Best Jazz Pedals?

[Joezei]

I’m currently building up my jazz sound, Iv purchased a Washburn archtop and an all valve fender blues junior, next to add to the list is pedals. Iv got a ditto looper for home practice, and a cheap octave pedal just to add some low end for jazz soloing.

Iv never been a big fan of distortion, what do you think would be the next type of pedal I invest in to get a silky jazz tone?

any recommendations based on experience? Or something you’ve always wanted to try?

thanks

[K-Tar]

Hi Joezei, you don't really need pedals to get a jazz guitar sound, your guitar, amp, and fingers are what matters.

There was a rather long thread about pedals here: Pedals for the Jazz Guitarist?

[MikeTT]

An option would be an "always on" pedal that buffers the signal and offers some tone shaping before hitting the amp.
For example Xotic RC Booster or the new Pedal from Strymon "Compadre".

I personally have the RC Booster always on since many years, I find it very helpful even when using nothing more than guitar->cable->amp.

[TLR]

I've occasionally been using an eq pedal, although I'm really not much of a jazz player yet and it might be an indulgence at this point. Also, one of my amps has no reverb and so I've some kind of Boss pedal for that.

[OneWatt]

Asking about the "best pedal" will get you at least as many opinions as asking about the "best guitar." ;-)

FWIW, I've found the Boss GT-1 is a gem, as I can dial in whatever (usually clean) tone I desire, shape it gently, add a pinch of compression, EQ, a little tube emulation if running it through a speaker cab, give it a clearly identifiable name, save it, and back it up to find it again later. Initially spent lots of time dialing in the preferred sounds for various guitars, and then "set it and forget it" to get back to actually playing music.

GT-1 runs about $200 in the US these days. Lots of reviews/applause from various sources. I'm hereby adding my own two thumbs up. Happy hunting.

[whiskey02]

You asked for recommendations; mine is to not waste your time, effort or money on pedals that change the sound of your guitar coming out of your amp, at least not at this point in your development. Beyond a small amount of reverb in a small, nonreflective room, I've never heard a single "effect" that sounds better than to me than simply a guitar into an amp. In most cases it sounds unnecessary and distracting, even when it's Jim Hall, Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Gilad Hekselman. Chorus, flanger, tremolo, wah and on and on, the less it sounds like "a guitar" the more quickly I lose interest. Play your guitar and make it sound like a guitar. You can't buy anything that sounds "better".

[OneWatt]

You asked for recommendations; mine is to not waste your time, effort or money on pedals that change the sound of your guitar coming out of your amp...

Given that he's got such a lovely little tube amp on hand, yours is excellent counsel.

Not all of us have access to sweet tubes all the time, and as such are stuck trying to find a "passable simulation" ;-)

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

A compressor could help with the "silky".

Compressor – Empress Effects Inc.

[rob taft]

Like Whiskey02, I love the clean sound out of my amp but I do like a hint of reverb and delay to add some depth. My recommendation is the Keeley Caverns V2. Link below is to Sweetwater website

Access to this page has been denied.

[rabbit]

BBE Sonic Stomp is worth a look.

Helps some rigs, meaningless for others, about $100.

Sort of clears the sinuses of your sound.

Best of luck with your adventure.

[rpjazzguitar]

I use a Boss ME80 when I play. It's an all-in-one pedalboard with the usual effects. There are no menus and no scrolling. Everything is controlled with knobs (except noise gate, I think).

I've carefully compared it to the signal straight into the amp. It isn't exactly the same, but it's so close I don't worry about it.

I always add some reverb.

There are four presets per bank, but I only need one bank.

1. Clean -- just with reverb.

2. I developed my own patch for a solo tone, mostly based on an octaver.

3. Distortion. I play in an octet where some of the charts require it.

4. Chorus-y sound. It's there. I almost never use it.

It has 4 band EQ, but I don't find myself using it very often. Now and then if I'm on a gig in a new room and everything sounds wrong.
I use the volume pedal constantly.

I think it sounds great. But, it won't make a Tele sound like an L5.

