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Hummingbird vs. J-45


littlejohnny

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Hi everybody,

 

been lazy posting, mostly reading lately, work and kids and stuff, you know.

 

Whatever, found a little time to record my gibbys, so here's a little a/bing of my 2006 j-45 and my 2013 Hummingbird TV.

 

This was recorded in my living room, which is a pretty loud, reverby room, with two mics, a rode nt-5 and a AT 4033 into a Macky blackjack audio interface.

Added a little compression and some analog emulation in processing.

 

What I learned:

1) The room isn't as easy to record as it is a pleasure to play in.

2) The vintage neumann mics the guy in my rehearsal/studio space lets me use sometimes sound so much better.

 

Nonetheless, I tink this recording shows the subtle differences between those two models.

 

Both guitars are strung with gibson MB 80/20 strings, due to rehearsing and a little gigging with the J-45, strings are a little more worn/dead on this one.

 

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Hep for a fine and nuanced A/B.

It pretty much mirrors the one we know from the Tube between the ditto torrefied versions.

 

And also underlines my general impression of the 2 :

The 45 being robust/raw and deeper projecting - where the Bird is more delicate, thinner yet perhaps more lush.

 

Can't say which is preferred. I like the pair a lot and they both come across very gibsonesq.

 

Look forward to other comments. Will listen again then.

 

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Props for the Wichita Lineman!

 

Two fine guitars... I am digging your bird more... I fear attaching words like thin or throaty or fat... because I am always amazed at how two different people will use opposite words to describe the same sound. However, anyways, to me the abird sounds fuller and more 3D. More texture.

 

Nice recording.

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Very interesting...the 45 is more direct and growly in the mids and the Bird is more three dimensional and refined. They both sound great but the 45 is more agricultural and the Bird more metropolitan. I have both too, and wouldn't be without either. From past experience (I've yet to record both of my current ones together), the two blend really well in a mix!

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I like ThemiSal's description of the H'Bird being "3D". It's not just depth or texture - in the same way you can SEE the difference with your eyes, between 1D and 3D, you can HEAR the multiple dimensions on the H'Birds. To me, the sound 'shimmers'.

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In that Vintage demo, I preferred the Bird.

 

And I played a J45 Vintage at Russo's again last week. I thought the Standard they had sounded better. I was floored. I originally didnt want to try the Vintage they had when I went in... I was afraid I would like it too much. It didnt happen.

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Stil prefer the 45 in the video ,95% of the time

 

In jonny's soundcloud I liked the second guitar mostly , but jonny's touch has a lot to do with what suits him best I think, or maybe it's the room ?

No slight on jonny's playing which is great

 

Is the 45 first in the clips each time jonny ?

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Apologies for being late in thanking you for putting up that comparo, Johnny- a good one, for sure. Gave a listen when it first posted, but was having a tough time finding the end of one guitar’s clip and the beginning of the next- ‘suppose you could mark the spot as I did with the little avatar that appears when a fellow SoundClouder leaves a comment; it appears on the time line.

 

As to the guitars- yes, also supposing the ’45 went first in each section; more raw, woody, and a little louder to the Hummingbird’s more creamy tone. There, I said it. Try emoting like that, BBG- tell us why you like the ’45 more- we won’t question your stoicism, and I promise your testosterone level won’t drop (much).

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Thanks for listening everybody,

every song bit you hear, its the J-45 first, than the bird. Sometimes I moved the mics around but I did every song bit with the same set up for both guitars.

 

I totally agree with what is said about the character of the two. And in the recording I prefer the bird most of the time.

 

The J-45 has a certain lower midrange which kind of defines the specific tone of that model, Birds don't have that much of that midrange and in combination with the slightly larger body give way for more bass and higher frequencies.

But in real life, my both guitars differ in another way, the J-45 is more direct, clearer and in a way deeper or more complex, which I attribute to being 11 years old and played in very nicely. Funny thing is, this quality did not translate in any way to the recording.

 

But as I mentioned in my first post, I really did not handle the recording setting/ room very well. I saved you the song bits with faster and harder playing which sounded like crap!

 

One thing to keep in mind about my comparison: its standard vs. true vintage, those lighter build gibsons like the tv series are different therefore which translates into many things feeling and sound wise.

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