deleted

[garthman]

Don't worry about tone. A guitar sounds as it sounds. If you don't like the tone of a guitar, don't buy it.

[Freeman Keller]

Something else to consider: http://www.jldguitar.net/ My Breedloves came with this installed from the factory, and it really does have an incredible effect on the overall tone of the guitar. The stuff they claim on their website is really true.

 

The thing to remember about Breedloves and the bridge doc is that it is designed into the bracing from the get go. This allows Breedlove to scallop the hell out of the braces and still not have the top implode - there are some pretty good pics at Frets.com. Some models of Breedlove do not have the doc, they are scalloped much more conventionally.

 

For other guitars the bridge doc is usually used as a way to fix bellied tops (I tried one on my D12-28 before biting the bullet and having it fixed correctly). A common feeling about using them on a conventional guitar is that they are "tone killers". Make you own decisions here, my experience was terrible.

[bigald18]

Who you callin' no one?

 

No one!!!

 

BigAl

[recordingtrack1]

I'm trying to remember what the x15 body is, I think its a GA or GC which by definition is biased to the mids. If you want bass, got a dread or a jumbo. I have also always felt that Taylors in general were not particularly full bodied sounding guitars - I had a 314 at one time and even tho I like small bodied guitars, I never felt it was particularly bassy. Those are characteristics of the way they are built, you can make minor changes but frankly it won't become a bass cannon. Tuning to D or D# of course will shift everything to the bass - if thats what you want, go for it . I downtune my 12 strings, but I think that some smaller bodied guitars can have a full bass while tuned to concert. My humble - try a long scale OM or 000, probably in rosewood, and see what you think.

 

Taylor guitars often get a bad rap for bass response. Frankly, it comes from people who play X14's and from people who play light gauge strings on a X10 or X15. Larger bodied Taylor guitars are designed for mediums and the action, even with 13's, is generally excellent, making them play effortlessly. The bass response on Taylor guitars set up the way they should be and with the proper gauge of string should be excellent and very balanced. All guitars considered, of course. There will always be instruments that are just "better" than others, as you know, even of the same make and models. It's just the way things are.

 

To the OP, part of the solution is finding a particular guitar sound and learning to love THAT sound. I remember seeing Mel Torme once on Johnny Carson many years ago. He made a comment that struck me as odd, but it made an impression on me. He said, "I was 60 years old before I learned to love the sound of my own voice." He was already a mega-millionaire by that time.

[Electric Catfish]

Lastly, when I say that guitars can't be changed, that is not totally true. Tony Rice hogged out the sound hole on his old Martin.

 

It was that way when he got it. It was like that when Clarence White got it, for that matter. It was part of a repair job that had been done, apparently; it was easier to bore the soundhole out than to repair the damaged rosette. The guitar also has a neck (or at least the fretboard...can't remember and I'm too lazy to google it right now) from a Gretch electric, probably also as part of a repair. That guitar is far from original, but tone probably wasn't even an afterthought in those changes.

 

Rice did have his Santa Cruz's built with the large soundhole, though, and I'm sure it makes a difference.

[fixintogo]

Taylor guitars often get a bad rap for bass response. Frankly, it comes from people who play X14's and from people who play light gauge strings on a X10 or X15. Larger bodied Taylor guitars are designed for mediums and the action, even with 13's, is generally excellent, making them play effortlessly. The bass response on Taylor guitars set up the way they should be and with the proper gauge of string should be excellent and very balanced.

 

^^ Very true. I have a Grand Symphony (X16), and even strung with .12s, it has plenty of bass.

[ke2]

Something else to consider: http://www.jldguitar.net/ My Breedloves came with this installed from the factory, and it really does have an incredible effect on the overall tone of the guitar. The stuff they claim on their website is really true.

 

It looks like you can't combine K&K/JJB SBTs with this system, am I right?

[Scodiddly]

I'd second (or maybe it's third) the suggestion to try slightly lighter tension strings. I have a Taylor 314, and have switched to a silk and steel set (LaBella 710-L). The bass notes are smoother, less tubby than the usual Taylor-suggested phosphor bronze lights. Downside is that the unwound strings seem a bit more fussy to pick technique, and of course the guitar is a bit quieter.

