Guitar A vs Guitar B ... any preference?

[Jim Soloway]

Two quick takes on the same passage on two different guitars. I tried to match the levels as close as possible. Any preference?

[FourOnSix]

They're pretty damn close. If I had to pick one at gunpoint, I'd say the second. Not even sure why, and it could be a variation in your touch, something impossible to match with precision.

[jads57]

Jim they sound quite similar on my IPad. Maybe the second is a bit clearer in the high end.

But you have that nice finger style softness in your tonality overall!

[YOGA64]

Love your touch and sound. I like A better........

[DawgBone]

There is a certain clarity to the overall tone on the 2nd guitar that the 1st one lacks somewhat. I favored the 2nd one for that reason. Slightly more 3 dimensional.

[Rodney Gene]

No preference as it is always situation/application dependent. But tonally / timbre the sound is very close with GTR B showing noticeably more presence / top end translating to a bit more clarity.
Sounds more physical (string age for instance) versus technique or pickups. Both sound nice!

[Gitterbug]

Jim, I don't claim the world's best earphones - or ears. Yet, what I think all these A/B comparisons over the web lack is the sound-in-the-room feeling and dynamics. As previous commentators have pointed out, A and B are very close. For me, too close to form an opinion except they both sound great, and so does your playing.

[John A.]

For me, I’d take the first one, since I gravitate more toward accentuated mids. Listening to you, it’s a toss up.

They’re close enough that if you told me they were the same guitar with different mid settings on the amp or different mic placement I’d believe you.Whichever makes you happier while playing is the one you should use.

[Aiq]

A seemed to have a touch more sustain.

[StefanoGhirardo]

They are so close... but I'd take B

[Jim Soloway]

Thanks all. I liked B better and I'm trying to figure out why (from a gear stand point).

They are both solid body guitars. Both are tuned down four semitones to to C-standard. They both have a 25.5" scale length. They are both bolt-on construction and string through the body. There is no amp or mic. The guitars are recorded direct and are processed by the exact same plugins (EQ, amp sim, speaker sim (IR loader), compression, and reverb; all with identical settings.

There are five obvious differences: 1. different wood combinations; 2. dramatically different neck dimensions; 3. one neck has graphite reinforcement; 4. different pickups; and 5. different strings.

I can't be certain but I don't think the pickup is really the answer. I actually quite like the pickup in guitar A. I've always thought that graphite in the neck has some impact so that might be part of it but I wonder how much of the difference comes from the strings? And this is one that I suspect most people on this forum have some amount of first hand experience. Guitar A is strung with a set of Thomastik Infeld Swing Series Lights (11's). Guitar B is strung with a set of D'addario Chromes (also 11's). I really tend to judge strings more by how they feel than how they sound. TI's have always felt softer to me than Chromes and I prefer the feel of the TI's but I wonder if the extra stiffness of the Chromes are the reason why there's more high end presence from guitar B? I'd be curious to hear what others think about this.

[garybaldy]

I preferred B as, to me, it had a more balanced softer bass.

[Rodney Gene]

Thanks all. I liked B better and I'm trying to figure out why (from a gear stand point).

They are both solid body guitars. Both are tuned down four semitones to to C-standard. They both have a 25.5" scale length. They are both bolt-on construction and string through the body. There is no amp or mic. The guitars are recorded direct and are processed by the exact same plugins (EQ, amp sim, speaker sim (IR loader), compression, and reverb; all with identical settings.

There are five obvious differences: 1. different wood combinations; 2. dramatically different neck dimensions; 3. one neck has graphite reinforcement; 4. different pickups; and 5. different strings.

