KVR Audio

cimoc · Post by **cimoc** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:06 am

Can you guys please suggest a way to recreate this basic jazz guitar sound? I don't care if it is samples or synthesized. I also don't care about the playing technic, I just want to nail the tone of the sound (or the color if you prefer). I have looked into Kontakt and Halion libraries (also some free instruments for Kontakt, can't remember now which ones) but the jazz guitars they provide are totally different. Unless I missed something. I thought I could do it with Manyguitar, but I wasn't able to. It seems more suited to brighter and crunchy/ distorted sounds. Any suggestions that won't break the bank would be most welcome.

shanecgriffo · Post by **shanecgriffo** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:11 am

a gibson or epiphone archtop and years of playing

cimoc · Post by **cimoc** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:26 am

thanks a lot, did I mention software? I also said I want the color of the sound, not the playing technic. And I believe Joe Pass was not playing an archtop, though I wouldn't bet on it. But I am after his Ibanez sound.

Thanks for the bumb, though.

cimoc · Post by **cimoc** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 1:45 pm

one more bump

TexasMusicForge · Post by **TexasMusicForge** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:08 pm

You're not going to be able to get a convincing sound that you would want to use for a solo. Guitars, saxes, voices and harmonicas are all notoriously difficult to create via software. Have you considered asking on KVR, CraigsList or other places for an actual guitarist who will do remote session work? If you're on a tight budget, figure out what kind of beats, sounds, samples or whatever that you could offer to trade and I'm sure you'll get some responses.

Joe Pass, BTW, always played an archtop - I've never even heard of him doing any work with a solid body guitar.

Best of luck on your search,

Ed

waiting man · Post by **waiting man** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 3:11 pm

shanecgriffo wrote:a gibson or epiphone archtop and years of playing

"years" is a reductive statement. eons, in most cases

tee boy · Post by **tee boy** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:02 am

Well, firstly you want to knock the tone right down.

If you can, use an electric guitar with an acoustic space in the body.

Your Ibanez is not really the axe for the job unfortunately! Its like the example opposite of what you'd need!

TB

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:19 am

Well, I'll take a crack at this one. First off, good luck trying to sound like Joe Pass with anything other than Joe Pass.

For the rest of us mortals, though, as far as tone, etc., I've gotten some great stuff using Amplitube 2 with various guitar samples. AT2 has the jazz 'tweed' amp sound down pretty good.

Regarding samples, I think that the Guitar Collection Expansion Tank for Sampletank 2 (currently on sale for $39.00 -- can't beat that)has some great emulations that are very easy to use and tweak to your liking. Run 'em through Amplitube 2 and you can be pretty convincing. I'm not sure if it comes with a Sampletank player, though someone else can tell you this. But if you are interested you can find out more here: www.esoundz.com

FWIW, I never really tried to emulate the Joe Pass sound, but I've got a thing for Pat Metheny's work and have had good luck with this method.

Good luck
-B

cimoc · Post by **cimoc** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:17 am

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I do it just for fun, and getting the tone and the performance myself is part of the fun.

I mentioned Ibanez not because I got one, but because I have seen pics of Joe Pass on more than two album covers playing a custom Ibanez hollow body. I even believe Ibanez had a Joe Pass signature series model. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't archtop a guitar with an arched (convex) top? On those pictures, the top is absolutely flat.

I would need more than a few lives to be able to play like him. But I believe I can recreate a more or less convincing performance, as Joe Pass did not use "playing tricks" except hammer-ons and pull-offs (hope I got the terms correctly), which can be emulated with pitch bending. He didn't do excessive vibrato, for example, or string bending (which I find harder to emulate convincingly). It does take a lot of time, but I think it can be done. Except I cannot get the sound right. This very warm, woody, sound of a full body hollow guitar playing through the neck pickup with the treble rooled off.

Thanks for the ST expansion suggestion, I will check it out. And the amp sim thing is right on spot, too. Any other ideas?

TexasMusicForge · Post by **TexasMusicForge** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:56 pm

cimoc wrote:I even believe Ibanez had a Joe Pass signature series model. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't archtop a guitar with an arched (convex) top? On those pictures, the top is absolutely flat.

Ibanez did make a Joe Pass signature model, but it flamed out pretty quickly because of poor reviews for its design, construction and tone. Epiphone has a Joe Pass model which is much more highly regarded.

Archtop does mean a hollow body guitar with an arched top, although the term has recently been stretched to include all jazz box guitars.

My compliments to the chef on your taste, Cimoc, Joe Pass is still the gold standard for jazz guitarists. Good luck on the quest for tone and soul.

Regards,

Ed
Austin, Texas
Land O' 10,000 Guitars

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:11 pm

Send a PM to Beardedone and ask him. He's a good jazzer on guitar and also can program midi like the wind.

Joe pass type tone - taken by itself - is pretty doggoned basic. Besides killer technique, the tone is fairly simple.

1. Treble is consierably reduced.
2. Effects at a minimum, no reverb, no delay, no chorus
3. Clean amp settings - no overdriving, treble control on the amp or amp simulator at 1/2way at most, midrange at halfway at most, bass at halfway at minimum.

Find some clean guitar samples. Used to be a workable set (even though it was from a Squier strat) over at the Auditorium. I don't know where those are now.

-Scott

gambaytheunspoken · Post by **gambaytheunspoken** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:33 pm

Plugsound Fretted has some very good electric guitars, jazz and otherwise, that sound quite convincing with a little tweaking.

jazz guitar sound like Joe Pass?