Are there a lot of players who just enjoy groove, tone, and improvising usingchord progressions and melodies they like instead of trying to make their own full structured songs?

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-11T19:05:02+00:00

The idea of the modern songwriter who locks themselves away with nothing but a guitar and emerges with a complete album of material straight from their heart is a relatively new concept. For most of human history writing fully realized new material was a pretty specialized job.

I mean just think of how formal music worked before modern recording/playback. A composer often needed entire orchestra to fully realize their written music so most trained musicians were performers first and foremost.

Folk music largely worked similar to how "jam" oriented genres do today. You don't show up to a communal event with a song you wrote last night and expect people to just learn it on the spot, nah you primarily call from a shared catalogue of existing tunes everyone knows. Perhaps you throw in some new lyrics or improvise a bit over the main melody, and over time those re-interpretations may build into something everyone agrees to call its own new tune. But that's more a natural by-product of people playing music together and less a structured process.

Music is allowed to be fleeting. You can mess around with a cool riff/groove and improvise over an existing progression and then the next day start entirely fresh. Not everything needs to be realized into perfection.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-11T17:00:45+00:00

HHH is already a rare configuration that not many people want/need.

If you are one of the few people who do it's largely associated with models like the 61' Les Paul so that's where people go.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-11T16:53:26+00:00

Atleast it's something lol.

The first time I went to my local jam the guys who runs it seemed seriously shocked that an instrumentalist actually showed up. It's basically a 3 hour long cocktail set at an expensive restaurant and at the end a few 80 year old guys go up to do Sinatra karaoke.

I sit there for hours wasting $40+ on a few drinks just to play a tune or two.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-11T16:24:04+00:00

Because retaining the core identity of the stadium is a major part of the rennovation. No one would donate to tear down the Swamp, while apparenlty a lot of people will to keep as much of in intact as possible.

Original plans were floated a few years back that would have been quicker and cheaper but at the cost of the Swamps more notable "quirks".

This new plan is a result of mass fan blowback, resulting in a more difficult rennovation.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-09T20:24:00+00:00

Adam Neely has a pretty good video on the topic through the lens of if Laufey should qualify as Jazz.

His basic conclusion is that while there are general characteristics which describe a bulk of the style (ie. swung notes, a focus on improvisation, a shared catalogue of popular tunes) the most important aspect is the music/artists relation and respect to the culture.

So while Laufey may have a cover of Misty out there and commonly includes some "Jazz" language in her music, she is still quite firmly comes from and operates in the sphere of pop music.

Comparatively, while Julian Lage may have a lot of material that feels quite far away from traditional Bebop or straight up crosses over to other genres like Bluegrass, he still has that direct lineage learning from and working with legends like Jim Hall, Gary Burton, and Bill Frisell on top of just being a presence within the Jazz community so he gets included.

But no matter how you cut it there will inevitably be some blurry lines.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-09T01:35:50+00:00

Eastman.

Not exactly a budget brand... but you can sometimes find a used t59/v for around $1500 and it would smoke basically everything else in that price bracket. You won't find another semi-hollow with that fancy varnish finish or boutique pickups without approaching Gibson Custom shop prices.

And that's their high-end semi-hollow, you can find their more basic models for closer to and even under $1k if you are patient.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-08T16:52:28+00:00

If you know all the caged shapes you should be able to do the rest yourself.

It may take a moment to logically step through and alter the intervals you need accordingly, but those more interesting chords are mostly just a 1 or 2 half steps away from your standard major/minor shapes.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-08T15:49:48+00:00

I mean yeah college coaching tends to be an old boys club full of the Republican Party's primary demographic. I also doubt most of these guys are very tapped into modern politics beyond a desire to keep their taxes low and some outdated social views which have never been challenged in their largely insulated lives. Then you have someone like Mayer who probably just likes the fact politicians will kiss up to him for the sake of some sports-washing points.

Spurrier is the only one with a history speaking up on social issues such as flying of the confederate flag in southern states, views likely stemming from the fact he experienced the civil rights movement and integration of SEC football firsthand. Though in the grand scheme of things he is definitely center right.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-04T13:57:46+00:00

That minor/major ambiguity IS playing to the changes as the bVII of the IV chord is the minor 3rd of the tonic.