[starjasmine]

I use a Boss ME80 when I play. It's an all-in-one pedalboard with the usual effects. There are no menus and no scrolling. Everything is controlled with knobs (except noise gate, I think).

I love those Boss multfx units. I've wanted an ME80 for evah. But not for jazz.

For jazz, I use a guitar cord straight into a tube amp. Maybe I'll put a vol pedal in the fx loop.

OP, all-tube amps have natural compression. Before you start getting pedals for jazz, you might want to investigate technique, picks, strings, tone control settings, different tubes, and rebiasing. There are lengthy threads on this forum on pretty much all of those topics.

my $0.02,

SJ

[Ray175]

For playing out in venues with different acoustics and sizes I’ve found a good eq pedal to be very handy to adjust my sound. My amp settings remain pretty constant and the eq fine tunes - I use the MXR 6-band model and play with a wireless set-up so I can hear what I sound like in different parts of the room.

[rpjazzguitar]

I love those Boss multfx units. I've wanted an ME80 for evah. But not for jazz.

For jazz, I use a guitar cord straight into a tube amp. Maybe I'll put a vol pedal in the fx loop.

OP, all-tube amps have natural compression. Before you start getting pedals for jazz, you might want to investigate technique, picks, strings, tone control settings, different tubes, and rebiasing. There are lengthy threads on this forum on pretty much all of those topics.

my $0.02,

SJ

All good points.

I'll take a moment to explain my choice of the ME80.

One of the advantages of a full-service pedalboard is that you can set the amp at the beginning of the gig, put it whereever you want it and then control everything from the pedalboard. I don't like being close to my amp. Frankly, I'm surprised that other people do -- and are successful with that approach. Not a criticism -- players I love do that -- but I prefer it the other way.

Most players don't ride the volume pedal all night, but I do. I think it decouples volume from how hard I need to pick, without taking my right hand away from the strings (to move the volume knob on the guitar). So, if I want the sound of light picking at the same volume, I can get it. Or, if I want the sound of strained picking at a low volume, I can get that too. I've done it for so long that I modulate my volume as the band's dynamics progress, without thinking about it. Volume swells too.

I play in two bands where I'm playing arrangements, some of which specifically call for different sounds. So, in a night, I can be playing FG style comping, classic 50s jazz tones for comping and solos, distortion and my home brew solo tone. There are a few tunes which sound good with the chorus effect, although I tend to avoid that.

The pedalboard saves patches, of course. That's an added level of complexity with individual pedals, or so I think, but dead easy with the ME80.

It has a looper. Want to hear exactly what you sound like in the audience? Loop something, put the guitar on the stand and walk out into FOH. It is also useful for practicing.

I usually don't touch the EQ on the ME80, but it's comforting to know it's available. I use the tone control on the guitar, my hands and note choices. For example, if I'm hearing a dull low roar, I may switch my sparse comping from D & G to G & B strings.

And, I have one simple thing to carry. Fits in an old laptop bag with all the cables and whatnot.

I tried the GT-1. It has even more capability but I found it much harder to use. If you can get what you want out of it, it's so small and light, it's great. I couldn't.

[Marcel_A]

Iv never been a big fan of distortion, what do you think would be the next type of pedal I invest in to get a silky jazz tone?

A guitar and an amp that is able to deliver this kind of tone. I don't believe pedals are involved that often.

This is an interesting video.

And here Lars Jensen dails in a jazzy tone on literally any amp.

[Litterick]

A Fender amp does not need pedals. Turn the treble and bass down, and the middle up. Adjust to taste.

[christianm77]

All good points.

I'll take a moment to explain my choice of the ME80.

One of the advantages of a full-service pedalboard is that you can set the amp at the beginning of the gig, put it whereever you want it and then control everything from the pedalboard. I don't like being close to my amp. Frankly, I'm surprised that other people do -- and are successful with that approach. Not a criticism -- players I love do that -- but I prefer it the other way.

