Gibson Archtop Guitars Blindfold Test

[Dutchbopper]

I used to own a 1987 ES 335, the one in the vid. Did not like it much. Traded it on my ES 350t, which sounds way fatter. But I know there are bigger sounding and darker 335s out there!

DB

[Greentone]

Oops! I forgot to mention the fact that the common denominator throughout the seven clips was the high standard of playing. Nice job, Dutchbopper.

I need some lessons, fast.

[57classic]

Okay, here we go:

1) ES-125
2) Johnny Smith
3) ES-335
4) Tal Farlow
5) ES-175
6) L5
7) ES-330t

Now I'm gonna look at what the others heard...

[mr quick]

I'm shocked that some of my least favorite tones came from an L-5 and an ES-175... Really eye-opening indeed. Guess I'll stick with the ES-139

[Frank67]

Man, DB, I love your playing. So smooth and clean and groovy. I wish I could pull half of this off ... or a quarter ,...

In the test - I could clearly identify the Johnny Smith and guesstimated the Tal and the 175 correctly. To my disappointment I did not get the L5 correct :-(

... I enjoy that kind of thing. Keep it coming!

[Archtop Guy]

This was fun. Firstly,thanks for doing it and nice playing. I didn't do well on the test. I got the es125,L5 and JS correct but none of the rest. Guess that shows that I'm a hollow body kind of guy.I must say that the Es335 and surprisingly the ES175 didn't do anything for me but that wasn't the purpose of the test. Let's do another!

[Dutchbopper]

I am really surprised this old thread sees a revival like this. Thanks all for joining in.

Not all the guitars were mine. The clips were recorded over a pretty long period of time and simply glued together. They are all older than 5 years. I borrowed the L5 and the Johnny Smith at the time because I do not own and play carved tops. I no longer own the ES 125 and the ES 335 because I sold them.

All the clips were done with the same gear. I prefer and usually get darker sounds out of my hands so maybe the tones I got from the Johnny Smith and the L5 are not that typical of what they sound like with other players. So I do not blame you for missing out on them. I could not pick them myself. I do remember that the Johnny Smith made quite an impression on me at the time. More so than the L5 Wes. Really a marvellous guitar. Very vibrant.

The L5 Wes was equipped with roundwounds, if I recall correctly. Also, they were too thin for my taste.

Like I said, I usually get a more or less similar sound out of a guitar, regardless of what I play. Sure, you guys will notice the (subtle) differences but no audience ever would.

But it was a fun to do.

Regards,

DB

[Gippo]

Great post! i just Got the 335(i've got one) but I did not understand the 175 (have one too!!).
My favourite is the last that I confused with an L5! Tal Farlow rules!

[Groyniad]

yeah - this should get post of the year award. its not often someone puts something up that has this sort of interest (for gibson archtop nerds like us)

maybe i'm just kidding myself but i'm pretty pleased with my attempt to identify the instruments.

i just put up a post about tal farlows and L4s with clips of the two instruments made very recently in very similar conditions by the same player. its worth having a listen because it seems to me to go strongly against the drift of discussion here. that is to say - there is a very striking contrast between the sounds of these two gibson archtops. it would be effortless to identify them blind etc. etc.

thanks db!