30x12.5mm Guitar Effect Pedal Aluminum Rotary Control Knob

How to adjust the pickup and tone knob of jazz guitar

Generally, the front and rear Pickup and Tone knobs of jazz guitars are mostly designed from Gibson. That is, there are two pickups, and each pickup has its own independent volume and tone (Tone) knob control, plus a pickup switch (Pickup Switch) to choose which pickup to use or use both together.

The advantage of this system is that it can produce a very wide range of different combinations of tone changes; the disadvantage is that switching from one tone to another sometimes requires more steps (compared to the Fender system). Fortunately, when playing jazz in general, there is no need to change the timbre of the same song from time to time (except perhaps Fusion), so it is quite suitable.

From the sound characteristics of the pickup itself:

• Neck pickups are thicker, warmer, and a bit more "mushy".
• Pickups on the bridge are brighter, more aggressive, and a little more "clear".

Generally, when playing traditional jazz, most of them only use the pickups by the neck, so some jazz guitars (especially handmade high-priced ones) are only equipped with the pickups by the neck, and some people will even remove the pickups by the bridge. Like Pat Methenys.

The use of the Tone knob is different for each player, some people don't even use it very much, turn it all the way, and then only use the EQ on the amp to control the tone. My current method is to set the EQ on the amp to the "brightest tone" I can possibly use, and then use the Tone knob on the guitar to adjust the tone according to the needs of each song.

The bridge pickup's tone is too aggressive for traditional jazz, so it's mostly used for Fusion's monophonic melodies and improvisations in jazz. Usually some OverDrive and Delay effects are added, and their usage is not much different from the general lead electric guitar.

Here I want to mention a little bit about John Scofield's unique use of bridge pickups. John Scofield also often uses bridge pickups when playing more modern "traditional jazz". His method is to turn the tone knob of the bridge pickup to a very small, almost zero, to change the bright and strong tone to a It's milder, making it suitable for playing traditional jazz, but it has a different tone from the neck pickups. It's quite special. It's hard to describe in words. It's really nice to match with John Scofield's "laid back" sentence. ! Those who are interested go to John Scofield's later albums to listen to them!

To add here, I find that using this method works better with a semi-hollow electric guitar (like an ES335), but a full-hollow jazz electric guitar still sounds weird.

Finally, if you choose to use two pickups at the same time (open the Pickup Switch to the middle), you can combine the characteristics of the two pickups to create a new tone, and the ratio of the fusion can be determined by the respective volume buttons, so the tone changes more combinations. It takes a lot of experimentation to find the tone you like.

However, at this time, it is more difficult to change the overall volume without changing the timbre, because you need to turn two volume buttons at the same time. After understanding the basic usage, you still have to try and explore in many ways before you can find your own voice.