The World of Jazz Guitar through Distortion

If you are a guitarist, you have purchased distortion effects pedals at least once.
Probably, the majority of electric guitar players have never started from jazz, but from music like rock, distorting the guitar, strumming power chords, and putting their heart and soul into bending.

Many guitarists who grew up playing rock music want to start playing fancier music so they get into jazz guitar, but many of them probably think that jazz guitar is all about clean tones straight from the amp.
I would like to write this article to all of the jazz guitar fundamentalists and introduce everything from overdrive to distortion tones.

01. John Scofield

The first one I would like to introduce is John Scofield.

John Scofield’s sound is impressive for its moderately driven tone.
The basis of his sound is the combination of a VOX/AC-30 amp and a RAT.

VOX / AC30 CUSTOM (AC30C2) Guitar Combo Amp

PROCO / RAT2 Distortion

The distortion knob on the RAT is turned firmly to the right, and distortion seems to be applied intensely.
However, since the sound to the ear is milder, the amount of distortion is probably adjusted by turning down the volume of the guitar.

John Scofield also uses the Blue Note overdrive pedal from J. Rockett Audio Designs, which distorts the raw sound of the guitar more naturally.

J. Rockett Audio Designs / Blue Note Overdrive

02. Mike Stern

Mike Stern is known for his distinctive clean tone, but he also has an impressive distorted sound when he gets going on his solos.

His favorite instrument is the BOSS DS-1.

BOSS / DS-1 Distortion

The DS-1 is a standard model among BOSS distortion pedals.
In a past interview, Mike Stern said, “I use the DS-1 as an effect pedal that I can quickly procure in case it breaks down while I’m on tour.”
Also in Japan, it’s a distortion pedal that can be purchased anywhere.
However, if the logic is ”DS-1 because it’s easy to get,” I can’t help but think it’s contradictory that he loves Yamaha’s SPX90 that was discontinued back in 1986...

For many years, Mike Stern has been using the DS-1, but in recent years he has also been using the BOSS SD-1 and BD-2 customized for the Waza Craft Series.

BOSS / SD-1W Overdrive

BOSS / BD-2W Overdrive

03. Allan Holdsworth

Lastly, I’d like to show you Allan Holdsworth.

Although his sound may lead many people to recognize him as a prog rock or fusion guitarist, he himself is a jazz guitarist who also enjoys playing jazz standards.
The level of intelligence in his playing is so deep that one cannot help but feel his vast knowledge of jazz.
He also covers many jazz standards on his album None Too Soon.

His sound has such a unique tone with distortion and delay, but the distortion is basically made by amps.
The amps he uses vary from period to period, such as Mesa Boogie, Yamaha, and Hughes & Kettner, but basically they are high-gain amps.

Mesa Boogie / RECTO-VERB 25 HEAD

It seems that he used the volume to switch between clean tone and distortion.

Therefore, information on his distortion pedals is scarce, but in the past, Allan Holdsworth Signature OD/Boost was released by J. Rockett Audio Designs.
However, it is no longer available.

J. Rockett Audio Designs / Allan Holdsworth Signature OD/Boost

As a Holdsworth fan, I sincerely hope that this work will be re-released.

How was it?
Considering that the electric guitar is an instrument that has its history spun together with the concept of distortion, I think it is inevitable that distortion will be used in jazz guitar as well.
I like iridescent clean tone jazz guitar, but I also like bluesy distorted jazz guitar.
I hope you will enjoy the charm of distorted jazz guitar as much as I do.

I will continue to introduce the charms of jazz guitar in the next issue!