding semi-hollow or hollowbody humbucker guitar or that there is no vibrato allowed? A lot of these rules are dumb preoccupations of purists. Back to Ronnie Earl. Listening to his music enlightened me that you can mix things up and get something more interesting and dynamic.
Melvin Sparks.
Of course
WAYNE KRANTZ people! Toured with Steely Dan and is an absolute monster of a jazz guitarist.
Every day!
Each guitar has its niche.
No stratocaster BARKS were HURT in this Video. JNC must have got the Dashing Dachshund band to Slow down for the Back up Track. LOL.
God, country, family, 🎸Stratocaster🎸, everything else
Papa Cordy does.
Riviera paradise. SRV. He was getting ingo some jazz stuff before he died.
Thanks!
Position 4 on a Strat will do anything.
Oz Noy hold my beer. 😅
Is that a Jazz standard track? it's very good!! who is it?
Yes
Mark Lettieri before he went PRS.
Yes.
So beautyfull phrasing and tone!🔥🔥🔥 Do you use Helix in this video?
Snarky Puppy have some songs like, What about me?
What do people play jazz on?
Yes, for most of my career
Wayne Krantz
OZ NOy ??
The Strat is the most versatile guitar in history - but you guys know that!
Eldon Shamblin did!
Oz Noy uses a Strat sometimes.
Love this tone, but I’m a single coil fan. The classic dark jazz guitar tones don’t do much for me.
Does Telecaster count? If it does check out Julian Lage. You won’t regret it.
I like playing jazz on a Strat more then my 335😋
Yotam Silberstein
What brand of "Strat" is that?