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You'll note, I said Jazzes were usually the preference of the rhythm players in
vintage surf
bands - as for what folks use them for now, that's a different story. Elvis
Costello used a
Jazzmaster, I believe. I think they make fine lead or rhythm guitars, and to be
honest, most
players do some of both, no?
Gavin
--- In , "Jacob Dobner" <jacobdobner@y...> wrote:
>
> Shigeo plays a Jazzmaster as does Steve from the Cocktail Preachers.
> It should be noted that Steve's is a custom made DeCola guitar but it
> is still a Jazzmaster. I just remembered Mel from the Mel-Tones, Mach
> IV, and Meshugga Beach Party uses one as well.
>
> I play a Jag for Rhythm. It doesn't make a horrible sound.
>
> --- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...> wrote:
> >
> > --- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > --- Gavin Ehringer <gavinehringer@e...> wrote:
> > > > > Jazzmasters were usually the rhythm guitar of
> > > > > choice in the original surf lineups
> > > > > and are tonally more mellow and quite distinct from the
> > > > > Jags.
> > >
> > > I dunno if I buy that. I remember we had a discussion about this a
> > > long time ago. I agree that Jags and JM's sound distinctly
> > different,
> > > but I don't know about Jazzmasters being more of a rhythm guitar.
> > I'd
> > > have to go flip through the Bob Dalley book again. There is
> > certainly
> > > nothing mellow about Frankie Blandino's (Fathoms) or Phantom Frank's
> > > (Treble Spankers) tones (prominent Jazzmaster users). I think it's
> > > debatable about what you saw more, Jags or Jazzmasters, in the 60's,
> > > but I think the scales are tipped toward the Jazzmaster for the 90's
> > > bands. But I'm probably wrong about that, if anything it's probably
> > > 50/50. A lot of bands had them both in varying roles. It might be
> > kind
> > > of fun (for a while) to make a list of all the bands and who played
> > > what.
> >
> > Also, Chris Barfield (The Huntington Cads, The Finks), Dalibor &
> > Dinko (The Bambi Molesters), Mikko (Laika & The Cosmonauts), Eddie of
> > the El Caminos, Davie Allan, all Jazzmaster using lead guitarists.
> > There are probably more.
> >
> > I believe that Rich Fifield of the Astronauts was their lead
> > guitarist (the info on this is kinda hard to get, so I could be
> > wrong), and he's shown with a Jazzmaster in all the photos I know
> > of. So, I think there's a good case to be made that in fact the
> > Astronauts lead guitar sound is the sound of the Jazzmaster. And I
> > think for many people those guys define the tone of surf guitar.
> >
> > > Ivan, did you ever play your Jazzmaster live in The Space Cossacks?
> > > Any plans for The Madeira?
> >
> > I went out and bought my Jazzmaster after playing the Cossacks did a
> > show with the Fathoms in late '96. I was just blown away by
> > Frankie's sound. I used that Jazzmaster to record probably about a
> > third of the songs by the Space Cossacks (including Solaris Stomp).
> > I also always played it live once I got it, alternating between a
> > Strat and a Jazzmaster. For the Madeira, though, I'm going for the
> > pure Strat sound. For me it's really about DD and the Atlantics
> > (with a bit of Hank Marvin), and my ideal is to combine those guitar
> > tones into my own. I do love to play my Jazzmaster still, and it
> > might find its way onto the album, we'll see...
> >
> > Ivan
