blasting

One of the reasons I prefer an overdriven amp for jazz improvization is to have a level playing field with the horn players. In a traditional jazz combo, everybody gets quiet for the guitar solo; then when the trumpet player comes in, everybody has to step it up. I want the versatility that the horn players have. That's the long and short of it.

Also: I got a new pickup for the bridge position on my Telecaster: Seymour Duncan Hot Rails. This isn't a stack: it's an actual humbucker -- it employs side-by-side blades to keep the size of a single coil. What I like about this arrangement is (1) I still have a classic Fender sound in the neck (which is the only part of the Fender sound I ever liked to begin with); (2) as for the new humbucker, some will say, "for that sound you have to have a Gibson, no two ways about it," and I say, "To hell with your conventions!" The fact is that I prefer the way a Fender feels when I play it; I've always played a Fender; I'm used to it and I like it. So, now, with a classic single in the neck, and a scorching humbucker in the bridge, I have the ideal jazz-to-blues-to-rocknfuckinroll Master Guit-fiddle.

Hoo-hah.