[Pitar]

hey guys, so I'm tired of endlessly searching for THAT guitar that has the tone I really love, because every time I think I find it, I buy that guitar and then decide that there are better sounding guitars out there like 6 months later. so, any tips on improving the tone or just overall sound of the guitar? I'm talking specific brands of strings, getting a new nut, changing the string pegs, ANYTHING!! Thanks!

 

Right. The answer to this question is....

 

There is no answer. You are the only variable in the signal chain that you are not taking into consideration. You are ever-changing in ear and playing skills. You will never find anything that can keep pace with your own changes in the form of a single make/model guitar. Those people who claim they have are not progressing as players and are very loud and clear about not finding anything else better than (insert their makes/models). Take it to your credit that your ear and possibly playing skills are on the move and placing demands on you that are, short of frustrating, good demands to have.

[guthriej]

Freeman Keller,

 

I have a few (bones) to pick with you. I am glad you understand that pins, strings, and picks make a huge difference.

However saddles make the most difference. If you have only tested Tusq ( which is high stress fine grain plastic ,

and not man made Ivory). Glad to see you also care about the planet. I don't mean to sound condescending but it is

Hawksbill Sea Turtle shell, and not tortoise. Tortoise's are land dwelling animals only. There is someone out west

that raise a Tortoise that has a shell that is like the sea turtle shell, and it is legal too. As far as you can't change

the tone on an acoustic you can with the right saddle material, and tusq is not it. I know how to make a carbon fiber

sound like wood, and to make some woods sound much different with a saddle.

[guitarcapo]

Another observation:

 

All guitars will change in sound and have a "peak" where they sound their best. Sometimes this "peak" can be just a year after the guitar is built...sometimes decades depending on how heavily it's braced. A guitar that's heavily braced will just take longer before it sounds good. Also some guitars will start to sound bad after they have peaked. This can take decades and might be rectified by new bracing...but an old acoustic past it's prime can sound bad if the top gets played out without a luthier maintaining it.

[knockwood]

Just accept that there will always be other guitars out there that "sound better." Then get back to work on your writing, playing and your technique. No one cares nearly as much about tone as guitarists do. For normal people, it's all about the song.

 

I completely agree with this, but at the same time I've accepted that I will always be GAS's bitch. I'll always covet "other" guitars -- not because they sound *better,* but because they'll always sound different. Who wants to eat the same meal three times a day, every day?

 

As others have said, strings make the greatest difference. Ultimately, the guitar is the guitar, and there's really not much you can do to make it sound significantly different unless you want to get truly radical and start hosing around with the bracing, etc.

 

In my case, I just buy/make/steal a new guitar whenever the opportunity presents itself.

[Pine Apple Slim]

Best thing you can do to improve the tone of an acoustic guitar is play the crap out of it for a year or 2.

[Seorie]

try DR Rares or if you deaden strings quickly (your body chemistry) try DR Dragonskins - their the same but with a coating.

do not shave the braces on your guitars they're good guitars and don't need it.

[Dr. Roger Fishe]

t shave the braces on your guitars they're good guitars and don't need it.

 

Interesting questions and many valuable answerrs.

For what it's worth, I've spent 40 years trying to recreate Santana's sound (on electric, but same principle); tried different strings, amps, guitars, picks, pickups, etc., etc

In the end, I believe that - after you get close with your equipment - it comes down to your touch. Some call it your "attack", but it's how your left fingers touch, hold, move, shake, bend the strings.

I bet santana could get the "santana sound" on any equipment.

Just my 2 cents.

(hope to post some Santana covers soon).

[bigald18]

I got a guitar and decided to change to better strings. Since the strings were off, I figured lets shave down the struts somewhat to bring out the sound. I always heard that brass bridgepins would dramatically change a guitars sound so I put them in. I also replaced the saddle with a bone saddle made of buffalo bone. The new strings and saddle caused me to have to reset the the action on the guitar and the intonation. I made my own custom nut for the neck and that also required resetting action. I decided I was almost there But needed a port hole to bring out the upper range a little more. Out came a hole cutting saw and I did my thing. What a difference that made!

 

Now that the guitar is to my absolute liking I guess I can take some lessons and learn how to play.

 

BigAl :lol: