bjb5228 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 When I decided to get a guitar I wouldn't mind having outdoors by a campfire, I searched for one that would sound as good as possible. I compared it to my AJ, and was pretty amazed at the difference after listening side by side. The AJ really sounds great in comparison! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knL72eoeATI&feature=plcp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Wow ! Thanks for taking all the time it must have taken to do all this editing - an absolutely great A/B. Kudos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I may be setting myself up here, but does anyone else think the Takamine sounds better much of the time.. : ( ? The AJ sounds big & piano like but bassy & muffled. The other one seems to have a more open,balanced & clear sound.Seems lacking in bass maybe. I know that Takamine guitar cause I bought the same one last Christmas for my little friend Matty across the street who I am trying to teach. Paid the same, but it didnt come with a case. Cedar top..kind of a Lowden immitation. Best low priced guitar I could find..including ones in the $500 range but I only went to a Guitar Center to shop. I wouldnt consider the Takamine a professional guitar but I would the AJ. But I think I like the sounds the F shaped guitars produce, as a breed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 your opinion is a good example of the so called dud versus the cannon guitars .. everyone different and looking for a differrent sound , there is no 'holy grail' of guitar sound .... hence , i think anyway , the stories of the dud gibsons and indeed other guitar makers . mixed with variations in strings and shop atmospheres . personally , even though i wouldnt be shopping for an AJ , the one in this video totally demonstrates where the £/$'s go in a high end guitar ....sounds lovely . thanks for taking the time and effort to get such a great comparison video . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Great video comparison, hats off for the effort you've gone to. Lovely AJ, sounded great. As BBG said above you can easily see/hear the money in the higher end guitar. ....and it looks a million times better too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Great work there! When i play Takemines in shops occasionally I'm usually a bit underwhelmed.But that one sounded bloody good.I think cedar tops record well maybe? I really like small body Seagulls I get to play...think they are cedar tops mostly. AJ was beaut of course, but sometimes it's bigger sound was slightly edging to a boominess...but that was only a function of the recording process. I imagine it sounds so good live in situ. And your playing was terrific too. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Yes, thanks for a really interesting and rather nicely recorded video. I have to say that both guitars sound splendid and I would be pleased to own either. Of course they do different jobs, and to have a chance of making any sort of assessment of relative quality I'd need to know more about the Takamine's specs. All-solid woods? Mahogany b/s with the cedar top? Pinless Lowden-style bridge? 25.5 inch scale length? I wouldn't expect hog b/s and cedar to give as much volume as the AJ's rosewood/spruce combo. Scale length will play a role there too. Not sure what the effect of the pinless bridge might be. I take both mersey's and BB's points. The Tak sounds really very good for the money. If you're budget-minded, not especially interested in the volume that rosewood and spruce give, and don't have a particular thing for the AJ's unique tonal flavour or for the more general Gibson slope-shoulder sound that it represents in turbo-charged form, then it would make you question the added cost: added value ratio of the higher-end instrument. On the other hand, if you want the volume, want the Gibson slopeshoulder sound and specifically want the AJ variation on that sound, then it is clear that you do get something unique and special for the extra money. The guitars definitely sound different from each other, and to my ears the AJ sounds fabulous, highly representative of what I've come to expect from recordings of the model, and of very high quality. The Tak does not and cannot capture that sound. I'm not sure that the difference is one of lower/higher quality, but one of distinctiveness. It is really hard to get the Gibson sound from cheaper instruments. I've heard some amazing samples of Recording King RO-10s that cost just over a tenth of my SJ. They're all-solid and made of the same hog/sitka combination. They have scalloped bracing and can growl it would seem. But they are based on a Martin 000 and their growl is definitely not the Gibson slope growl. So I don't exactly regret buying the SJ just because there is a really nice-sounding, cheap-as-chips Martin clone. Also, the Recording King attempts at slope Gibsons are harder to assess from samples, but the most readily available appear to be long-scale mahogany versions which can't/don't really capture the full J45/SJ sound, at least in recordings. What I've heard of their rosewood ones doesn't really get the AJ sound exactly either. They may be great sounding for the money, but again you really would think about spending the extra money if you wanted that sound. To my ears the Tak was more immediately responsive at the time of recording (more play beforehand, as it's the new toy?). The AJ on the other hand really gives the impression that it's got a lot more to give, that it has a lot more room tonally and volume-wise which is not drawn on in the