ccravens Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Hello all, I've been playing my new '36 Kalamazoo KG-11 for over a month now, and am really digging the sound. After being a Martin dread person my whole life, I went looking for something different sound-wise, and boy did I find it! I'm really enjoying the sound of this ladder-braced old guitar, especially fingerpicking, cross-picking and light cross-picked strumming. My link Since I am in no way familiar with Gibsons or the Gibson "tone," which is way different from the D-18 and D-28 tone that I'm used to, my subjectively difficult question is this: Is it the ladder-braced sound that I am loving so much, or is it the "Gibson sound" that I'm loving so much? IOW, given that the Kalamazoo is ladder-braced and will certainly sound different than any x-braced guitar, am I hearing more of the ladder-braced sound or the Gibson sound that differentiates this guitar so much from the Martin tone that I'm used to? Maybe another way of asking: how similar does my Kalamazoo sound to other older (40s and 50s) x-braced Gibsons, when in comparison to the Martin D-18 and 28 sound? I know I'm generalizing greatly on an incredibly difficult question here, but I'm afraid it can't be helped. I don't have a bunch of old Gibsons nearby that I can drive to and try out to answer my question. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
62burst Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Like passing through Flagstaff, Arizona and not stopping to see the Grand Canyon. Please consider putting "sitting down for a spell with a J-45" on the list of your New Year's resolutions, you'll be glad you did.
zombywoof Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Comparisons really do not serve any purpose here. A good number of folks just like ladder braced guitars. I have been playing them for decades. My favorites remains a mid-1930s Oscar Schmidt jumbo (15" lower bout). The key, like with any guitar, is how lightly they are built. A ladder braced Harmony 00 size guitar is going to be less responsive than a Schmidt or Kalamazoo. Not sure about the Kalamazoo's bracing but the Schmidt is far lighter built having three lateral braces (plus the bridge plate) as compared to 4 to 5 in a Harmony.
el capitan Posted December 29, 2015 Posted December 29, 2015 As it's not a Martin you're getting ladder bracing & Gibson. Plus it's well old.
tpbiii Posted December 29, 2015 Posted December 29, 2015 http://vimeo.com/51018723 Here is a demo of three LG's -- 59, 46, 42 -- spruce-ladder, spruce-x, mahogany-x Weird I know . Best, -Tom
j45nick Posted December 29, 2015 Posted December 29, 2015 http://vimeo.com/51018723 Here is a demo of three LG's -- 59, 46, 42 -- spruce-ladder, spruce-x, mahogany-x Weird I know . Best, -Tom Weird in the best possible way, Tom. Happy New Year! Those guitars are all pretty "immediate", with a quick decay, but that's pretty typical when using thumb and finger picks on a small-body Gibson (and probably others, as well).
ccravens Posted December 30, 2015 Author Posted December 30, 2015 http://vimeo.com/51018723 Here is a demo of three LG's -- 59, 46, 42 -- spruce-ladder, spruce-x, mahogany-x Weird I know . Best, -Tom Thanks for the vid! They all sound so similar!
tpbiii Posted December 30, 2015 Posted December 30, 2015 I've got a few more demos. All three of those guitars are demoed here. Plus a lot of others. Here is a nice short comparison between an X-braced 1931 L-2 and a ladder braced 1926 L-1 I hear quite a lot of difference, but I listen a lot. Best, -Tom
Mickthemiller Posted December 30, 2015 Posted December 30, 2015 http://vimeo.com/51018723 Here is a demo of three LG's -- 59, 46, 42 -- spruce-ladder, spruce-x, mahogany-x Weird I know . Best, -Tom Tom, I just love your sound, even disjointed as this video is. It's unique
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