Can You Tell Which is Which- Hollow Archtop, Semi, Thinline, Solidbody?

[msr13]

Based on some of the very long threads recently, I though it would be fun to do a thoroughly unscientific "tone" test using a fully hollow archtop, a carved top semi-hollow, a thinline type guitar, and a solidbody. Yes, we can hear that there are differences, but, can you tell which is which?

Some caveats:
1. I do not in any way profess to be a good player. So, please be kind to the amateur.
2. My recording quality is also not great, nor sophisticated, so this is more for fun than conclusive.

The four guitars were all set to the relative same volume. All used the neck pickup only. The tone knob was set a third of the way up. I used a Headstrong Lil' King with a Hermida Reverb pedal set at 9:00. I recorded using a Zoom H4n with the mics built into the device. No other editing was done. I played one verse and on chorus of The End of a Love Affair by Edward Redding. After a few days, I will post the playing order. Thanks for playing.

The guitars:
Les Paul Classic
Collings I-35
Soloway Single 15
Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno

YouTube Video

PS. Any feedback on how to record without a hum would be great. Thanks.

[billkath]

1/Soloway
2/Bruno
3/Collings
4/Les Paul

[riovine]

1 - Collings
2 - Soloway
3 - Bruno
4 - Les Paul

[savage8190]

Without knowing too much about the guitars I want to say:

Soloway
Sadowsky
Collings
Les Paul

[Bill C]

Sadowsky
Soloway
Collings
Les Paul

[FWBO]

1 Sadowswky
4 Les Paul

no idea about the other two and 1,4 are probably wrong

94 views but only 5 replies. Is that because the majority just can't tell?

[knoble53]

I'm going to have to agree with Bill C

Sadowsky
Soloway
Collings
Les Paul

[RonD]

I think Bill C got it.

Sadowsky
Soloway
Collings
Les Paul

[jdazey]

Well I admit it, I don't know which is which. And while I can hear the difference, I play acoustic, and these all sound like electric to me.

What I did discover is that I need much better speakers for my computer. These couldn't begin to cope with the bass.

Joe

[Abaddon2005]

cool thread. i liked the 2nd and 3d the best!

sadowsky
soloway
collings
les paul

[msr13]

Thanks for all the posts. I will post the answers tomorrow.

[NiAg]

Fun thread idea.

In my opinion the response of the tone control makes it seem as if it is ineffective n some tracks and overwhelming on one.

But this is supposed to be a fun challenge, so my guesses:

Soloway
Collings
Sadowsky
Les Paul

Is there a cash prize?

[msr13]

Originally Posted by NiAg

Fun thread idea.

In my opinion the response of the tone control makes it seem as if it is ineffective n some tracks and overwhelming on one.

Is there a cash prize?

Thanks, NiAg. Appreciate it. No cash prize, unfortunately.

I am not sure I understand your feedback about the tone control, and think when I do it will be quite useful. Will you please clarify?

[taxman]

This thread is subversive and should be removed by the moderator. If we can't tell the difference, then what do we need all of those guitars for?

[NiAg]

Hi Matt,

>>> not sure I understand your feedback about the tone control,

I was just griping about the way passive tone controls on guitars are often really not a good match to the high impedance (low voltage and truly miniscule current) of the PU signal.

So when you say:

>>> The tone knob was set a third of the way up.

We have to live with the inconsistent and flaky nature of passive volume and tone controls. In my opinion, you can hear the tone control a little in some samples, then it is a major factor in sample #4.

But this is no criticism of your test. Your method beats saying, "I set the tone control on each guitar to what I considered to be a really cool level". I guess you could use the volume and tone wide open on all guitars, but this is a fun test just the way it is.

[msr13]

Ahh, now I understand. Yeah, I tried doing this kind of experiment once before, but set the guitars to the tone I liked for each, rather than try and keep them similar for comparison. I do enjoy these kinds of blind tests. I never get them myself. For this one, what struck me was that if people are confident that archtops, semis, and solids sound different than they should be able to identify which is which. Certainly not the best controlled study there ever was, but based on the results so far, I am realizing that my ears are no where near as good as many of you (not that I am copping to any answers, yet ).

