The Greasebucket tone circuit also allows you to take out some of the high frequencies that you might not want, without muddying your existing tone, or adding more bass frequencies. The bridge pickup gives you some classic Tele tang which can be nice for lead work, and the two pickups combined gives a beautiful, smooth tone. The humbucker in the neck position gives you lots of warmth and depth, however, it’s armed with a push-pull tone pot that essentially turns it into a single coil, without a drop in volume. The Fender American Performer Telecaster Hum is a superb choice if you’re looking for a versatile jazz guitar. A Tele also means you can turn it up, and add some gain to your tone without having to worry about the guitar feeding back. That said, a good Tele is very capable of producing some incredible jazz tones, as proven by the likes of Ed Bickert and Mike Stern. There’s also a Bigsby licensed tailpiece and wire handle for adding subtle vibrato, whilst keeping a classy aesthetic.Ī Tele might not seem an obvious choice for jazz - the legendary solidbody as about far away from a hollowbody as you can get. The neck features Epiphone’s Slim Taper profile so will suit those that prefer a slightly thinner neck. Each pickup has an individual volume and tone knob too so you can really shape your sound. Through a clean guitar amp, the neck pickup delivers a beautiful, mellow jazz tone, and in the middle position, you can get a great, slightly percussive, slightly quacky tone that’s great for lead playing. It’s got the classic hollowbody sound it’s warm, rounded and rich, with plenty of bite available in the bridge pickup should you need it. This gives you a wide tonal palette to play with, though it’s difficult to get a bad jazz sound out of it. It’s got a fully hollow body and a pair of SwingBucker pickups, along with push-pull volume controls that allow for series/parallel switching. This affordable and versatile offering from Epiphone is one of the best guitars for jazz around this price point.

Jazz guitar forum