Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,

I really want to try to start listening to "Good" guitar tone -- to get an idea of what different guitars sound like.

I am quite familiar with the sound of Cheap boxy student guitars... and the sound of dead factory guitars.....
and the weird twangey/boingey sound of Old cheap beater guitars.... and the sound of my Retopped Esteban...
But... there is a complete shortage of custom guitars in the general area I live in...

So... for Steel string guitars, can you give me some recommendations for good songs or albums or clips
for listening samples....

I would especially appreciate it if I knew what sort of thing I was listening to as well...
such as type of guitar, type of wood, type of bracing scheme?

Also... if you have these sorts of clips on your own personal website, shoot me a link
so I can listen.

Thanks

John

Hey John

At dreamguitars.com they have recorded all the guitars theyre selling and I think the recording is done well. Just go to new or preowned instruments and select the one you want to hear.

Warren.

Great site.
I have never heard of BOAZ GUITARS, they sound pretty good.

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It is better to try and fail, than never try at all

I think Don Ross' Passion Session is one of the best recordings ever. Truly reference quality. And you get to hear a few different guitars from Lowden, Beneteau, and Graf.

Not only the speakers, but all these computer sound cards have built in "dynamic" EQ. If you really want to listen to what something sounds like, you have to go in there and flat the sound out. That helps a lot.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

This subject is like Pandora's box if you ask me. It is so subjective. I can't for some reason get out of my mind that picture of Paul McCartney in acoustic guitar magazine, with his Epiphone Texan. I just saw one a lot like it for $300.00 at guitar center. Many recording engineers say cheap tinny sounding guitars are best for recording because they don't get "boomy" when miked. I honestly don't trust my ear all the time because it always sounds different, depending on my mood among a million other factors, so I judge by recorded performance, because that's how I like to listen to it anyway. But then again I'm not an expert.
I've got some decent sound clips on my website: http://www.namebrandacoustic.com. Good luck!

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Here's a couple of a Tasmanian Myrtle OM with Engelmann Spruce top that we built a few years back.


Recorded with a couple of Rode NT5's in Protools with flat EQ and a touch of reverb.


Mart Noodling

The Donegal Pearl Diver

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs9rkTvcVus
Here's a new one recorded in my dealer's showroom in Summit, NJ.
The Blonde Florentine on the left was just recently completed.
This is a "show and tell" right?
Nelson Palen

OOPS! Wrong video
Here's the correct one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEs3yFX7DbE
Nelson

Some people can tell a crappy guitar from a great guitar, and in-between this way.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

"Good" guitar tone is pretty subjective and personal John. A good way to get a better idea of the tone you're looking for is to stop in every store you see that sells guitars and ask them where they keep the good stuff. And you might want to do it blind folded. Well maybe not the driving to the store part.

Danny

Not to threadcrap here, but if your recording engineer doesn't know how to deal with a boomy acoustic guitar, you've got the wrong engineer for the job. Boominess of an acoustic guitar isn't present when it's played in front of you-- only when the recording has not been eq'd to make it sound like the instrument is right in front of you.

A stellar example of dry guitar tones is on Tony Rice and David Grisman's "Tone Poem" albums. The instruments were recorded dry, with no effects added save for spacing of the two instruments within the stereo spectrum.

Even a heavily eq'd recording can be valuable, as I believe the goal should be to make the instrument sound as much like itself as possible. I continually reference the recordings of Tony because that is the goal he and the engineer share-- to make the instrument sound like itself when played back from a recording. The eq serves only to compensate for the effects the mic, placement, console, etc. have on the recorded sound.

I appreciate the feedback.

I do understand the problem with many studios and guitars..... Mostly, they are trying to record vocals and the guitar is accompaniment. All that sound guy really wants is "Guitar" sound -- so a cheap beater will do great. It sounds like "Guitar" in the mic and isn't particularly loud. For those recordings -- a powerful guitar is a liability. It rings out over the vocals and records back thru 3 or 4 other mics.

Then, the other side is guys like Adrian Legg -- an awesome guitarist.... and he plays (or played, when I saw him live) Ovations. There, we are hearing the guitarist. Adrian wants a specific sound, and his guitars let him get there.

The dream guitars site is neat. I like being able to hear different guitars back to back. I appreciated hearing one of John How's Ladder braced guitars vs one of his conventional X braced guitars.... and Somogyi's -- just sound cool. Very interesting.

Thanks

John