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Post by latestrummer on Mar 8, 2015 9:32:14 GMT -6
www.leonardo-guitar-research.com/research-report-lgrpA comparative study of the sound preferences between guitars made from tropical woods, and guitars made from non-tropical woods. This study was posted to a Guitar Facebook page I follow. It is a very interesting read for those interested in Classical and Acoustic guitar materials but I suspect it has implications for Electric guitar tone woods as well.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 15:38:54 GMT -6
Well, for me as far as electric solid body's go, I really don't think the wood has that much of a say in the tone of the guitar. In sustain It seems too. At least for guitars I have built. The one guitar I build for a customer was the "Rose" It was made from some really old rosewood. 60 to 70 year old.As far as the info we got on the wood itself. That guitar will sustain longer than any guitar I have built or ever have had in my hands. But tone wise, because of the pickup we put in it, is where it gets most of it's tone.
But in the acoustic world... I do think it makes some difference. don't really know how much... Case in point. I just had my birthday on the 11th of Feb. I had just sold some gear off and decided to buy me a brand new acoustic guitar, this would be my 2ed acoustic I ever bought new! So I did like most and tried out Martians, Taylor's and some I don't remember their names. But they were all high end acoustics. I did not like any of them. They, to me had no life in them. They just didn't talk to me at all. the Martian's were too bassy, the Taylor's where too tinny sounding. I was looking for the acoustic that had more open even tone across the strings. so in the climate controlled room along with these high end guitars was this Takamine. Wow!!! I could not believe my ears. This is the guitar I was looking for. I even had a friend along with me and he loved the way this guitar sounded as much as I did. So I thought this guitar must be a really high end guitar. I was shocked when I seen the price. It was a whole lot less than the others, and it not only sounded better but played easier too. It has on board electronics on it but I didn't care if it did or didn't, it sounded so good I had to come home with it.
So for me this proves my point... Just because a guitar (acoustic or electric) Cost a lot of money does not always equal good tone or play ability.
That being said... (and I say this a lot) Buy the guitar that talks to you, don't get all hung up in how much it cost or who made it. To me a guitar is an instrument, and not to be confused with how much it cost or who made it.
My custom electric guitars, sound and play better than any of the name brands, That is based on what my customers have told me. Yes they are not cheap. But they are hand carved... Well that's for another story.
EB
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Post by dnic on Mar 8, 2015 19:02:54 GMT -6
I have not had a chance to read or listen to the results of the test. But I will respond and thanks for sharing the link.
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Mar 8, 2015 19:22:04 GMT -6
Thanks for sharing...I do love the analysis.
John
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Post by dnic on Mar 9, 2015 11:42:34 GMT -6
Great test, looks like they use proper procedure and even a sort of double blind by retesting a pair and calling it a twelfth pair. The results are what one would expect somewhere down the middle. Good that they did blind and non blind tests because it demonstrates how much we are swayed by our sight. Thanks again for posting.
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Post by latestrummer on Mar 9, 2015 20:06:51 GMT -6
This type of test would probably make a lot of people realize that their preferences are often made by seeing the headstock before they even hear the guitar. I guess the cool part is it opens the doors on more local woods as it really is the construction techniques that make the difference. One person noted the Taylor Pallet Guitar which is a pretty cool story, if you haven't heard of it Google it. It's definitely worth the read. Andrew
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Post by hoz on Mar 11, 2015 5:27:33 GMT -6
Very interesting.
It makes me wonder how much of a headstock snob I am. I may have someone lead me into a guitar center blindfolded soon!
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Post by dnic on Mar 11, 2015 8:45:33 GMT -6
"Headstock snob" HA! The GC thing could be done, just sit in the middle of the acoustic room blindfolded and have a friend had you guitars. Although I think I'm a playability snob and might let the feel guide my ears.
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