Blindfold test - 14" carved set vs 16" laminated set vs 17" carved floater

[medblues]

Then why do my ES-175's sound different from my L-5's and sound VERY different from my Les Paul?

Furthermore, why do my ES-175's sound different from each other when they are equipped with the same pickup?

You can make them sound very different AND you hear the acoustic sound when you play. I know this is not feasible but I can make them sound similar enough that you won't be able to pick them correctly in a blind test (how it happened with the above three guitars)

[213Cobra]

Then why do my ES-175's sound different from my L-5's and sound VERY different from my Les Paul?

Furthermore, why do my ES-175's sound different from each other when they are equipped with the same pickup?

On a Telecaster, the same neck pickup mounted to the body will sound different than if mounted to the pickup. Using springs or rubber tubing for that mounting can sound different. What people leave out of these discussions is that the pickup and string together is a magnetic field system. Unless you might have a vibrationless solid carbon fiber solid body guitar (and even then...), the pickup is moving too from resonance in the material its mounted to and the manner in which it is mounted. Laminated wood from guitar to guitar is not precisely the same. Nor are any two pieces of solid wood, though if extracted from the same board, can be very close. A pickup mounted directly to a carved archtop's soundboard sounds different from the same pickup mounted as a floater with no contact to the soundboard. These differences might be slight and not recognized by some listeners, but if you have a well-trained brain from interpreting and discerning the signal your ears are sending to it, you might hear differences that matter, or are at least recognizable.

The string isn't the only thing moving within the pickup's magnetic field. The pickup itself is moving relative to the string, though to a very small degree. That difference in pickup/string physical movement interaction is why same pickups sound different in different guitars. When people say "...you're not hearing the guitar, just the pickup..." they are forgetting that the guitar is part of the vibrational system and it's interactive with the pickup-string magnetic field.

Phil

[Chezdeluxe]

I got nothing right.

Do I get a special prize, scorn, or tea and sympathy?

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Do I get a special prize, scorn, or tea and sympathy?

You get appreciation for participating and admiration for your courage. There’s no right and wrong here. The main question was simply whether most of us could identify 3 seemingly disparate archtops by their sounds through the same high quality, neutral amp & speaker. Based on a small sample, it appears that most of us probably can not. This is a reflection of nothing but the closeness of their amplified tones. They’re simply not as different as we thought they would be.

It is not in any way an indictment of any of us or of any of these guitars. It looks at only one of the many factors we consider when choosing a guitar. It ignores the acoustic tone of the instruments and how they feel to the player. But how a guitar sounds when amplified is a major consideration for most of us, so I think it’s worth exploring. Some may disagree, and that’s fine with me.

I personally found the tones to be very very close. Choosing between the 810 and the Bravo would have been a pure guess for me. I knew the El Rey only because of its characteristic gentle chime in the highs when picking hard. But the other two really do sound almost identical. I did not expect this - it’s both true and surprising.

This begs the question several raised: why would anyone spend 3+ times more money for a guitar that sounds the same as the less expensive one? This is a separate question that I’m not brave or foolish enough to take on, especially since I bought both

[Oscar67]

I’ve played (not owned) some Benedetto guitars and they were always wonderful. Personally I was never tempted enough to pay the prices they. I’ve played many many Eastman guitars and have a narrow Gauss curve: almost all were good, a few were duds, a few were spectacular, the numbers drop off fast on both sides. I have two used Eastman guitars that I consider to be spectacular musical instruments. Playing them gives me a lot of joy and I appreciate the love and craft that went into making them. You can’t make guitars like the Eastmans I have if you don’t love what you do.

I regret that it is impossible to not own or use stuff that was made in areas of the world where the domestic or foreign policies clash with my sense of right and wrong. It’s like being in a city but not wanting to breathe in air that was inside someone else’s lungs two minutes ago - good luck with that, apart from moving to rural Alaska. I’m not happy with the compromise I’ve made, which is to buy used instead of new, but I can live with it. Rigorously avoiding stuff that comes from certain geographies means making everything yourself and living off the grid. I totally lack the skills for that. Buying used hand-me-downs is pretty much the limit of what I can do.

[GuyBoden]

guitar A:

I'm late to the game, but "Guitar A" would be my personal preference.