recording. Like you're touching the tip of the iceberg. Or treating it with kid gloves because it's the thoroughbred. When it's opened up after a decent strum and when you're playing at full throttle, I bet it's an absolute beast (in the best sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I may be setting myself up here, but does anyone else think the Takamine sounds better much of the time.. : ( ? The AJ sounds big & piano like but bassy & muffled. The other one seems to have a more open,balanced & clear sound.Seems lacking in bass maybe. I know that Takamine guitar cause I bought the same one last Christmas for my little friend Matty across the street who I am trying to teach. Paid the same, but it didnt come with a case. Cedar top..kind of a Lowden immitation. Best low priced guitar I could find..including ones in the $500 range but I only went to a Guitar Center to shop. I wouldnt consider the Takamine a professional guitar but I would the AJ. But I think I like the sounds the F shaped guitars produce, as a breed. Err, no ..... the Tak sounds thin and lacking depth. One thing Im finding with my AJ is that it does take a bit of time to 'learn' how to play her to get the best out of her. Thing is the guitar is very responsive and Im finding I have to adjust my technique a bit, especially when strumming to get the optimum tone. Otherwise it really can sound like an overgrown cannon. But the AJ is the clear winner here, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffchris Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hey, I think you got 2 great sounding guitars. To my ears I prefer the AJ sound, but I think the taki sounds wonderful too. I've never really liked the takimine I owned in the 90's or the few I have played, but I'd be happy to have that one :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Yea..I'm with EA on this one. The AJ sound a lot more balanced and full to my ear. Would have liked to hear them finger picked... Good points from BBG..you can hear where the money is Good vid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchristo Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 the AJ sounds best most of the time, but, when strumming high on the fretboard the tak is holding its on, and sometimes sounds better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjb5228 Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 To respond to a few of the comments, I do think that the mics make the AJ sound a bit muffled. I played a bit louder later but was having trouble with the AJ's volume clipping the mics. It took so long to set up the best stereo sound that I didn't adjust them to take that into account. I will keep it in mind and possibly do another to capture the volume and tone projection of each guitar. The Tak is a solid cedar/laminate hog guitar with the Lowden style pinless bridge. I'm pretty sure it is made to be a direct lower end competitor to those models. It does sound a little more lively at times, but I think there are a few reasons for that. The cedar gives it a bit more response at a lighter touch and tends to record very well. However, there are times that it can sound rather thin and flat. Also, it can really lack projection when I do some louder playing. A few of the comparisons really made this difference stand out, I think, but I will try sometime to get another comparison focusing on projection and volume. Just before filming, I did change the strings on the Tak, which might contribute a bit of "new string brightness," and possibly have the guitar a bit more opened up. I played the AJ earlier, but not much. It does seem to warm up a bit as the video goes on. Probably the biggest difference between the two in this video is most apparent when comparing a more fingerstyle type of playing, at least to my ears. I tried a few different styles to really get a good comparison (3:00, 5:43, 8:11). These were where I heard the most striking difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Probably the biggest difference between the two in this video is most apparent when comparing a more fingerstyle type of playing, at least to my ears. I tried a few different styles to really get a good comparison (3:00, 5:43, 8:11). These were where I heard the most striking difference. Yes, I agree. When played fingerstyle the Tak has almos no midrange, and this is maginfied when you played the AJ straight after, with that classic Gibson saturated midrange. I mainly use my AJ for fingerstyle, thats why I bought the guitar, and its definitely a winner in that genre as its so responsive and projective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I gotta sometimes wonder that if amidst all the talk about "duds" and "canons" something gets lost - the sheer joy of playing. It is like we get obsessed with the virtues of this "tonewood" over that and what guitar we favor and forget that we can make music and have a blast playing just about anything. I ain't trying to convince anyone that something like my $30 Supertone smokes my Banner J-50 or even script logo LG-2. I got ears. I figure though the day I stop enjoying picking up some P.O.S. Made in Fredonia guitar, do what I can to get that guitar to give all its got to give, and then go out and lay down a few bars of "Mann's Fate," is the day I should probably hang up my rock & roll shoes. Sorry for the rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Ah..soz BJ didn't make it to the end of vid first time and yes...finger picked is where the differences stand out even more, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I read Dana Bourgeois say once if I remember...that , the body shape basically determines the character of the sound..and the type of woods.. bracing. adjusts that basic character. Of course this does not apply to garbage quality guitars..but its true here. To begin with Its a miracle that a $300 guitar sounds this good (from what Ive noticed in person as well from the one I bought for my friend) When I go over to show her chords my first impression is why is that $300 guitar sound so close to this one that I paid aprox $8k for (actually more stunning ..