Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

Guitar wank is the best. I am a huge "car talk" fan and guitar wank is as good or better. It sounds like I'm joking but I'm not.


Here is my question:

I sometimes play jazz duos with a guy who plays a hollow body. I try to play my strat or tele for everything. I play with a clean sound through a nice fender amp. My sound is understandably not as full as his in this setting. In comparison it sounds thin.
Have you discovered any good way to fatten up a clean sound with a strat so it sits well next to someone playing a hollow body? Like maybe a setting on your rc booster?

Thanks Scott

[countandduke]

I'm curious to hear Scotts opinion on this subject but I'll add my .02...

If your partner already has a full spectrum tone, then I think having ANOTHER full bodied tone can make it TOO big... You'll be fighting eachother for frequency. 😃

I think a tele or a strat would be a great tone and maybe with some vibrato or something? Those EHX pedals might be an interesting option too... However... Pat Metheny and Jim Hall did a GREAT record together among others... IMOP, duets are all about how to make eachother sound great! I LOVE playing with other musicians that can "bring out the best in me"...

Good luck and please let us know what you do...

Best,
Chris

[Scott Henderson]

I agree with Chris when he says it's not a good idea to make your strat sound as fat as the guy you're playing with. Using a different tone would be better, but that's gonna happen anyway because the guitars are so different.

You can make your solid body fatter by using a boost pedal like the RC Booster with the gain way down, or even off - just the pedal itself will fatten up your tone without causing distortion. Turn down the tone knobs on the guitar enough for the sharpness to go away, but not so much that the notes on the low strings sound woofy. Also, try a compressor instead of a boost - if it's not overdone, it can fatten up the tone and create evenness and sustain without sounding like an effect. It still won't sound as fat as a hollow body, but it'll be closer.

[dizzy]

Thanks Scott
And that's a good point about complimenting the tone instead of copying it Chris.

One more question Scott:
I go back and forth between 10s and 11s. I don't play as fast and legato as you so that's not an issue. Some days I think 11s sound fuller and other times I don't notice much of a difference.

Have you ever done an a/b test between 10s and 11s?
Do you like the sound of one over the other or is the difference not big enough to be worth the difficulty in playing.

I guess a better question would be: if you didn't play fast legato Sax like lines would you use 11s or even 12s?

Thanks Scott

[slyzspyz]

not exactly related to a clean jazz tone but interesting...
from www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/scott-henderson-joyfully-flies-the-fusion-flag/54808

What strings are you using these days?

I use D’Addario .010s. I made an interesting discovery. The Tribal Tech and HBC records were recorded with .011s tuned to Eb, but on this album, I used guitars strung with .010s tuned to E. I found that with high-gain, .010s sound better than .011s. You get a full-range sound: a big bottom and a nice high-end. With .011s, you get mostly mids. The guitar doesn’t sound as massive, because you miss that low-end. I still keep a guitar tuned to Eb with .011s, because it is really good for the Stevie Ray, barely broken-up, clean blues sound.

[Scott Henderson]

I'm still using 10's - they seem to fit my playing style better. 11's aren't harder to play because I tune to Eb when I use them and the tension is about the same. I still think .11's are best for semi-clean blues.

[MarkLawrence]

I find the non-pointy corners of a regular plectrum sound much fatter and I think Scott mentioned on the first Guitar Wank that he uses the flat back end of one. Sounds 'thumby'!

[Red Suede]

So does Robben Ford. Sounds better to me, and I got tired of the pick sliding when playing rhythm with the pointy end.