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They're much too close for me to venture a guess.
Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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04-04-2017 05:18 PM
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Excellent work. Thanks. Seems to be more evidence that "the sound is in the fingers". I have no doubt that if you did the same cutting and pasting of three different people playing the same solo on the same guitar, that we would hear every transition. By the way, I couldn't hear any changes without the visual clues in your demo. Nice playing.
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I'll bite: Originally Posted by lawson-stone
1 - Aria
2 - L5
3 - Epi
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What's surprising is that it wouldn't be surprising if the real L5 was any one of the three. Originally Posted by John A.
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Hazarding a guess: 1) L-5CES 2) Aria 3) Braodway. Thanks for you efforts, and nice playing!
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Fun test. Is anyone really shocked by the apparent results?
Sounds great to me.
Nothing wrong with fan-boy (or fan-buy) love of a brand. Whatever floats one's boat - as they say.
But the occasional keeping it real is also very welcome.
Fun post and thread. As was the more pugilistic discussion of the previous days.
They all allow us to find our place in the wide variety of possible views.
In my opinion.
I would be happy wth any one of those guitars. And can not tell which is which at all.
Chris
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I think there's overlap among most archtop neck pup tones. If you have the same player, same amp, same pup type and general character, same picks, same strings, and same recording signal chain that area of overlap is pretty big. Originally Posted by Klatu
John
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I agree with K
1. L-5
2. Aria
3. Epi
That is also the order that I like them, though the difference between 1 and 2 is marginal. I could live with each happily.
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I do think a better test would be to play the three guitars solo without the backing track.
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I'm putting in my 2 cents. I like the tone of number 1 best so I'll say that's the L-5. It seems a little warmer to me. I can't really differentiate between 2 and 3 and I don't have enough experience with the Aria or Epiphone to give an educated guess.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I liked #1 the best by the tiniest of margins. So I'll guess that was the L5 with my uneducated guess (I've never played any of these guitars).
1 = L5
2 = Epiphone
3 = Aria
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I think this is a trick. It is the same guitar. :-/
Having watched some of your other non-blinded comparisons on YouTube, I think the Epi has a thinner sound, though not at all unpleasant. I could live with any of these guitars. Frankly, I can't hear a difference between the Aria and the Gibson.
I think you prove that any number of guitars can have a similar sound or a sound that is suitable for jazz. I've thought that a long time.
I don't think that necessarily disproves the idea that guitars are unique instruments, whose value is based on factors other than pure aural performance.
Thanks for the post though, most interesting!
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1) Aria, 2) Epi, 3) Gibson L-5. Level of confidence? Not high. All guitars sound quite good and the playing is quite good, too.
Thanks for the blind test, Lawson.
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Honestly I never thought of that when it came to my playing, except to say my poor tone was in my fingers! But it would be kind of fun to try what you suggest. I have no idea how I could do it unless I brought the Jimmy Raney/Aebersold study group to my office for a session. Originally Posted by WilliamScott
Which... actually wouldn't be a half-bad idea!
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You guys are both kind and lots of fun. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will unveil the guitars.
I promise it's really 3 different guitars, but I had not figured on my own touch or technique being the leveler
It occurs to me that I might have a tone I like, and I subconsciously adjust my technique to get it.
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I would just call that doing it right. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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... but are you playing 3 different "guitars" or are you playing 3 different "pickups" or 3 different brands/ages of "strings"? Most likely, 3 different guitars with 3 different pickups, with 3 different ages, if not brands, of strings, right...? So I guess this proves that, despite having different guitars, strings/ages, and different pickups, it hardly makes any difference at all (at least within the range of options used herein).
To my ear #2 and #3 were just a shade brighter on the higher strings than #1, but I didn't mind the difference and, even if I did, it could easily be compensated by tweaking either the tone knob or the amp's EQ. Maybe #1 just had slightly older strings on it...? But this is all nitpicky as the differences are negligible in the collective opinion of this forum.
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I kinda think that you should not reveal the answer.
Anyone who may have gotten it right (guess or not) will be exposed to a healthy dose of hindsight bias
Last edited by Guitarbean25; 04-05-2017 at 01:12 AM.
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After listening with good headphones I can definitely hear the difference. From hearing your guitars in the Raney group study I am a little more familiar with them than this being totally blind, if you know what I mean, but I am going to take a swing at it. I am fairly certain that #3 is the Epiphone. 1 and 2 are so close - I think that if I heard the whole solo on both - particularly the opening figure - I could nail it, but my guess is Aria = 1, L5 = 2 and Epi = 3. That Aria is a great sounding guitar. Well, they all are, but the Aria is just so close to an L5. I have been able to hear a bit more laminate sound from it in the past, minimal but there, so I guess we will see if what I think I am hearing is actually true or not.
Also, I love this stuff. I think I have said this on other threads but I find it fascinating. I wish I could take a test like this every day - I think that if I did enough of them I could be pretty accurate but I am only used to hearing what I have already heard. For example, if you used the Polytone I think I could get this much easier because I have a Polyone and I know how it sounds. I am completely unfamiliar with your amp though so I have no idea what to expect - I think the amp has a large part to do with id'ing a guitar since we are not used to hearing transparent sounding amps for the most part on recordings. Anyway, thanks for putting this together - I have been looking forward to getting home to listen to it every since hearing it through my phone earlier today.
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Listening on computer speakers ...
I thought #1 sounded a bit bassier or warmer. But, the difference wasn't dramatic. I couldn't distinguish the other two.
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Difficult to tell them apart. Do we listen with our eyes?
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I think (actually I am pretty sure) we do. I MUST be tone deaf, they all sounded the same to me. Clearly even if they WERE different it seems plausible that a tweak of EQ on the git or amp would get the sound we want. Originally Posted by hotpepper01
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Those of us of a certain age remember the "Pepsi Challenge", a "blind" test of Coke vs. Pepsi performed at county fairs across the land and heralded widely by PepsiCo. Pepsi won hands down. The secret to winning was that Pepsi was always handed out first (they were also served without chilling them). If Coke is given first, Coke wins. Good methodology requires counterbalancing of the order of presentation.
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Can't tell a difference in tone, although there's a few notes in the solo that don't sound clean--like a little fret buzz or something, and they are on guitar 2.
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I guess we all have different levels of hearing. I can tell a difference between all three, though 1 and 2 are very similar and if I got them backwards in my picks, it would not surprise me.
There was a reason Gibson sued Ibanez way back in the day. Those lawsuit guitars both looked and sounded like Gibsons. Now that the lawsuit guitars have 30-40 years on them, they are rivaling new Gibsons. I still think the L-5 is a better looking gal, and even if they are both as good in the sack, who do you want to go to the party with? (was that my sexist voice speaking up? Damn straight it was!)
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