Scott Henderson Discussion

[pbognar]

Scott,

I thoroughly enjoyed your 2 hours with Jude Gold.

Love your stories, tips and techniques. I'll try to make it to your show in Chicago.

Why the f*ck did you play it?!! - Joe Zawinul

[Scott Henderson]

It's always fun to hang with Jude - he was our guest on GuitarWank last night. It was the battle of the podcasts - we told him how jealous we are because he interviews so many famous people, but on the other hand, his show will never be as filthy, politically incorrect, and as worthless as ours. So there.

[NaserWAS]

Hey, Scott! For many years I've been watching your performances and dreaming about playing guitar myself. All those times, I had not enough courage to start taking guitar lessons because I thought that it'd be too hard for me to learn how to play on a jazz guitar, so I was trying to forget about my dream. But whenever I was watching you playing the guitar, the only thought was appearing in my mind - why am I so afraid to try? Finally, I'm ready to do it. Soon my guitar lessons start, and now I have to choose the guitar to play. I wanted to ask you for a piece of small advice because you're the professional. I came across the review https://bestelectricguitars.reviews/best-jazz-guitars/ of best jazz guitars in 2020, and I'm choosing between Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special and Fender American Elite Telecaster. I chose those because of the characteristics and the way how they look. Maybe you know something about them? Thank you in advance, your help will be precious for me.

[Scott Henderson]

I have both guitars - not the exact models you're asking about, but close enough to give you some advise. The Jazzmaster is a cool guitar and has a unique tone, but these days there's so much radio frequency in the air that if you use it with even mild distortion, the hum could be a problem. It's also not as versatile as the Tele in my opinion.

This version of the Tele has noiseless pickups which is a huge plus. I love the tone, and it's an extremely versatile guitar. Ted Greene got beautiful jazz tones from his Tele, one of my favorite fusion players Uffe Steen gets a great variety of jazz and blues tones, Jeff Beck played one occasionally on some of his most famous tunes, and it was the signature sound of Albert Collins, one of the coolest blues players ever. My Tele is alder too and I used it on the song "Dew Wut?" on my album Vibe Station. Oh, I forgot Keith Richards! Not jazz, but his Tele tone is awesome and shaped the sound of The Stones! That's enough reason to buy one right there.

Hope that helps!

[NaserWAS]

Scott, thank you so much for your reply. You helped me a lot. I also liked Fender American Elite Telecaster a little bit more, but still had some doubts. But you convinced me that this guitar is better. So now I'll try to order it online and start playing!
Again, thanks for your help!