[RonD]

When are we going to see the answer?

[msr13]

Ok. A lot of you had the LP right, and several of you got all four right. But, as mentioned, with my song choice, playing, and the recording, it was difficult to begin with. The answers are:
Sadowsky
Soloway
Collings
LP

Not sure what conclusions one can draw, except that it seems pretty clear to many of you what an LP sounds like regardless of tone manipulation.

[kenbennett]

Great test. Not sure what it proves, but in this case I liked the first guitar the least.

The buzzing... Did you ever figure that out? It sounds like a speaker rattle to me, maybe the dust cover. Or it could be the mics. Or it could be anything in the vicinity that resonated with the bass notes.

[Dad3353]

I'm going to have to agree with Bill C, also...

Sadowsky
Soloway
Collings
Les Paul

No caveats or apologies necessary, for me; very nicely played, lovely sound from all, well recorded and edited. The video is a bit violent, perhaps..:-).
I (slightly...) preferred the first.
Well done, whatever the outcome; interesting test (for us all...)

(Next test: the same four, cranked through a dimed Hiwatt stack..?)

[msr13]

Originally Posted by kenbennett

Great test. Not sure what it proves, but in this case I liked the first guitar the least.

The buzzing... Did you ever figure that out? It sounds like a speaker rattle to me, maybe the dust cover. Or it could be the mics. Or it could be anything in the vicinity that resonated with the bass notes.

Well, as with any experiment, the conclusions can be a surprise, as expected, or provide no insight. I think this one was a "no insight" one. But it was fun. Thanks for playing along.

As for the hum, it is definitely not the amp. The amp is pretty noiseless. I am pretty sure it is the mics on the recorder, but I don't know what to do about it. Recording is not something I know a lot about. Just learning. I do like the H4n, though, and when I play an acoustic, the recording is very clear. Not so with electrics.

[NiAg]

>>> But it was fun. Thanks for playing along.

Definitely fun; thanks for doing it.

>>> As for the hum, [...] when I play an acoustic, the recording is very clear. Not so with electrics.

This is sometimes due to a ground loop - more than one path to ground for a device. But if you are mic'ing the amp, I do not see how you would have a ground loop from the guitar itself.

Did you have any two devices both connected to ground via the power cord and connected to each other's ground via a signal cable? That is a classic way to get mystery hum.

Anyway, fun thread. Do I win anything for getting them all wrong?

[RonD]

Thanks! Great fun.
Unfortunately, I now have SERIOUS G.A.S.!!!!
Thanks alot!

[msr13]

Originally Posted by NiAg

>>> As for the hum, [...] when I play an acoustic, the recording is very clear. Not so with electrics.

This is sometimes due to a ground loop - more than one path to ground for a device. But if you are mic'ing the amp, I do not see how you would have a ground loop from the guitar itself.

Did you have any two devices both connected to ground via the power cord and connected to each other's ground via a signal cable? That is a classic way to get mystery hum.

Anyway, fun thread. Do I win anything for getting them all wrong?

Thanks for the input. No, I just used the mics built into the Zoom H4n. For this recording, I set the recorder about a foot away and manually set the levels. Again, for acoustic play, the recorded sound is great. But with the electric I strument I get a hum. I have also tried using the output plug on the back of the amp and plugging it in to the recorder directly. Still get a hum, but only sometimes. I would love to use a microphone and go directly into the computer, but the couple of times I did that, the hum was more of a louder buzz. So, I am definitely doing something wrong-- and most likely something stupid. I feel like this is the equivalent to, "is the computer actually plugged in?"

As for winning for getting the all wrong-- only my gratitude for playing along.

[msr13]

Originally Posted by RonD

Thanks! Great fun.
Unfortunately, I now have SERIOUS G.A.S.!!!!
Thanks alot!

Thanks, Ron. Swing by Albany and come play them.