Guitar Greats-George Benson

George Benson is one of the most successful jazz guitarists of all time. He is an American guitarist who first came into prominence in the 1960s playing soul jazz with others including Jack Mc Duff, then following this launched a successful recording career.

He is also a pop artist as well as an accomplished jazzer. A child prodigy, he uses a similar picking technique as gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

He had a no1 smash with Breezin' in the mid 70s and has since been a successful solo artist, occasionally collaborating with others including more recently with Gorillaz in 2018.

He uses an archtop style jazz guitar. These guitars are hollow bodied and usually large in size. See the picture below for a nice selection of archtop guitars. These are mostly made by Gibson, Guild and Gretsch and have humbucking pickups for long sustain. They are usually used for their gorgeous clean tones. Don't play them with too much overdrive though as they will feed back hideously!