Jerry's pickup of choice

[Tennessee Jedi]

thats cool Jon
But can we all agree that "sounding" like Jerry and trying to cop Jerrys "feel" are two things ?
Gear is important.
Like if I was into jazz I wouldnt do gigs with a Strat and Ernie Ball Slinkys.I would get me a big ole archtop with those jazz strings that dont bend.
I'm sure people do it but that just isnt right.
When I do Dead I try to capture the spirit of the music as closely as I can.
I dont want to hear Warren Haynes doing the Dead.
Ouch !
I LOVE Warren but .....Soldanos arent Dead amps .....
Besides we got to keep the Vibe alive !
I'm just realizing now that this might be a personal philosophy and not fact.
Besides gear is fun stuff ...keeps me occupied ....

[Jon S.]

I understand, TJ, and don't disagree in principle, I'd only point out that you're using a sort of reducto ad absurdum approach in your response in referring to someone like Haynes who runs an LP into a Soldano.

A better approach would be to ask about someone running a Strat into a Fender Bassman.

As for jazz, last time I caught the late great Danny Gatton live, I had no issues with his jazz tones running his Tele into a Fender amp. Nor with Johnny Hiland getting awesome, twangy country tones running his PRS signature model into a Peavey. That's what I'm saying: "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with."

[Tennessee Jedi]

I meant Joe Pass jazz
not that RedNeck stuff !

Wow
Danny Gatton is like his own style;beyond a genre like "Jazz" ...
Would have loved to have seen him.You are lucky.
The same with that other guy.Johnny H. isnt jazz to me .Hes got a great sense of harmony and melody but its not Grant Green ...
What is reducto ad absurdum ?

[Jon S.]

Reducto ab absurdum is reducing an argument to its most absolute possible position in order to prove it absurd.

To me, to say, you must use the same or very close to the same gear to sound like Jerry because listen to Warren Haynes' tones - they sound nothing like Jerry - feels like that type of logic.

Of course, it would be equally absurd to suggest that because, with tweaking, many guitars and amps are capable of many tones, therefore any such combination can cop anyone's signature tone. I didn't mean to suggest that, sorry if I did.

[Tennessee Jedi]

No no its cool
Maybe I'm the one who is confused.
I just dont think Warrens tones went with my perception of what works in the Dead.Bad Shakedown tone.
Neither do I think He was trying to sound like Jerry.
I guess I just think there is something to a gear "recipe"....
You know Warren has a Duane gear "recipe" ....
AND I have seen vids of Jerry jamming with Sammy Hager on borrowed equipment and Jerry sounds like Jerry.
Maybe I'm just trying to rationalize gear lust ?

[playingdead]

I think we need to start a support group ...

I got probably 90 percent of the way there in 2004 with a 73 Vibrolux and a pair of JBL K110s and a Strat with the Garcia electronics in it ... then another 5 percent closer moving to a Tiger guitar and modded Twin head with a pair JBL E120s ... and now I am about to do my first gig with a rack system with a Trio, tube reverb and big power amp. That's maybe another 1 percent closer. Or maybe further back, the soundboards will reveal all.

Funny thing is, I just created and posted some videos from 01-07 with audience recordings of the Twin head and JBLs, and damn, the guitar sounds terrific. So why am I changing my setup at all?

It's like an illness ... I have a fever ... and the only cure is ... a lot more expensive than a damn cowbell. Heavier, too.

[myoung6923]

none of us is or will ever be Jerry. "Were you the best Jerry you could have been?," but rather, "Were you the best Jon S.?"

That's a bit extreme don't you think? You can play your guitar however you want and nobody's getting down on you for doing your thing.
But at the same time there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to emulate Jerry's tone. That doesn't mean that someone is trying to "be" Jerry - Just trying to have that sound. And nailing Jerry's sound is a combination of the right gear and the right playing style.

[Jon S.]

none of us is or will ever be Jerry. "Were you the best Jerry you could have been?," but rather, "Were you the best Jon S.?"

That's a bit extreme don't you think? You can play your guitar however you want and nobody's getting down on you for doing your thing.
But at the same time there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to emulate Jerry's tone. That doesn't mean that someone is trying to "be" Jerry - Just trying to have that sound. And nailing Jerry's sound is a combination of the right gear and the right playing style.

Forgive me, I missed where I wrote that there's something "wrong" with someone trying to emulate Jerry's tone or gear. Extreme is an adjective I don't encounter much but as they say, one man gathers what another man spills.

Let my contribution to this thread be simply that chasing a tone is good as long as it's fun (and doesn't cost your family the food or rent money) but no matter what, in the end, virtually all of us will end up with at best fragments of Jerry's gear. But be of good cheer because, ultimately, it's not in the gear. It's also my lifetime's experience that, in the end, after everything, nearly all of us still sound like ourselves. This is something I find uplifting and joyful.

That's as extreme as I get. I'll bow out now.

[Tennessee Jedi]

Well said !