How to evaluate a guitar??

[onewilyfool]

[zombywoof]

First thing I do is give 'em the old thump test - whack the top with the side of your thumb. No matter how old the strings are or how long the thing has been sitting what you hear tells you a whole lot about how much top end flutter the instrument has.

[sboiir]

Very interesting. His statement...."A new guitar, like a new pair of shoes, should be something you like right from the beginning." I agree 100%. Was in a guitar store in Spokane, Wa. years ago. Picked up a Chet Atkins nylon electric. It made music from the 1st touch of the strings..not me. I played others that I wouldn't own. That one I bought. Made an error selling it to a friend, but am trying to get him to sell it back to me. My wife plays classical and it too made music the 1st time she touched it. Thanks for sharing that vid

[G McBride]

Someone help me find lyrics and chords for "Hold You In My Heart" that is playing on that CD.

 

Thanks

 

Gill

[Alex_78]

All the things he says are reasonable and make perfect sense.

[E-minor7]

I like a lot of what this guys says (and we know it already, don't we). Still I'm not necessarily behind him when it comes to 'every tone and fret being totally even with same volume' etc. His words about meeting the instrument where it is or where it takes you are wise, but the guitar is allowed to have strong and weak points which you as a player got to figure and then compensate for. I mean, if the trebs f.x. are a bit shy and you need to get them across in a certain song, then just give them the extra attention needed – another tune can be based on a significant bassline so there the bassy old dread is just right and so forth. . .

 

Playing rock or folk or folkrock songs isn't about being mechanical correct, it's about expression and feel. A good straight guitar is okay (nobody want a false-note-fretboard), but I'll prefer a little weirdo to a suit'n'tie clerk guitar anytime.

 

Then again, when I look at this clever and sympathetic demonstrator, he doesn't particularly rock !

 

 

 

 

P.S - He might be right about the tone of a guit., but when it comes to shoes, every pair of boots I ever walked started stiff and quite wrong, but ended like they were painted on my feet -

 

[Alex_78]

I like a lot of what this guys says (and we know it already, don't we). Still I'm not necessarily behind him when it comes to 'every tone and fret being totally even with same volume' etc. His words about meeting the instrument where it is or where it takes you are wise, but the guitar is allowed to have strong and weak points which you as a player got to figure and then compensate for. I mean, if the trebs f.x. are a bit shy and you need to get them across in a certain song, then just give them the extra attention needed – another tune can be based on a significant bassline so there the bassy old dread is just right and so forth. . .

 

Playing rock or folk or folkrock songs isn't about being mechanical correct, it's about expression and feel. A good straight guitar is okay (nobody want a false-note-fretboard), but I'll prefer a little weirdo to a suit'n'tie clerk guitar anytime.

 

Then again, when I look at this clever and sympathetic demonstrator, he doesn't particularly rock !

 

 

 

 

P.S - He might be right about the tone of a guit., but when it comes to shoes, every pair of boots I ever walked started stiff and quite wrong, but ended like they were painted on my feet -

 

 

Mmm, since the dawn of stringed instruments (Stradivari's days) a good violin, or violoncello, or lute, or guitar is good because it responds well and smooth (homogeneus) on the entire register, that was what made violins made by Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri, good violins, or Torres' guitars. Same concept for other instruments, I used to play the sax, and there were saxes who had tuning and volume problems on certain keys (notes), they were considered substandard, in the end a good instrument helps the player, who is not supposed to work on the flaws of the instrument itself.

[E-minor7]

Mmm, since the dawn of stringed instruments (Stradivari's days) a good violin, or violoncello, or lute, or guitar is good because it responds well and smooth (homogeneus) on the entire register, that was what made violins made by Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri, good violins, or Torres' guitars.

 

As mentioned I focus on rock'n'folk here. Of course an instrument must be tuneable and fairly even. Still in my mind the balance shouldn't be overrated. I'm not that much for too well trimmed and straight acoustic guitars – I like a percentage of buzz here and there and some specialties to play with and against. Have a Martin Custom D-18 that sounds very good. But mighty Lord it is so well behaved that sometimes I feel like giving it a chock !

 

[Alex_78]

As mentioned I focus on rock'n'folk here. Of course an instrument must be tuneable and fairly even. Still in my mind the balance shouldn't be overrated. I'm not that much for too well trimmed and straight acoustic guitars – I like a percentage of buzz here and there and some specialties to play with and against. Have a Martin Custom D-18 that sounds very good. But mighty Lord it is so well behaved that sometimes I feel like giving it a chock !

 

 

I don't understand: do you mean balance in terms of tone or in terms or volume?They're two different things, personally I think that if you want to play well folk and rock playing something advanced like to say Steve Howe you definitely need an instrument without dead spots on the fingerboard that responds well from low E 6th string to top C 1st string, but if you mean balance in term of tone I would agree that an instrument with a very dark sound, or very bright, or very middy can be used by the player and would suit certain songs more than a "balanced" guitar.

[E-minor7]

I don't understand: do you mean balance in terms of tone or in terms or volume?

 

I believe the demonstrator talks about both, , , I do anyway. What I'm up to is the basic flavour or character. It's all about expression and if the instrument has some pros and cons, strong and weak facets and the player gets around these with insight and feel, something interesting is likely to happen. Something beyond the schoolbooks, if you know what I mean. But, , , that said, the guy is on a mission and is right about this and that, f.x. being aware of evenness when trying a new highend guitar, yes yes. The message is section II just seems a little square to me.