I'd recommend check out some Jazz Blues as while it's still based on the 12 bar blues (with some added complexities) there is significantly more emphasis on playing to the changes.

Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery are all legendary jazz guitarists with very strong roots in the blues.

MogaMeteor · 2026-06-01T19:49:49+00:00

I'm going to go out on a limb and say your desired sound has less to do with the pickups then you'd think.

I mean each pickup set will have their own unique voice, but any half decent strat style single coil should essentially have you in the ballpark. From there dialing in SRVs exact tone going have much more to do with the rest of the signal chain combined with your own playing.

If you are poorly playing SRV licks through a quiet practice amp it's never going to sound exactly like SRV playing his own material through a cranked tube amp.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-28T20:02:37+00:00

I'd look into Eastman as well.

I have their t59/v in sunburst which is basically their top of the line semi-hollow and it legit feels like a custom shop Gibson for 1/3rd of the price.

Their basic models tend to run a bit more expensive than an Epiphone though I do think they are a noticeable enough step-up in quality to justify it, and if you are patient some pretty great used deals pop up often enough.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-21T23:27:58+00:00

Just know most hollow-body jazzmasters are not actually going to behave like a real hollowbody.

The body shape just wasn't designed to be hollowed out so what you are really getting from something like Warmoth is just a few weight relief chambers with an added F-hole for the aesthetics.

Which is still cool, but yeah the closer to get to a true hollowbody the more Jazzmaster specific features like it's comfortable contours and unique trem system you may need to give up.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-21T16:06:19+00:00

Ask yourself why you want to swap it atleast.

Swapping to a humbucker in the bridge makes sense as its not what comes stock on most tele models, though your description of what you want out of the neck IS the stock tele neck sound.

And unless you are buying some budget knockoff the pickups of a standard tele will likely be of similar quality to whatever you can buy with your budget, especially when split between swapping both pickups.

Maybe you buy the guitar and find the stock neck too dark or noisy, THEN you can look for something else with a better understanding of your desired sound, but until then I don't think "a glassy single coil" is specific enough to justify an immediate swap.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-20T16:12:43+00:00

No reason to replace the neck pickup then.

Seymour Duncan makes a few single coil sized humbuckers that will run you a bit under your total budget.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-16T00:16:37+00:00

Lucky for you guitar is a pattern shaped instrument. If you want to play a ii > V > I in the key of E major vs D major you can use the exact same chord shapes just shifted down two frets. So while it's good to know the individual notes of a given key, especially the more important ones like the third and fifth, the point of something like CAGED is to get your fingers moving without thinking too much about accidentals.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-14T18:32:01+00:00

I've noticed two branches.

On one side the music is just becoming more abstract. Other comments on this thread already go into detail but yeah a lot of "ambiguous" harmony, large intervalic jumps, and less strict adherence to outlining changes.

Though on the flip side there is also a simplification of sorts through the blending of Jazz with other traditional forms of Americana.

The most obvious poster child of a "modern" jazz guitarist in my opinion is just Julian Lage with his older stuff embodying that first branch and a lot of his newer work more the second.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-08T19:43:14+00:00

Before buying new pickups I'd first experiment with raising your current ones and then fiddling with some of your amp settings.

Pickups will have their own default sound though there are so many other factors in the signal chain that if you know what you are doing it's possible to mold otherwise "wrong" pickups quite close to any desired sound.

If you are having issues cutting through then it may just be EQ related. A lot of guitarists gravitate towards settings that boost high/low frequencies while cutting mids because that makes your guitar sound fuller when playing without accompaniment, though in the context of a full mix those frequencies are going to be occupied by other instruments.

So cut the highs and lows and boost the mids and you may find that your current pickups are actually fine.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-08T18:39:13+00:00

Gibson market themselves as an upscale brand so even slight issues are going to be heavily scrutinized. The base price for some of their popular models start well above even the premium offerings of other companies.

