Too much sound

[Cripes]

Ever thought that? A/B'ing everything for the best sound you could possibly want in a guitar, relatively speaking, and then discovering maybe it's just too good? On the face of it, that shouldn't be a problem. You have searched for and found a guitar that complements your instrumental work but has a tendency to compete with song lyrics. So, you now have to mess with all the live and/or recording gizmos to tuck away some of the sound from that guitar, or bring the singer up, to get a nice balance going. Confused, you do an A/B of your old guitar with the new guitar in both scenarios and find the old guitar better suited to playing songs.

 

So, you figure there's a guitar for songs and a guitar for instrumentals - not necessarily rolled up in one guitar.

 

Summary - You're a picky old S.O.B. like me.

[Tony Burns]

Pretty much agree as a whole - one of the main problems is that when someone buys that so-called new guitar they trade in the old one or sell it too soon afterwards and are sorry - i say wait until the newness wears off to be totally honest with yourself - Id almost say keep te old one for at least a year before you do anything rash - maybe come to the conclusion that you did that your two guitars are both best at different music or styles - but wait until you find a third and fourth etc. that all seem to be a little different but good but in different ways - yes you just wait !

[Cldplytkmn]

i think this is another justification for my tendency toward mahogany... I thought that from the thread title and first sentence you were going to talk about playing so many guitars that you stop noticing the differences between them... "tonal overload" as d03nut would put it.

[BogoEN]

 

i think this is another justification for my tendency toward mahogany... I thought that from the thread title and first sentence you were going to talk about playing so many guitars that you stop noticing the differences between them... "tonal overload" as d03nut would put it.

 

 

Im shopping now for "the guitar". I am THIS close to that...

[Cldplytkmn]

 

Im shopping now for "the guitar". I am THIS close to that...

 

 

find one that you think might be the one... spend some QT with it if you can... when i audition guitars i tend to make snap judgements... when i play mine, i focus more on nuance and details... the trick is playing a random guitar you don't own as if it was yours...

 

and don't rush it... its worth the wait.

[knockwood]

Agree with Cripes' conclusion that it ultimately takes more than one. I guess the precise number is quite different for everyone. Personally, I'm not that versatile - sounds like a self put-down, but really I feel kind of lucky to have relatively simple tastes. JT mentioned something the other day about keeping a ton of instruments around to have a variety of sound on hand for recording. That makes a lot of sense to me - for people who do a lot of recording or live playing. Or hell, even for people who just like to have a lot of gits. I've discovered I can't take care of that many or give them the attention I should. I've been quite busy getting rid of guitars in the last month or so - have gone from four down to one... not including the one just ordered. My goal is to find "the" two and stick with 'em. Hopefully I've just ordered one of those two.

 

For me, rose is half the equation. My voice likes rose. Don't know why, it just does. For instrumental stuff I like something cleaner, a wee brighter. It'll be fun looking for that git.

 

I think Tony Burns is right that there's a kind of initial love affair with new gits that may ultimately wear down or wear off (if I'm reading that right). I'm always inclined to rave about new gits & never notice shortcomings or imperfections till pretty well down the road - if they're even legitimately "shortcomings." Sometimes it's just that I hear some new sound that inspires me and I realize I can't get it out of my current stable...

[guitarist21]

 

Im shopping now for "the guitar". I am THIS close to that...

 

 

I believe "the guitar" is my Epi Masterbilt EF-500R, FWIW.

 

Ellen

[brahmz118]

Well it makes sense logically -- for a guitar and a vocal to sit well in a mix, they should have some sort of complementary relationship. But is the guitar's suitability for that role determined entirely by its inherent tonal properties? What about mic placement, strings, and technique?

 

And I'm not really sure what professionals do, but in my own amateur setup I view EQ adjustment as a necessary step. I think that a 'good' mix is, by necessity, very artificial. I think our ears have learned to accept unnatural juxtapositions of loud and soft, bright and dark, etc. -- all somehow balanced out through the magic of EQ, compression, and other mastering techniques.

 

Of course, if the guitar affects you while you're playing, then all these post-performance options don't really help.

[Cripes]

 

Well it makes sense logically -- for a guitar and a vocal to sit well in a mix, they should have some sort of complementary relationship. But is the guitar's suitability for that role determined entirely by its inherent tonal properties? What about mic placement, strings, and technique? And I'm not really sure what professionals do, but in my own amateur setup I view EQ adjustment as a necessary step. I think that a 'good' mix is, by necessity, very artificial. I think our ears have learned to accept unnatural juxtapositions of loud and soft, bright and dark, etc. -- all somehow balanced out through the magic of EQ, compression, and other mastering techniques. Of course, if the guitar affects you while you're playing, then all these post-performance options don't really help.

 

 

Precisely the point I'm focused on. Does one bring a host of equipment to create an acceptable ("artificial") mix, or just 2 carefully selected guitars? I'm not bashing the FX at all. Heck, I sound immeasurably better dragged thru a sound chopper-upper-spitter-outer. But, my druthers are for staying simpler with just the 2 (3,4,5,...?) guitars and mic'd straight in, or as straight as possible, as a base. What I don't want is to have to create a recipe book for recording and live play based on the guitar, PA, room sizes, venues, etc. That's too much like work.

[BogoEN]

I would also add that if you are strictly talking about playing w/o micing or being plugged in, dreadnoughts are tough to sing over if you aren't a belter and you don't gently brush the strings. Even my fender DG can be like that, and it has almost no bass...*sigh*

[drnihili]

Any guitar that drowns out my voice is doing a service to all within hearing distance.

[Hudman]

In my opinion, most of it can be cured through technique.

 

I think what you described is a common problem with singing over fingerstyle playing. The music can becomes so busy it fails to leave room for the vocals. Some people "over play" while playing fingerstyle. I think it's good to be able to back off a bit while playing with fingers or switch over to strumming when the music becomes too busy for the vocals.

 

Sometimes, less is more.

[Cripes]

But, I just can't control those suckers. They seriously have minds of their own competing with each other, trying to out-do each other. Finally had to humble them with a little football practice - silly bastards. I taught them, yessiree.

[Hudman]

But, I just can't control those suckers. They seriously have minds of their own competing with each other, trying to out-do each other. Finally had to humble them with a little football practice - silly bastards. I taught them, yessiree.

 

That will slow those fingers down a bit.

[riffmeister]

 

So, you figure there's a guitar for songs and a guitar for instrumentals - not necessarily rolled up in one guitar.

 

 

Most definitely. A little "mid-scoop" usually fits vocal music better, a more midrangey instrument for solo pickin'.....

 

 

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