So you think you could tell: could you make the difference in 2 guitars discernible ?

[62burst]

There have been some fine videos shared here on the forum over the years which demo'ed two guitars of the same model, but made with different woods, or construction methods (14 or 12 fret, for example). Some videos made by forum members- BluesKing777 had some fun with his hide/then reveal of an old and a new Martin guess-which-is-which recording. It can be difficult to tell no matter what you're listening with. It is a challenge to make a guitar differentiate itself from it's sibling in a recording; picking the material, and shortness of the clip to help the listener hear the difference. Would it be worth it to you, if you could not make that difference obvious in a recording?

 

Can you tell the difference with your eyes closed on these videos that have previously made the rounds here on the forum? :

 

 

[MorrisrownSal]

In both videos... I would not be able to pick which is which.

And yes, I could still justify owning both. These decisions are not logical. You got the dough, and one makes you FEEL a certain way, have at it. Life is short. Save logic and data for rebalancing your portfolios, not your guitars.

[BluesKing777]

I tend to go for the 'totally different each time' experience, but I have fallen for buying very similar ones, sight unseen internet purchase of course and if I had 'played them first' as everybody says, I wouldn't have bought either!

 

That said, there are just too many variations in recording techniques, mics, cameras and lastly - the players. For my playing I want to hear the sales guy fingerpicking and preferably something I know and that happens..never. But with my Sennheiser HDs on, I can sometimes tell something but mainly that strange thing I don't like. For example, my Maton SRS808 is Cedar topped (why I bought it after playing it). Now the difference between the Sitka Maton EBG808 TE model of exactly the same proportions in real life, there at the shop, is large - the TE is Queensland Maple, not actually a maple but a touch mahogany like, with Sitka top. My SRS808 is Australian Blackwood/Cedar, and the Blackwood is more like Koa, we are told.

 

So here are both on the video tube - need good headphones to tell any difference when he plays.....he speaks another language but it you can get the 'drift'.......and possibly, he is going "yada yada yada yap yap yap" like all the others do!

 

 

 

 

Now, if you want more of the same size guitar....I have listened to some of these over the last few months and the last one stood out as very different but the rest....hard to say over the internet but guess what? I went to the shop and played all of them plus some more! An the one I liked most had grain runout that you can't see on the demo model! And, of course, even though they are all exactly the same size guitars, they were all set up, made by hand, very different...and the one I thought sounded great had a strange concave feel at the nut!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[fortyearspickn]

I think the deciding factor is how much 'disposable income' a person has.

[OldCowboy]

I think the deciding factor is how much 'disposable income' a person has.

Exactly.