Guitar sound or tonal descriptions help needed !

[Tony Burns]

Trying to learn about different makers , players and guitar models to try and find the sound i like best and to understand their language. but one of the main confussion points is their descriptions of the guitar sounds or tonal qualities. I hear bright, warm , loud , woody , balanced etc --is their any where , where I can get a better understanding of the language - or a basis for descriptions . Its tough trying to decide what sound you like best when my description of sound and tonal qualitiesis different from other folks.

 

I may desire something different from the norm in guitars in the future and im just trying to educate myself so i know what to look for - almost like going to school --Been thinking about a Goodall , Mcilroy or possibly Lowden ( but cant find any of these nearby )- and I will only buy something if i can get my hands on it so travel is necessary- Really want something out of the Norn- but nice ! Thanks !

[Dave W.]

I would think going to one of the luthier shows would be a great place to learn a lot in a weekend. This month AG mag has one listed I think in Montreal, but I think it is in the spring. Not too far from us.

 

Just found a link:

 

http://www.salondeguitaredemontreal.ca/accueil_en.aspx

[Samilyn]

 

I would think going to one of the luthier shows would be a great place to learn a lot in a weekend. This month AG mag has one listed I think in Montreal, but I think it is in the spring. Not too far from us. Just found a link: http://www.salondeguitaredemontreal.ca/accueil_en.aspx

 

 

I think that's an excellent idea. Certainly a good way to hear various instruments and get a consensus from several persons as to what constitutes "warmth," "brightness," etc.

 

Yours is a very difficult question to answer because everyone's perception of sound is different. "Brightness" to one person may be perceived as "tinny" or "twangy" by another. A group consensus or advice from expert luthiers will at least give you some guidelines as to the application of the more common terminology to the wide range of guitar tones.

[Freeman Keller]

Tony, it is a little like hanging around with a bunch of wine snobs - some of their terminology makes absolutely no sense to me, but let me make two suggestions. Posted in the Links section of the Annex are links to two great resources - an article on the Breedlove site about tonewoods where they do a little graphical matrix of both top woods and body woods. The top woods are ranked with terms like "root", "round", "heavier tones", "purity" on one side and "layered", "harmonic", "lighter", and "volume". Back woods are a two dimensional matrix with "pure", "bell like", crystalline" vs "woody", "breathing", "pulsing" on the other, and low and high frequency on the other axs. It makes a lot of sense when you look at where different woods fall on these graphs.

 

The other thing I would suggest is just sitting and listening to the clips on the Podium (also linked on the Annex). If you know a little about the shape of a guitar, tonewoods and the manufactures philosophy you can start to hear these words in the sound of the guitars. You can take two guitars that are similar in everything except one variable - say a D18 vs D28 to hear just the woods, or D28 vs HD28 to (try to) hear the differences in bracing.

 

They also have many of the great guitars that you are asking about, beautiful instruments well played and are a joy to listen to.

[sowbelly]

Tony,

 

The words make 'a little' more sense after you play the guitar ... if after playing it you choose the same word someone else chose. It is very much like describing red wine ... dry, oak, mushroom, chocolate ... if you don't drink wine its like describing the difference in a pepsi, a coke, and a RC ... or the last time you shopped for perfume for your wife, how you described all the smells ... which leads to my next point ... after a while, you realize they all smell pretty darn good and you are confused as heck.

 

I only own 1 acoustic guitar and it sucks. I wish I could afford a Collings, Goodall, Martin, and a whole buch of others. Back to the wine, it is like saying you have to pick ONE red wine to drink for the REST OF YOUR LIFE ... OK then, I choose ... this one, but ...

 

Here is my suggestion. Take a day and visit a guitar shop that has them all. You need to play a Collings, Goodall, Martin, Bourgeois, Santa Cruz, Huss Dalton, Martin, Taylor and any others your internet research has led you to. You are in New York and a long way from Mandolin Brothers on Statin Island, but a place like that would be the ticket. The Podium in MN is another one. Play dreadnaughts, OMs, and jumbos from each of these companies and you will get a feel of what the company is all about.

 

Here is my next option. Go to your local shop and play what they got, say a Taylor 814 Grand Auditorium and a Martin D-18GE. Then, call Jeff at the Podium and tell him what you are hearing and let him see if he agrees ... then he can TRY to decribe what the others should sound like if you get to play it.

 

Here is my next option. Let UPS do your work. It is gonna cost you some shipping but at least you get to see. I did this. I thought I wanted a guitar, so I bought it with 48 hrs trail period. They shipped it, I played it, then sent it back. I had to pay both ways, so it is about $80 total.

 

You can email me if you want talk more. secolvin@comcast.net

 

Good Luck!

[0rbitz9]

Bright, warm, loud, woody, and balanced are just marketing buzzwords.

Ignore them, and use your own ears.

[whit townsend]

To get a personal handle on all of this, you've just got to play a bunch of em.

Start by trying to eliminate as many varibles as possible when comparing.

In other words, to compare woods, stay w/in the same brand, body style, and bracing system.

When comparing two brands, compare the same style of guitar and wood. Put a Taylor Mahogany dred up against a Martin Mahog dred and a Guild Mahogany dred.

To hear differences in body shape, stay within the same brand and wood.

To compare bracing systems, stay within the same brand and body style.

Martins are good to check out cause they're popular and fairly easy to find a shop w/a good x-section. Same for Taylors. Be sure to check out Guild if you can find em, plus any other small shop brands, like Santa Cruz and Collins.

And don't forget to play some Gibsons! They have a sound all their own.