The Yardies guitars were often communal band-owned... Jeff played Eric's Tele before getting the Esquire... he's talked about it in interviews... I would hazard a guess that the Jag and JM were band-owned as well... and the Ep Rivoli obviously was... as for Chris' 335 I have no idea... didn't Eric have one in Yardies days that he took to Cream? Wouldn't have been the same Dreja toted in '66 obviously...
Thanks for this post YardByrd - I figured that the instruments were shared, if not band-owned. The clip below, at around 8:00, has Relf describing the black Jazzmaster. Is Eric playing it on this recording, or is Chris? Sort of unclear from Relf’s comments. Whatever the case, the sound of this recording is SO similar to Five Live Yardbirds, making me wonder about the Tele vs the Jazzmaster in Eric’s hands. And Eric is rippin’ here (as are the rest of the band)!
Hi Steve. I wasn’t really digging those clips of the surf guy but with that reverb unit cranked you couldn’t really hear the “honest”sound of those guitars very clearly. If Dick Dale played a Jazzmaster the bridge would fall apart or explode! The bridge is a common complaint with the Jazzmaster for sure. The Strat is built to take it! Having said that, I do enjoy the sound of the Jazzmaster pickups for certain applications. It’s all good if you can make it work for you!
Noted with some musical interest (anyway, yawn). I believe there are excellent treatments available for OCD disorders.
So, no love for the reverb drenched surf sound on this thread? I think it's pretty cool, but there you go.
On the contrary - I love reverb drenched surf sounds! Maybe I don't love that particular chap's surf sounds in those videos so much, but I think reverb on single coil pickup guitars, played near the bridge, sounds great on Strats, Teles, Jags, Jazzmasters, Rickenbackers, Gretschs, Mosrites, etc. Lots of surf guys seem to like Jags and Jazzmasters too, and get great rippin' treble from them; clearly though, from this thread, those guitars are not for everybody. To each his own. I think that particular amp sound in those clips is not as pleasing as "surf" tone goes. Mr. Hoffman - what is your Dick Dale amp setup with your Strat? And do you use heavy gauge strings, as Mr. Dale does?
Fender Showman with a Fender Reverb Unit (original) and my '65 L Strat with 13's. When I'm in the mood, it sounds great. When I'm not in the mood, I go as far away from that sound as I possibly can.
You remove the twang with the tone control. You have to work that tone control. Work that tone control and there's tons of great sounds there.
An extremely worthy, and correct, "signal path". And 13's - that's what they used to call a "manly" gauge! But for Dick Dale stylings, that is what is required to stay in tune and sound BIG. Cool! Thanks for responding. I know what you mean - when you're not in the mood, another set-up is called for. That's the beauty of owning different guitars - they will make you play differently!
Agreed, sir. It would appear we need a Fender guitars thread, separate from the Jazzmaster/Jaguar discussion. If you guys don't settle down I'll start a Bass VI thread!
Ah, Fenders.... I've owned a couple of Strats that were fine instruments, but I could never really "bond" with them. The knobs got in my way, as did the middle pickup, and I've never been enamored of their sound. I have a vintage white (more of a cream color, actually) Fender Japan '62 Tele (it looks like Steve Cropper's) that I've upgraded with Fender USA Pure Vintage '64 pickups. I also took some Scotchbrite pads and roughed up the poly finish on the back of the neck, making it feel more like wood. It's a remarkably versatile instrument and a joy to play. My latest guitar acquisition is a Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster, which I bought off Craig's List for the princely sum of $300, including the hardshell case. I immediately replaced the crappy vibrato and bridge with a Fender USA vibrato unit and a GFS roller bridge, elevating this to a pro-quality instrument. The neck on this guitar is so good, it's unreal. The action is very low and the fretwork is top notch, making it effortless to play, even with the .011 flatwounds that I use. I know it's not a traditional Jazzmaster - it has P-90s and a Tune-O-Matic bridge - but it's a remarkably good instrument for not much bread.