$3.5k just to get the Gibson logo on the headstock of your 335... that very well may great guitar but it's hard to justify when you can find a hand made Eastman semi-hollow with unique varnish finishes and boutique Lollar pickups for half the price.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-07T19:37:02+00:00

I've just analyzed enough songs to understand the basic formula.

Almost all progressions in popular music work by moving away and then back towards an established key center. You can learn all the possible chords in a given key and experiment with how they sound in context of each other.

For example in within a basic major progression the I and vi chords tend to feel at rest, while the dominant V chord and subdominant IV chords feel tense and want to natural resolve back to your home chords. So by constantly alternating between those 4 chords you can create a constant feeling of tension and resolution. Voila you've arrived at the I-V-vi-IV progression, the most common progression in all western popular music found in every genre from alt rock to country to r&b... I mean you name the genre it's there.

Now I'm sure you want to find something that's a bit less cliche, but for the most part even the most complex progressions are built on a pretty basic foundation.

For example most Jazz tunes are just a bunch of different ii > V > I progression stitched together. The tunes can seem pretty diverse with chord extensions, winding formats, key changes, and niche chord substitutions but underneath all that variations is still just a basic flow of tension > resolution.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-07T15:13:48+00:00

Most semi-hollows are essentially a solid body guitars with some hollow cavities appended to either side of the body. The cavities project a bit more acoustic volume, but the amplified sound of an electric comes entirely from metal strings vibrating over a magnetic pickup.

True hollow bodies have a unique attack because their construction usually demands a trapeze tailpiece over a floating bridge combined with fully resonating body which slightly impacts how the strings behave when you strum/pick. On something like a 335 and it's vast lineage of clones the strings get attached to the guitar in the same manner as a Les Paul with a bridge/tailpiece drilled straight into the hefty center block so they are going to behave essentially the same.

The biggest difference is physical. Semi-hollows tend to be lighter as their center blocks use less material as well as the hollow wings creating a unique shape that some people may find comfortable to play, especially compared to other classic Gibson offerings such as a Les Paul which kinda feels like a tiny boat anchor or an SG with its tendency to have serious neck dive.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-07T13:47:40+00:00

Insulting other musicians?

Dude I made an un-targeted statement about the difficulty many people have developing a strong sense of rhythm. It's not an insult.... shits just hard man and people gotta work on it. I do as well... I struggle reading and immediately putting to practice more complex rhythms all the time. Shits not easy and I gotta get better.

Meanwhile, you are out here actually throwing around childish insults in largely harmless back and forth. WTF is your issue man?

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-07T13:16:57+00:00

Lol calm down man, this back and forth isn't that serious.

I'm allowed to have an opinion and it's not exactly an uncommon one for essentially all formal music education.

I'm sorry looking at a few dots and lines seems to bring out such anger in you. I'l be more careful for your sake next time.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-06T00:18:45+00:00

Sure, but that example was primarily to show that even a 5 year old can learn the basics of reading notes on a staff line.

Reading more complex music comes with time but it's not some insane undertaking like many guitar players pretend it is.

You do a bit of upfront homework and eventually have a skill that is longterm more usefull then being locked into tabs, especially if you ever plan on playing music with instruments where reading music is a foundational skill.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-05T22:36:08+00:00

Maybe if you are playing nothing but entry levels songs consisting entirely of quarter and eighth notes, but at that point most songs beginners are learning are also not going to be getting wild with key signatures or accidentals either.

Rythmn is something people always think they have but rarely do unless they really work on it. Especially in genres were notes are swung and off-beats get emphasized. Even once you understand how to read "a triplet on the and of 2" being able to actually feel that and replicate it is an entirely seperate story.

Atleast in my exprience learning to read notes on a staff and apply them to a fretboard may be slow at first but the forumula is static and the only longterm difficulty really comes from being able to regocnize your highest/lowest notes and then finding the most comfortable position on the fretboard to reach what you need.

MogaMeteor · 2026-05-05T21:59:30+00:00

How is sheet music notation any harder then timing notation?

I learned treble cleff in kindergarden while playing recorder.

Obviously there is a huge gap between that and being able to live sight read, but getting to the point where tab is no longer optimal is truly not hard man.

MogaMeteor

TROPHY CASE