$11k retail in US in 2009) A few minutes and the differences show but concerning comparing the Slope AJ shape to a Medium F And because its comparable ..its like comparing an apple to an orange. I like the character of the f Tak sound here..but Id rather own the AJ naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I gotta sometimes wonder that if amidst all the talk about "duds" and "canons" something gets lost - the sheer joy of playing. A big +1 there. So we have yet another intangible thrown into the mix. How one guitar can feel as comfortable as a favorite pair of bedroom slippers. Sound is just one part of the playing experience. A very big part, but not the only part. Thanks to the O.P. for raising the bar on Comparison Demo's. Where've you been?. We have a lot more guitar a/b/c's for you to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Great video comparison, hats off for the effort you've gone to. Lovely AJ, sounded great. As BBG said above you can easily see/hear the money in the higher end guitar. ....and it looks a million times better too! "Yes" to all of those sentiments. But for casual use, and if you don't have the AJ to compare to, the Tak is perfectly acceptable for the intended use. Thanks for putting the effort into making this very useful comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Good job on comparing the guitars. That AJ is a monster guitar. Sweet sound, but the Tak sounds pretty good to my ears also. It sounds like a decent instrument. I think the AJ really projected well, expecially in a couple of the fingerpicking clips. You did seem to be playing it a bit softer at times, but the AJ still sounded like "quality." Congrats on that Gibby, and that Tak is sweet in its own right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjb5228 Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 A big +1 there. So we have yet another intangible thrown into the mix. How one guitar can feel as comfortable as a favorite pair of bedroom slippers. Sound is just one part of the playing experience. A very big part, but not the only part. Thanks to the O.P. for raising the bar on Comparison Demo's. Where've you been?. We have a lot more guitar a/b/c's for you to do! Ha if you can think of any other good a/b's I could do between the two, shout em out. No guarantee on getting them quickly, but I don't mind throwing some together. I completely agree that comfort and joy of playing are huge parts to the playing experience. That's probably the main reason I bought the Tak. I was nervous about taking the AJ out in some situations, but with the GS I can take it anywhere and still have a pretty great acoustic. For the quality per $, it's pretty unbeatable. However, it was purely accidental that I found this one. I only got it because it felt great and I could really get into the sound that it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Speaking of how you compared them to each other------I think it was excellent. One of the best comparisons I've heard. Much easier to compare the guitars when they are switched back-and-forth immediately. Twenty seconds or so of each guitar and then a switch worked great for me. I'm hearing the tone of one guitar and then within just moment in time I hear the other guitar. Easy for me to hear the differences. Nice job. And it kept me interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 No comment on this comparison, but I tried a Seagull S6 today that had more Gibson old school 'character' than some recent issues of my acquaintance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I like your comparison. I've felt the same about getting a beater that I'm not worried about when I take it out into the elements. A couple weeks ago, my local music store (Willis Music) had their warehouse sale. I picked up a new Takamine TF250SMC with a few issues for $700. After a little work (strings, neck adjustment, rub out scratches and steam out a couple nicks) I had the guitar in almost pristine condition and it plays great. I think I'll try your comparison method with the Takamine, J200 and D41Special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjb5228 Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 I like your comparison. I've felt the same about getting a beater that I'm not worried about when I take it out into the elements. A couple weeks ago, my local music store (Willis Music) had their warehouse sale. I picked up a new Takamine TF250SMC with a few issues for $700. After a little work (strings, neck adjustment, rub out scratches and steam out a couple nicks) I had the guitar in almost pristine condition and it plays great. I think I'll try your comparison method with the Takamine, J200 and D41Special. You definitely should, that would be a great comparison! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 No comment on this comparison, but I tried a Seagull S6 today that had more Gibson old school 'character' than some recent issues of my acquaintance. what are 'recent issues of your acqauintance' ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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