Is it an Archtop or a Telecaster? A listening Challenge.

[TLerch]

I made a video using telecasters, inexpensive laminate archtops and carved Archtop Guitars all played thru the same amp with the same settings. I'd be interested in hearing from you all about which ones you liked and if you were fooled or not.
Enjoy, this is for fun not start a fight!!

all the best
Tim

[Cunamara]

I love these kinds of things. I didn't get any of them right. Goes to show how much of our generalized notions about tone are based on the visual.

[neatomic]

hah..that was great!

do i have a favorite?

yeah

tim lerch!!

great stuff tim...you make it all sound good..next time throw in a danelectro!! haha

cheers

ps- love that grez and what grez guitars is doing! go barry!

[Jim Soloway]

Hi Tim

I wasn't going to try to get the specific guitars but I did manage to get them sorted into which were T-types and which were hollow with only one mistake. Probably helps that I've listened to a huge amount of your playing over the years.

[TLerch]

good ears Jim

[neatomic]

ultimately i think the point is that the player can dictate the tone..with physical tweaks to the guitar... and settings..and of course playing/mindset

i have always been a firm believer in this..

i get "my" tone from any of my guitars..and if i can't...i don't have that guitar anymore..or do something to make it right (and that's often, not much!..ie. strings, pick, pots rolled back etc)

i've watched enough tim vids to believe, he's of a similar school ...and why i wasn't surprised by his most excellent ^ vid

cheers

[jads57]

I think most has to do with what the players touch and tone they are going for. My guess is that most of these sound the same to my ears, but they feel different to player!

[Greentone]

Good lesson. Hey, they all sounded good.

[Stringswinger]

Proof positive that it is the mechanic, not the tool. Fine playing with very tasty phrasing. Strangely, I liked the Epiphone the best. To my ears, it had the best bass response. I would assume that the L-7 would be my favorite. Not in this case. Nice test!

[Jim Soloway]

good ears Jim

Thanks Tim. I do think there's a difference however slight between the archtops and T-Types in your hands. That leads to a second question, is one "better" than the other and I think the answer to that is a resounding no. These guitars all sounded wonderful and each provided you with a tool with which you were fully able to articulate your musical and tonal vision. If I have any preference, it would probably be for the solid T just because I think that in your hands it delivers a voice that sounds so well matched to what you intend to say. On the other hand, I suspect that says more about you and your own musical history than it does about these guitars.

[boatheelmusic]

Thanks, Tim - what amp are you using , and what settings?

Many Thanks,

[orri]

Great video!

They all sounded great in your hands!

Did you spend much time (and money) on getting better sound from each guitar? Changing pickups electronics and strings etc?

[Greentone]

Been playing jazz nonstop on my new Partscaster (tele) for the last two days. I can get a great jazz tone on the neck pickup. I have several archtops to compare it with--set in pickups and floating pickups.

The biggest difference, so far, using the same amp and settings, is that the Tele sustains nearly forever. We are talking Les Paul territory, here. I am not talking about the pickup and amp regenerating the signal--i.e., feedback. Rather, the Telecaster is so solid, yet resonant, that the notes just ring and ring and ring--unless I hand dampen them at the bridge (which all Tele players do). This gives you an additional expression option when you are running single-note lines. You can hold a note, like a singer, and let it ring out. At the end of the note you can add a touch of vibrato--again, like a singer. This is not so much of an available option with the typical archtop, and frankly hasn't been something that I would have used much...until now.

[Jabberwocky]

I got the Epiphone w CC, Collings Eastside Jazz LC w CC , the Gibson L7C with JS and the Fender Nocaster CC right. But I could just have been lucky.

The low-tuned Fender Tele was interesting. Sounded like a big box because of the bass.

[TLerch]

Thanks guys for your insightful responses.
I used a Henriksen Bud for all the guitars left the settings the same and all the guitars were full up volume and tone.
I used a fender extra heavy pick, D'Adarrio round wound 12-54 with plain .20 G on everything but the L7 and the Epi. those had a wound .24 G. The Low tuned tele had 14-60
I didn't add any EQ or compression or anything while editing the clip.
all the best
Tim

[rlrhett]

The low tuned tele was a revelation. Weirdly, like others I was disappointed in the L-7.

I assume this was all line in direct from the amp. My theory is that the louder the gig, the less the guitar matters. The sound coming out of the amp depends more on the player, strings and pickups. In a small or quiet setting the acoustic qualities of an archtop adds overtones to the sound you don't get from a tele. Out in the room you hear a bit of a blend that is different than what is coming out of the amp alone.

However, that could all be in my head! If you WANT to believe, you WILL believe anything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TLerch]

I close mic'd the henriksen with an AE 4100. the volume was quite low. I was trying to avoid any room sound that would favor/color an acoustic guitar.
Tim

[Herbie]

Interesting test! I had not a clue with any clip so that's about my ears.

All sounded good and it means that – beside Tim – The Bud sounds good!

Too good to be true. How can I live anyhow without The Bud? Of course I could test and buy one but nearest Bud is in Uppsala Sweden. Oh my...

[hot ford coupe]

I wanna start a fight. Just kidding. I didn't have a favorite but I did hear some very slight differences in the tone between all of the examples. The differences were not significant enough for me to say that this or that guitar was the best and the one to get. It proves the old adage that it's the player, not the instrument that makes the music what it is. I wish I had heard this before I spent so much on different guitars to get the ultimate one.

[RonD]

Thanks Tim,
Once I saw that you were identifying the guitars, I stopped the video, minimized the screen, then listened 4 times.
All of the sounds are very usable.
What's interesting to me, is that the ones I liked the least were all the CC pups.
Thanks. You just saved me a few bucks!

[MarkRhodes]

Great test, Tim! (Glad no one else will see my grade on it though.) Thanks for taking the time.

Really liked the Grez and Epiphone, but they all sounded very good.

[lammie200]

Thanks Tim, but now I feel bad for owning so many guitars because I wasn't able to pinpoint which ones your were playing. They all sounded good. Maybe I shouldn't really justify owning what I have if I might not be able to tell the difference. Oops! I am in the middle of a Tele build to cover that base (again.) I feel OK. Power on.

[Naquat]

Great playing Tim. Besides the close mic and low volume would it be fair to say that most of the playing wasn't on the bottom 2 strings and since there weren't more chords played it favored a more similar sound between lead takes. One could hear a slight difference in some and more in others if the sequence was repeated but would it have been more obvious if a chord melody had been played, something along the lines of a Joe Pass solo performance with chords and solos in the mix?

[Thelonious1]

the cs no caster sounds AMAZING. As do you man!

[Generalmojo]

First of all. Great fingers, man! Second of all, a lot of Lollars. Which I really like. Third, are there any differences in strings?