Did you know that there are specialized plectrums and strings , pickups to play Gypsy Jazz?
I will introduce you the things you need to play and practice gypsy jazz, so if you don’t have them then consider to get.
strings
I have’t met any gypsy jazz guitarists who don’t use Argentine. It’s very famous and very good sound.
What’s the best is that you can even put this strings on an ordinal acoustic guitar and transform the sound as gypsy jazz guitar-ish.
There are Loop end and Ball end which you can both put on your guitar and Extra light or Light. Guage is 10/45 and 11/46.
Try 10/45 either loop or ball end.
Plectrums
Plectrums or you call them guitar picks , all we can do is to try them and when you find ‘the one’ then buy some , because everybody thinks different. Some like 1.5mm , some like 3mm.
From what I have seen , most of people use from 1.5mm to 3mm. but some also use 1mm or 5mm.
I use Dunlop primetone 3mm and 5mm large round tip. There is also large pointed tip . It was just easier to play solo and backing with round tip for me.
Another famous picks are wegen. Bit pricey but very easy to play.
Buy Dunlop plectrum on amazon.com
Buy wegen plectrums on amazon.co.uk
Loop station
I use Boss Rc-1 for busking , Digitech jamman solo XT for practice in the house or playing in the bars, cafes. because you can’t use batteries in jamman so you always need power, but Boss , yes. You can use 9V battery.
Jamman solo XT
- simple and easy to use
- no time lag(when you stomp it, record starts or stops)
- fine sound
- able to record 30mins
- or unlimited record with SD card
- overdub
There is also jamman stereo looper. It has more pedals so easy to change the stocked music. But you won’t need If you play only gypsy jazz. If you play rock or other music as well then this is easier.
Buy Jamman solo XT on amazon.com
Buy Jamman stereo looper on amazon.com
Buy Jamman stereo looper on amazon.co.uk
Boss RC-1 is also good but you can’t store the recordings so better to have RC-3. When I bought RC-1, there was no RC-3 yet, that’s why I couldn’t buy.
RC-3 is also like jamman solo XT.
- Simple to use
- good sound
- no time lag
- able to use 9v battery
Like jamman stereo looper , there is Boss RC-30 as well.
| RC-1 | RC-3 | RC-30 |
| 12mins recording | 3 hours recording | 3 hours recording |
| store , N/A | Store , yes | store , yes |
| able to use Battery | able to use Battery | able to use Battery |
| pedal , 1 | pedal , 1 | pedal , 2 |
Amps
When I busk , I often use this small amp called VOX MINI5 with batteries so I can be bit louder in the street.
If you don’t have an amplifier for busk or practice in your room , then buy this mini amp . It is powerful as well. It’s only 5 watt but still good enough to use for busking .
Because it’s small and light so easy to carry around.
Also YAMAHA THR5A is great sound.If you can spend bit more money then, get this one! better sound !
BUY YAMAHA THR5A on amazon.com
Buy YAMAHA THR5A on amazon.co.uk
Most of gypsy jazz guitars have No-builtin-pickup , so you can search , inghilleri microphone , or stimer pickup .
I don’t like stimer so much because this pickup kills the gypsy jazz guitar sound. It sounds like electric guitar. but every famous gypsy jazz guitarists have this.
They also have microphone which I prefer . Because mic picks natural guitar sound, of course. But it’s not easy to handle. Like , you need PA when you have monitor on the stage. Or , some works with only phantom power etc…