Is it possible to make a guitar sound a bit like a Saxophone?

Rocker

For the oldie 'Baker Street'. Might be better with a different distortion sound for the sax bit. Any suggestions guys? Thanks.

EricTheWeary

I've tried a couple of simple sax pieces on guitar. Two things that occurred to me:

1) getting the phrasing right is a b***h but to pull it off that's what you have to work on

2) you do need a 'fatter' guitar tone. I've just watched a couple of YouTube clips of sax solos played on guitar and they just sound too bright and over distorted doesn't sound right at all. Something modulation or pitch shifty maybe? I would be tempted to start with something like chorus low in the mix or even something that can mix in an octave below. 

Jazz fusion players like John Scofield or Mike Stern will have worked on sax like phrasing and their sounds tend to be low level gain + chorus. 

octatonic

It is all down the the phrasing- you have to commit to each note and the guitar isn't an instrument that forces you to do this.

In a way it is 'too easy to play'.

Jazz guitarists work for years to nail this phrasing.

Even the best of the best (Henderson, Holdsworth, Scofield, Stern) only get approximately close.

viz

It's all phrasing and note selection, and the way you do those fantastically short grace note runs up to notes. I used to play Rio, and getting to solo right hinges on those two things. Helps to have a volume pedal set to minimum swell, just to be able to creacendo long single notes.

stickyfiddle

I used to use a heavily-mid-boosted fuzz face sound to do the tenor sax bits on Valerie. 

For higher stuff I'd still look at fuzz but totally agree it's the phrasing that's important. I played sax through my teens so this comes a bit more naturally for me than most, I think, as I can imagine myself needing to breath and putting gaps in accordingly. And remember you can only play one note at a time. 

dindude

What others have said. Don't try and make the guitar sound like a Sax tonally, else you'll end up with some horrible Bontemi impersonation. You can though take lesson from the phrasing and the fluidity, which does require a more rounded overdriven sound.

Best example I know of the translation between the two is Robben Ford's cover of Revelation by the Yellowjackets.

Robben Ford does a great job of capturing the phrasing but without being a slave to it, adapting it for guitar.

Here's the yellowjackets

Rocker

Thanks guys. To summarise, it is one note at a time and work on phrasing. Not going to be easy but I will give it a go and see what emerges...

Gassage

Yes. Adrian Belew did it on the Sound and Vision tour to intro Young Americans!!

meltedbuzzbox

Roland GK pickup and one of the many pedals that work with it. 

bigjon

My jam-night version of Baker Street from the weekend after Gerry Rafferty died is here. I used front pickup into heavy compressor into OD pedal for the sound.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150362471800483&set=o.107759375935880&type=2&theater

GuyBoden

octatonic said:

It is all down the the phrasing- you have to commit to each note and the guitar isn't an instrument that forces you to do this.

In a way it is 'too easy to play'.

Jazz guitarists work for years to nail this phrasing.

Even the best of the best (Henderson, Holdsworth, Scofield, Stern) only get approximately close.

I agree, personally I think it can't be done, even the greats only get an approx sound, so I'd just play a guitar sound.

It's because of the timbre and resonance of the Sax. On the other foot, a Sax can't sound like a guitar.

Kebabkid

Another nod to the phrasing of Robben Ford.

On this Michael Mcdonald track, Robben Ford matches the guitar solo with the sax solo and both instruments are just about decipherable due to the close mix of them.

Solo 3:11


Think like a sax player. Glide into notes, and use short cut offs rather than hold them (unless required).

If you wanted to go down the cheesier route with regard to the sound, you could use a wah as a frequency tool or autowah but essentially, it lies with the phrasing and altering your approach to the notes.

A good one to practise on and mimic is the sax solo from Hall and Oates "I can't go for that".

Rocker

Nice work @bigjon.

PolarityMan

I think you could get some use out of a wah pedal to capture the spirit of sax, on a sax the distinctive thing I think is about note onset which changes in both intensity and timbre during the onset of the note, the wah might get you that aspect of the phrasing.

frankus

Personally I think the best bit of Sax I've heard on a guitar was Steve Vai on Viv Woman.

ftumch

Foos did a cover of baker st, if it's any help.

mart

Rafferty originally played that sax part on guitar - there is a demo floating around somewhere with him playing it on guitar. So you could just mimic that.

axisus

meltedbuzzbox said:

Roland GK pickup and one of the many pedals that work with it. 

Indeed. I have a GR20 which does very passable midi sax sounds. The pickup can be stuck on pretty much any guitar. Probably too much hassle for most people, but it's a lot of fun and sounds cool as well.

FreddieVanHalen

I've been working with a 'bop teacher for a month or so and we've started to look at playing various pieces on guitar that were originally sax.

The advice has been to concentrate like a demon on phrasing and timing and to learn to scat sing the exact phrasing before trying to play it on the guitar.

I think the premise behind that was 1. if you haven't *really* heard it you can't play it and 2. if you sing it you're getting in touch with the breath and gaining a bit more awareness of what might be going on from the horn player's perspective (i.e. they have to blow it!)