All That Jazz ...
Neville Marten’s conversion to unexpected gear continues, with a guitar that goes in and out of fashion but has never been more popular
There’s something about certain guitars that represents ultimate cool. Yet often their use seems to be confined to genre-specific styles and looks. Witness the glorious ‘rockabilly’ Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman and White Falcon. And another instrument I’ll get to in a minute.
It’s always been my totally unscientific contention that rock and blues guitarists never turned onto these stunning-looking instruments because their complicated controls might lead to confusion in the heat of the action. You can even turn some guitars completely off with the idle moving of a switch, and that’s a no-no to the player at the apex of their showstopping solo. And changing a broken string on a Bigsby, mid-gig? Hence those ergonomic Gibsons and Fenders ruling the blues-rock roost for so long.
I remember criticising a PRS Singlecut in a Guitarist review, since Paul had decided the Gibson four-way control layout could be bettered by revolving it so the two neck-pickup controls were at the front and the bridge pair at the back, rather than Gibson’s decadesold method of neck knobs on top and bridge below. Yes, it may be more visually logical, but guitarists have been intuitively switching the Gibson way since time immemorial, so ‘improving’ it will only confuse.
I’m pretty sure I recall a Gary Moore video where he sported a fabulous White Falcon (or was it the even more bonkers Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster?). But I don’t think I ever saw him playing it live. Likewise Pete Townshend, whose fabulous open A chord in The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again was played on a Gretsch 6120 through a Fender Bandmaster amp. What? Surely it was Les Paul and Hi-Watt? No, it wasn’t. To be fair, Pete did dally with the 6120 and indeed Duo-Jet live. So perhaps it’s down to publications such as this to rid Gretsch guitars of their ‘rockabilly only’ stigma.
And we can overcome their idiosyncrasies. Fender once kindly longterm loaned me a glorious Gretsch 6120 in classic orange. I used it for two full Marty Wilde tours and adored it, once I got used to it. In fact, a shot of me playing it live is one of the rare personal pics that I like.
Offset Attraction
And now to that ‘other’ guitar. Actually, it’s two, but for my purposes just the one. Yes, I’m talking about Fender’s staggering-looking Jazzmaster (and Jaguar). Since selling my Murphy Goldtop the cash has been burning a hole in my pocket, and the ‘worm’ of a custom colour Jazz has been burrowing away in my feeble, GAS-fuelled brain.
The Jazz and Jag fall in and out of favour with astonishing regularity – witness surf music, indie, grunge and so on – but have never figured in the mainstream. These days, though, their radical offset outline is the basis for so many ‘tribute’ models. Just yesterday I purchased an unused Lake Placid Blue one with white ’guard and a Harrier jump jet’s worth of switches and controls. It was a custom-ordered Closet Classic and also has the upgraded Mastery bridge, since these guitars are notorious for tuning issues and strings popping out of their saddles. We have another Marty tour starting as you read this, and this will be my electric mainstay. The band will be playing Diamonds, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan’s post-Shadows charttopper (with Jimmy Page on acoustic). It’s in D and Jet played it on a Fender Bass VI, but we do it in E and I reckon the Jazz’s neck pickup should have that perfect combination of plumminess and twang. I’m picking it up soon, so wish me luck!
On a final note, this month I semi-retire as Guitar Techniques mag’s editor. I’ll stay working behind the scenes for GT and may well be doing even more for Guitarist, the magazine that’s been dear to my heart since I began working on it as staff writer just a year after its launch, in 1985. As Larry Carlton once played, it’s like It Was Only Yesterday… See you next month.
“Since selling my Murphy Goldtop, the ‘worm’ of a custom colour Jazz has been burrowing away in my feeble, GAS-fuelled brain”
Without a doubt, one of the great privileges of being a guitar maker is having the opportunity to work with many of the best woods in the world. Given the limitations of exporting tropical hardwoods in recent years, the guitar market now accepts a much broader range of tonewoods than ever before, offering up the promise of a host of new sounds and exciting possibilities.
The great benefit of running a small workshop is getting to spend longer with each instrument than you ever would in a large production facility. This really gives the luthier time to work with a particular timber and to become well acquainted with it. Working with predominantly hand tools gives the maker a tactile connection with the wood, nurturing a bond that a machine or power tool rarely promotes.
As an advocate of alternative tonewoods, the storage racks in my workshop are stuffed with a curious variety of timbers: cherry, yellow cedar, bog oak, zebrano and pear to name a few. Those who have been reading my words here for some time will know that I have been collecting wood to represent (in guitar form) the Tree Council’s top 50 trees in the UK. As a result I have boards of sequoia, cedar of Lebanon and yew ready in the wings for future projects. Blessed with this array of interesting lumber I am often asked: what is my favourite wood?
For me, there’s no competition, it has to be walnut. With at least three varieties – English, black and claro – walnut has firmly secured its place as a favourite tonewood among luthiers and players alike for not just the back and sides of a guitar but also necks, binding, fingerboards, and even the occasional soundboard. George Lowden is probably more responsible than any other luthier for bringing walnut into the spotlight, though I imagine most guitar makers have been drawn in by its beauty and versatility at some point. It can take on a striking three-dimensional appearance with stunningly figured grain, or grow straight and unassuming. The colours range between deep browns, mossy greens, vibrant reds and purples.
It is also a very compliant timber to work with so I often recommend it to my guitar building students as an excellent choice for a first guitar. It readily planes, scrapes and sands to a velvety smooth finish without difficulty, and at the right thickness bends without protest. It glues readily and takes finish well; even an amateur French polisher will discover that they can achieve a deep mirrored finish quickly, and it looks (and feels) sublime under a simple coat of oil. To this day, the pleasing aroma of black walnut takes me back to my days at university when I was planing the sides of my first acoustic guitars.
Sweet Spot
My own experience of the sound of walnut guitars is that they tend to occupy the sweet spot in the middle of the typical traditional guitar woods. Never quite as glassy-clear as rosewood, walnut nonetheless possesses some of the woody, bluesy ‘grit’ that mahogany guitars tend to project. It’s an earthy sound that’s versatile enough to be in use for everything from Gypsy jazz to pop music. The availability of straightgrain sections also makes it a great neck wood, stable enough to hold up under the tension of the strings while offering up something visually different to the usual mahogany or maple favourites.
So it is with much anticipation that I embark on two new walnut guitar builds this week. One is an OM-size acoustic with a flawless Western red cedar top, a tried and tested combination of UK-grown tonewoods that never disappoints. The other is a fanned-fret Gypsy jazz guitar pairing a figured set of English walnut with a cedar of Lebanon soundboard and neck, and forming an official start to my ‘50 Trees’ project. With a little bit of luck I’m confident these two instruments will celebrate the unparalleled natural beauty of this impressive tonewood.
“The pleasing aroma of black walnut takes me back to my days at university when I was planing the sides of my first acoustic guitars”