I can't be certain but I don't think the pickup is really the answer. I actually quite like the pickup in guitar A. I've always thought that graphite in the neck has some impact so that might be part of it but I wonder how much of the difference comes from the strings? And this is one that I suspect most people on this forum have some amount of first hand experience. Guitar A is strung with a set of Thomastik Infeld Swing Series Lights (11's). Guitar B is strung with a set of D'addario Chromes (also 11's). I really tend to judge strings more by how they feel than how they sound. TI's have always felt softer to me than Chromes and I prefer the feel of the TI's but I wonder if the extra stiffness of the Chromes are the reason why there's more high end presence from guitar B? I'd be curious to hear what others think about this.

Well it certainly is, and always is... a sum of the parts. There really is just no getting around that. But that said, in my observation strings have a major and significant tonal contribution if all things were essentially equal. Particularly strings as different as Chromes and Swing Flats. But different woods, different strings, different pickups combined and it is evident why they sound different...and with the same player, it makes it evident why there are some many similarities. Sort of sums up the reality that tone is in the player.

[dconeill]

... The same passage ... on two different guitars. ... Any preference?

I strongly preferred the second one. Both were similar on the high end with a pleasing bell-like quality. The mids were somewhat clearer on the second than on the first, but what really differentiated them for me is that the bass notes on the first sounded somewhat buzzy, while on the second they were clearer.

[Jim Soloway]

I strongly preferred the second one. Both were similar on the high end with a pleasing bell-like quality. The mids were somewhat clearer on the second than on the first, but what really differentiated them for me is that the bass notes on the first sounded somewhat buzzy, while on the second they were clearer.

Now that's interesting. There is one other difference that I didn't mention. The second guitar has what we called "Finger Style Spacing" when were still building the original Soloway Guitars. That's a 1 13/16" nut width and that extra 1/8" runs all the way to the bridge. So there's a lot more space for my picking hand. That makes for cleaner picking, especially for my thumb. So that may just be better execution.

[jads57]

In all fairness it’s really the player that counts! And Jim you have a great touch and taste!

[Jim Soloway]

In all fairness it’s really the player that counts! And Jim you have a great touch and taste!

What I really have is functional obsession

[Freddels]

I would pick B. I was thinking the strings sound a little heavier than the ones on A. After reading your post with details, I would think that if you put TI 12's on A, the strings may sound like the 11 Chromes since the Chromes are stiffer. Or just bump up the gauge of high B & E strings on A.
It all comes down to personal preference and this is just one example. Tomorrow, each guitar may sound different.

[Jim Soloway]

I would pick B. I was thinking the strings sound a little heavier than the ones on A. After reading your post with details, I would think that if you put TI 12's on A, the strings may sound like the 11 Chromes since the Chromes are stiffer. Or just bump up the gauge of high B & E strings on A.
It all comes down to personal preference and this is just one example. Tomorrow, each guitar may sound different.

My experience is that if a guitar sounds different from one day to the next, it's probably because I need to file my nails. Otherwise they don't change noticeably.

[lammie200]

I’ll go with B as well.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I may be wrong, but I think B is a dB or 2 louder on average, especially in the upper mids. It may be the pickups or their wiring and component values (tone cap, pots etc) that differ in the two guitars. But the level difference I think I hear (although very slight) makes B sound fuller to me.

You can check this in most DAWs and fiull function recording programs, Jim. Audacity and most recording programs like it have an analytics function set that will show you peak and average signal levels across all frequencies.

[Jim Soloway]

I may be wrong, but I think B is a dB or 2 louder on average, especially in the upper mids. It may be the pickups or their wiring and component values (tone cap, pots etc) that differ in the two guitars. But the level difference I think I hear (although very slight) makes B sound fuller to me.

You can check this in most DAWs and fiull function recording programs, Jim. Audacity and most recording programs like it have an analytics function set that will show you peak and average signal levels across all frequencies.

Very different pickups with the pickup in B being much hotter. I did do a bit to see if I could get the volume levels to match but this really was a very quick and dirty exercise. I do think there's more to it though than just the volume levels. When I see a real time response in the EQ, there's just more going on in the the high end with B.