Guitars just sound different.....seeking your experience and opinions

[onewilyfool]

I took a couple of guitars over to my friend's house to jam a little last week. When he played MY guitars back to me I was kind of blown away by the difference in volume as a player and as a listener. My guitars were so loud when played to me, that I started thinking that there could be a whole new classification of guitars as "Player" guitars, which sound great from sitting behind the guitar, and "audience" guitars which project more, and sound better to the audience. And maybe there are guitars that are both. I was asked to go to Gryphon Stringed Instruments with my friend to evaluated a "Froggy Bottom" guitar that they had there. He asked me to bring my Goodall GC as a comparison (since sold) When I played the Froggy, it sounded (from the player's side) like it was amped. The notes just exploded out of that guitar, and to date, it may be the most "powerful" guitar I have played (from the players p.o.v.) We played back and forth, the Goodall from the players side, has tons of overtones, and a sing-song sound. We then got two employees to play the guitars side by side facing us and I was amazed. The goodall, from the Listeners p.o.v. sounded MUCH better than the Froggy. The Froggy, from the players p.o.v. sounded MUCH better than the Goodall. So I'm asking the Forum, especially the "pro" players when they buy a guitar, do they buy it for the player sound or the audience sound??? This may be a whole new "GAS" reason to buy new guitars....lol

[Hoss]

If possible, I always like to hear a guitar from in front before buying. I've even brought a little recorder with me a couple times in order to accomplish this. Recording gives you the added benefit of hearing the guitar from in front as you play it, rather than hearing someone else's technique.

 

Also, bringing along another guitar that you know - as you did with the Goodall- is a good idea.

 

Both approaches can help with those GAS pangs.

[nodehopper]

I think that is why all the Modern Luthiers are adding sound ports that point up at the player on those high end custom jobs.

 

Imagine dropping $30K on a guitar and not being able to hear its awesomeness?

[KL]

Yes, they do sound remarkably different when someone else plays them and you sit in front of them I usually get someone to play any acoustic I'm thinking of buying to me so I can see what it sounds like.

[ram1500]

I also made reference to this just the other day when I posted the sound clip of my 65 Dove. It's nice to hear it other than from the players position.

[L5Larry]

Archtops and resonators are notorious for projection, that's what they were designed to do. Either one from the players point of view sounds completely different than from the listeners side.

 

While sitting around a table, or the living room, with some buds strumming acoustics, my L-7 sounds "normal" to me, but I've been told it rattles the teeth of the guy sitting across from me. Along the same lines, my bandmates brass body resonator can barely be heard by the player, but projects out front very nicely.

 

And for just these reasons, I love to hear other people play my guitars.

[suburude63]

I think that is why all the Modern Luthiers are adding sound ports that point up at the player on those high end custom jobs.

 

Imagine dropping $30K on a guitar and not being able to hear its awesomeness?

 

 

 

 

Imagine spending 3 grand or 4 grand and missing the awesomness !

[suburude63]

I have a Olympus dig. recorder that I use ocasionally to record practice stuf and to here what a guitar sounds like from the other side recorded. Its amazeing !

[Murph]

I have a Zoom H2.

 

But I don't trust it........

[onewilyfool]

I'm glad I'm not alone on this....some guitars are "players" guitars, sounding so sweet from the back side....and others just project out there and the player doesn't really hear it.....L5Larry, I'm not surprised, my experience is that also, "f" hole archtops just sound so quite from the players side.....but out in front of those 'f' holes....wow....

[Modac]

Gibson J200s and 185s always seem to project much more than the player senses, too.

[MisterGibs]

Gibson J200s and 185s always seem to project much more than the player senses' date=' too.[/quote']

 

That's what all my friends tell me when they sit in front of M-R GIBS when I strum on that sound bomb. Even some of them tell me do not "push so hard" - and I just play normally...

 

Me personally I prefer guitars that project better.

[albertjohn]

....some guitars are "players" guitars' date=' sounding so sweet from the back side......[/quote']

 

Wily. Please! Where are you going with this?

 

I was fortunate enough to have my teacher play my SWD when I was choosing it. The sound from the "front side" was completely different from the "back side". To have someone play for you is a great way of choosing.

 

I have had similar experiences with my old Yamaha FG 423. It sounds OK if a bit muddy as a player but I've had several compliments about its sound from listeners.

 

The SWD is also loud and growly from a listeners perspective. My singing partner Liz is always fighting against it when we practice acoustically.

[Modac]

It's really not hard to pretty much be able tell how the guitar sounds to the listener. Most good acoustic stores have a quiet room. Take it there, Tilt the guitar so that you lean over it while playing. Voila.

[suburude63]

I have a Zoom H2.

 

But I don't trust it........

 

 

Get an Olympus then . Because I trust it! It reproduces sound just like when a buddy plays my guitar in fron of me