Hello,
I sold a bunch of my guitars and amps to buy an ES-335. I was going to go Epiphone or D’Angelico but decided to bite the bullet and get the real thing. I love the classic Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Chuck Loeb type sounds. I am not saying I can really play like them, but I do love the Smooth Jazz genre.
Any thoughts on what you use or would use to get that kind of sound would be much appreciated. Beyond that I would also love to hear about your favorite sounds from this combination. Thanks!
One of my favorite models for ‘jazz’ or related etc., is the Morgan 50. Very clean and takes pedals nicely, gets that edge of breakup if you want etc. YMMV
I have heard a lot of people talk about the Rivera’s. I think he was the guy that modded a lot of Fenders. Are the Morgan’s a Fenderish sound or more Voxish? Thanks for the feedback by the way. I feel like I am in a rowboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (of sound), but I do need to start paddling in one direction to reach a distant shore.
I’m going to say it’s based on Fender more than Vox IMO. Evidently shares features from Matchless and Vox or somewhere in between and known as the cleanest loudest amp I believe. I love that it is so versatile but again, YMMV.
I am going to check that one out. I do love the Vox sound, but not the really high chime settings, therefore the Fender side of things appeals to my ears more. Of course we are just talking generalities. I have an audio book called “The Birth of Loud” which tells the story of Leo Fender among other things. He was an amazing person and left us a lot of good things to enjoy and a foundation that so many others have built upon.
My favorite story was that a new hire was at the Fender facility, and he asked who the old guy that was always hanging around was… the guy was always wearing a classic service shirt and pants. The new hire thought that maybe he was the janitor. The seasoned employee told the new hire, “That’s not the janitor, That’s Leo Fender!” A working man that loved his craft.
Thanks for the story, Brian. Leo was an amazing guy! In spite of his success, he never stopped being a “real human” and never stopped loving his craft. In this day of super-conglomerate run MI companies, we sure could use more guys like him now.
By the way, I’ve been having success using the Mesa Loanstar (1 star) model to get some really smooth Larry & Lee type lead tones. It leans pretty “brown” but has enough fur on top to keep it articulate and help it cut threw a mix. It’s pretty gainy but still sounds great with the gain and drive controls dialed back.
I have captured my Fender Twins. I have a 73 with JBL E120s that was blackfaced and a 79 that was modded with Eminence Betas. Some captures are with an sm 57 and some are with 2 mics, an sm57 and a Rode NT1 condenser. I captured them with tone controls at 555 and with tone controls at 676. They sound pretty good with my 335. You are more than welcome to them.