Most players don't ride the volume pedal all night, but I do. I think it decouples volume from how hard I need to pick, without taking my right hand away from the strings (to move the volume knob on the guitar). So, if I want the sound of light picking at the same volume, I can get it. Or, if I want the sound of strained picking at a low volume, I can get that too. I've done it for so long that I modulate my volume as the band's dynamics progress, without thinking about it. Volume swells too.

I play in two bands where I'm playing arrangements, some of which specifically call for different sounds. So, in a night, I can be playing FG style comping, classic 50s jazz tones for comping and solos, distortion and my home brew solo tone. There are a few tunes which sound good with the chorus effect, although I tend to avoid that.

The pedalboard saves patches, of course. That's an added level of complexity with individual pedals, or so I think, but dead easy with the ME80.

It has a looper. Want to hear exactly what you sound like in the audience? Loop something, put the guitar on the stand and walk out into FOH. It is also useful for practicing.

I usually don't touch the EQ on the ME80, but it's comforting to know it's available. I use the tone control on the guitar, my hands and note choices. For example, if I'm hearing a dull low roar, I may switch my sparse comping from D & G to G & B strings.

And, I have one simple thing to carry. Fits in an old laptop bag with all the cables and whatnot.

I tried the GT-1. It has even more capability but I found it much harder to use. If you can get what you want out of it, it's so small and light, it's great. I couldn't.

i like to use a volume pedal in the same way, especially for gigs where I play rhythm guitar.

only problem with volume pedal is I can only really use it seated in this way.

For electric guitar type gigs I often use a boost, or even a couple of boost settings.

[marcwhy]

Here's my pedal board that I bring sometimes (depending on the gig -- other times it's guitar, cable, amp!):



Volume pedal, tuner out; clean boost if I want to push it a bit; delay (for fun); reverb (one of my amps does not have reverb); power source underneath. I don't know what a "silky jazz sound" is, but this is all (or more) than I need.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Okay, I'll admit it, I like chorus. Just a little bit, like you only notice when you turn it off. I use a TC Corona and I can roll the treble down on the effect, so it's not shimmery. It's not the '80s, after all.

For years I plugged straight into the amp, but now I'm enjoying different tones.

[Squeezebox]

Okay, I'll admit it, I like chorus. Just a little bit, like you only notice when you turn it off. I use a TC Corona and I can roll the treble down on the effect, so it's not shimmery. It's not the '80s, after all.

Here is another person who likes chorus, when applied thoughtfully. Sounds especially good with quartal harmony and open voicings, IMO. I want to buy a Boss CE-2W since I like those Eighties sounds in other guitar styles as well.

Actually I am becoming much more tired of the modern standard wet guitar tone achieved with delay/reverb etc. I understand why people use it and it sounds good too. But sometimes I wish to hear more direct sounds.

Anyway, I like Steve Khan´s chorused tone a lot.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Here is another person who likes chorus, when applied thoughtfully. Sounds especially good with quartal harmony and open voicing, IMO. I want to buy a Boss CE-2W since I like those Eighties sounds in other guitar styles as well.

Actually I am becoming much more tired of the modern standard wet guitar tone achieved with delay/reverb etc. I understand why people use it and it sounds good too. But sometimes I wish to hear more direct sounds.

Anyway, I like Steve Khan´s chorused tone a lot.

Works for him. I only use a pinch.

[BFrench]

anyone here familiar with the Kingsley Jester Overdrive/Boost pedal? I have one I bought in 2011 I think, that I never use.

Attachment 73590

[marcwhy]

anyone here familiar with the Kingsley Jester Overdrive/Boost pedal? I have one I bought in 2011 I think, that I never use.

Hey, those are hard to come by, and could fetch decent money on the used market! Often raved about in the "gear" community!

[BFrench]

Hey, those are hard to come by, and could fetch decent money on the used market! Often raved about in the "gear" community!

I'd gladly sell it if I knew where the gear community was ha...saw 3 listed on reverb and prices were stupidly high!

[ccroft]

Yeah. And you have 'the one that started it all', it appears to be in great shape, and there's a stupidly long wait to get anything new from Kingsley. Good Luck With the Sale as we say.