NGD (Yesterday!)

Antman

Hi All,

Picked up a very different guitar (for me) yesterday - a very good looking Blonde Cort Yorktown Jazzer. Very playable with a very smooth action. But strung with 13 flatwounds! (I normally play 9/10's)

These are the factory fitted strings, but will such a heavy gauge cause damage over time or is this normal for this type of guitar?

It was mentioned to me in the shop that many jazz guitarists use acoustic amps - is this worth looking at or are there better options? I have a couple of small valve amps - but don't think they are meant for this!

Any suggestions appreciated!

Cheers

Ant

singemonkey

It's a very normal gauge for a jazz guitar. It won't damage the guitar. The heavy strings pull out more acoustic tone. Since a lot of jazz players don't bend that much, that's not a big issue either.

I'm not a jazz player, but I find it a little weird the whole obsession with uncoloured tone. Isn't that a 70s/80s Pat Metheny kind of thing people? Charlie Christian was the first significant player to use an electric guitar, and he played through a tube amp. So did other players in the 50s and 60s.

I guess the only thing is that you don't typically want your amp to overdrive, so you want it to be able to get up to volume without distorting. But that's no problem at all for the powerful tube amps most of us have. They'll easily stay clean at gig volumes - especially if they're over 20w. Am I wrong people? To my ear, a warm tube amp is ideal for jazz guitar.

Congrats on the guitar. I've played a Cort jazz box before and it was great. I'm sure you're going to have a great time with it.

Bob-Dubery

Antman wrote: Hi All,

Picked up a very different guitar (for me) yesterday - a very good looking Blonde Cort Yorktown Jazzer. Very playable with a very smooth action. But strung with 13 flatwounds! (I normally play 9/10's)

These are the factory fitted strings, but will such a heavy gauge cause damage over time or is this normal for this type of guitar?

The factory usually knows what they are doing and won't fit strings heavier than the guitar can stand.

Medium flatwounds are quite usual for jazz guitaring and jazz guitars.

It was mentioned to me in the shop that many jazz guitarists use acoustic amps - is this worth looking at or are there better options? I have a couple of small valve amps - but don't think they are meant for this!

You don't HAVE to use the guitar with flatwound strings and a very clean amplifier. It may be useful for you in ways that the designers didn't intend.

Bob-Dubery

singemonkey wrote: I'm not a jazz player, but I find it a little weird the whole obsession with uncoloured tone. Isn't that a 70s/80s Pat Metheny kind of thing people?

Guys like Barney Kessell and Kenny Burrell were already using very clean amp sounds, no overdrive, minimal distortion, in the 50s.

Jack-Flash-Jr

Have to say I like my Jazz a little dirty, that's why I prefer acoustic over electric jazz because you can only clean up the sound so much...

Keira-WitherKay

hey Antman. yeah i owned and used one of those cort yorktowns live for about a year tilli swopped to nylon string for jazz too.......

they fabulous ......... and the fact of the matter is i changed the stings to 10's .... they just softer on the hands...........

and there's a fabulous story which i think i have posted once before on thjis forum that i read in an interview with Billy Gibbons from ZZtop where he said at some festival they shared the stage with BB king....... who at rehearsals picked up billy gibbons guitar (which is strung very heavily ) and asked "hey billy why the railroad tracks???" and billy answered well it gives him a fatter tone......... to that BB king replied .... " if i want a fatter tone i just bend down and turn up my amp"

so yeah use whatever strings you comfortable on... too light would not be great but 10's do sound very jazzy on that guitar..........

as for amps.... if you playing jazz standards you prob want a clean sound........ so maybe use an acoustic amp..... they don't distort when the volume is increased...and remain clean......... or else i used that yorktown while i doing the casino circuit and i just used a DI box and went direct into the house PA which sounded awesome........ but yeah think a good acoustic amp is the amswer.lots of volume and no 'drive"

enjoy that guitar they awesome.i'm sorry i sold mine...........

peace and light
keira

Antman

Thanks for the input guys! Now I need to get some serious practicing in - gigging is a distant dream at this stage! ?

PeteM

I played a Cort Yorktown Jazzer recently in a music shop through a Roland Cube 60. I own a 60 and wanted to hear what the guitar sounded like. Yes, it is solid state amp but it does have built-in modelling of a range of tube amps. The sound is a little 'plastic' at times but I tried all the settings and the guitar sounded great from clean sounds to serious overdrive and distortion. I loved the guitar and will seriously consider buying one.

AlanRatcliffe

The Yorktowns are great. Medium gauge flats are the traditional choice for jazzers, but not the only choice.

Amplification is pretty much your choice - some guys like the accuracy and punch of solid-state amps (JC-120!), some like the warmth of valves or the smoother, rounder overdrive when driven.

It's not the guitar and amp anyway, it's what you do with it... Look at Ted Nugent playing high gain Rock with a Gibson Byrdland or Frank Gambale playing Jazz on an Ibanez. Charlie Christian had no choice - valve amps were all the early electric players had, so they used them and created classic tones.

So fiddle with everything and buy/hang on to the things that work for you.

singemonkey

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: It's not the guitar and amp anyway, it's what you do with it... Look at Ted Nugent playing high gain Rock with a Gibson Byrdland or Frank Gambale playing Jazz on an Ibanez. Charlie Christian had no choice - valve amps were all the early electric players had, so they used them and created classic tones.

Or Scotty Moore with a Gibson L-5

Was just saying that the JC-120 vibe leaves me scratching my head a little. I know you don't usually want distortion, but didn't these guys choose transistor amps just so that they could stay clean at enormous volume - like stadium volume? Surely you can get stay clean in a club gig with a tube amp; especially the 50W+ that many people have? Then you can stay clean and have all the tubey goodness ?

AlanRatcliffe

Well what you regard as "goodness" might not be what someone else calls goodness. That goodness comes at the price of less articulation, reduced attack and more distortion.

Then look at Adrian Belew, who used JC-120s with a Big Muff for distortion and feedback (specifically for the harsh edge) for years. Even now he's gone the modelling route, he mostly uses models of the JC. Listen to his Big Electric Cat, the feedback tones in King Crimson's Thela Hun Ginjeet or the elephant squeal in Elephant Talk - all only possible with a JC.