 

I don't like my trebs too loud. The result is that I can play the bass-notes with a somewhat laid back approach and then need to work a little harder in the high section - once in a while when I feel like it.

To me an intriguing way to paint the picture.

[Guth]

OWF,

 

I just watched this video and the entire time I was waiting for the punchline. This guy is like the counterpart to the cat from the Dos Equis beer commercials - "The Worlds Least Interesting Man".

 

I get a lot of what he is saying, but I don't hear him actually doing much of anything with the guitars. I mean the things can't play themselves, so no matter what you think of it, it still comes down to what you can do with it given your own skills.

 

I listened to him go on about the perfect guitar for certain genres, etc., and I thought of the "Tone Poems" CD with Tony Rice and David Grisman. Tony took all kinds of guitars that would not normally be associated with flatpicking and made them all sound beautiful with his technique. Another great example would be "House of Guitars" by Edward Gerhard. Gerhard uses a bunch of cheap, lesser known guitars to create a beautiful sounding album, thanks to his impressive skills as a player.

 

I have some wonderful sounding guitars that I've accumulated over the years. However, I'm wise enough to know that I'm the greatest limiting factor when it comes to music produced by those guitars. Harsh realities.

 

All the best,

Guth

[AnneS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxbVc6bxuVg&feature=related

 

"[A]sk that guitar what it would like to play..." Yup, yup, yup. For me, "asking" means waiting and hovering a little. Or a lot.

 

Yesterday, I played a 2011 J200 Standard (vintage 'burst--be still my heart!!), one that is sure to open up and be glorious. (A fine pair of boots for someone to break in.) Yet, even if I could, I would neither buy nor trade up to it, given that my 10+ year-old J100 fits my feet perfectly.

 

Playing the J200, I recalled again that "new" sound my J100 once had--that certain muted-ness that somehow, shyly, heralds what's to come but does not boast. But when that J200 does hit its stride, mine will always have the 10-year jump (tho the former will always have the 'burst!). And while I can never know for sure, I think if I could compare them, side by side, 20 years from now (and if I still had a bit of hearing left ), I'd be glad I stuck with mine.

 

So a thing to consider in any evaluation is where, in the life cycle of a well-built (and perhaps well-played) guitar, you are crossing paths with it.

[onewilyfool]

Here's an old post of mine, some good advice I thought....

 

Here's a few things I do, when GAS attacks happens and I'm thinking of buying a new guitar:

 

1. Bring along your favorite guitar to compare to all potential purchases. If the potential guitar is not as good as the one you own, why get it.

 

2. Bring along a friend to play the guitar TOWARDS you....so you can hear it's projection. Then you play it towards your friend, and get an unbiased (non-saleman) opinion on the sound of the guitar.

 

3. If the guitar is not a 10 out of 10, don't buy it. (my personal GAS rev limiter)

 

4. Try several models of the guitar you want (at other stores, or from the same store, they often have some in back, although they don't want to bring them out until the previous model sells.) All D-28's are NOT created equal.

 

5. If you find a guitar that you like, play it for at least 1/2 hour. This lets it 'warm up' and you can hear the full potential of the guitar before buying.

 

6. Do not let your mind play these tricks on you with 'futuring' about what the guitar WILL sound like.....

a. This guitar will sound MUCH better with new strings, or Phosphor Bronze strings, or anything like, new nut, new bone saddle. The guitar should sound GOOD period. If not, hoping for improvement is NOT a good reason to get a guitar.

b. When this guitar ages 15 years, it will really sound GOOD!!! While guitars do tend to improve over time (marginally) hoping a guitar will be good in the future is just the mind playing tricks on you. IF a guitar sounds like crap now, it will sound like aged crap in 15 years.

 

7. If you can, bring an electronic tuner so you can easily tune up the guitar (and see if it STAYS in tune) AND check intonation. A guitar with bad intonation is HARD to fix (you can only do so much with compensated nuts and saddles) I have personally seen a new $2.5K guitar at GC with an incorrect scale length!!! I pointed this out to the sales man, and it was still on the wall when I went back 3 weeks later!!!) .

 

8. Do a quick check on setup. Hold down the E string on the first fret and the 14th fret. About halfway between those two points the space between the bottom of the string and the top of the 7th fret should be enough for a playing card to slip in. If it is greater, you will probably need a setup (adding cost to the guitar) and if it is less or touching, you will probably get some buzzing on some of the frets. Maximum action should be 3/32" from bottom of E strings to top of 12th fret. You should have at LEAST 1/8" of saddle showing above the bridge. High action and low saddle almost always mean neck reset. I have seen name brand new guitars at Guitar Center, that need neck resets already, so it is not that uncommon.

 

9. Play each string, from fret 1 to the sounhole and see if there is any buzzing on any of the frets. Buzzing can mean as little as a tweak of the truss rod, to major planing of frets to make the guitar sound good. So this adds to your purchase price.

 

10.Site down the neck. If the neck is bowed up or down, usually this can be adjusted with the neck rod. HOWEVER, if it is over 1 /16" beware. Make sure the store tech adjusts the neck AND that there is more room for adjustment. Beware of this situation. IF the saddle is high on one side and narrow on the other, this is often done to fudge for a twisted neck. Siting down the neck you can see this but if the action is correct and the saddle is lopsided, this could be a problem. I have seen this on one and two year old guitars. A twisted neck is VERY hard to fix. You might get someone to try to STEAM the neck straight (minimal success) or plane the fretboard to compensate (not ideal) or remove the fretboard and try to straighten the neck by regluing, or finally, a new neck. All very expensive alternatives. Best to pass on this type of guitar.