-
In a 6 days i will reveal which one is one.
Conditions of the experiment.
Both Guitars were recorded through the same Roland Capture Audio Board and mixed in the same way:
Same mixing chain; Saturation, Eq and Reverb. Same strings.
Guitars are as similar as possible.
I recorded the same song twice it ends up in minute 4... and is played by the other guitar
GIbson l-5 ces 1970
17¨ archtop with normal l-5 cutaway
3.25 inch deep
Gotoh tuneomatic
25.5 Scale lenght
Gibson T-Tops (bridge pickup removed so it responses like L-5 WESMO)
Addario 12 roundwounds strings
TOTAL COST (IF NEW): 8000-9000 Dollars
Mr Wu
17 archtop L-5 cutaway
3.25 inch deep
Gotoh tuneomatic
25.5 Scale Length
Gibson Classic 57 mic (only one mic like L-5 WESMOS)
Addario 12 roundwounds strings
TOTAL COST AFTER FRET DRESSING AND PICKUP INSTALLING: 2000 Dollars
Which is the best for you!
Thanks.
-
01-15-2019 12:45 AM
-
Both sound good, however - to my ears at least - the sound of open strings on the first recording is more "brittle" and less full and rounded than on the second, which I preferred
Nice playing!Last edited by Ray175; 01-15-2019 at 05:01 AM.
-
A Gibson T-Top is a brighter pickup than a 57 Classic, so the test is not exact. That said, I preferred the warmer sound of the second guitar.
-
In both recordings i miss "air", but the second sounds better to me. I believe you went into the board direct and feel that therefore a judgement says more about the qualities of the pickup than the guitar. Beautiful playing!
Many engineers record archtops with a mic in front of the cabinet and another in front of the guitar and mix both for optimal representation of the acoustic/electric sound.
-
I wouldn't describe either as "brittle" but the second guitar did sound a little fuller with perhaps a bit softer attack. Nice playing, quite rich sounding for direct-in. I'd be surprised if someone couldn't make either one sound like the other with a bit of EQ. I'd like to hear this again with flatwounds.
-
Bottom line, they both can pass for an L-5CES.
Even though the warmer (hotter?) tone of the second guitar is lovely, I will give a slight nod to the first one. I prefer a bit more "string" in the sound - a little more note definition and ring. However, this is really splitting hairs. The first guitar also has a bit more of the plummy L-5CES sound that makes it unique among jazz guitars.
I also hear the second guitar as having slightly less harmonic complexity. But since we're hearing a direct signal, it reflects on the pickups more than anything.
I'm going to go out on a limb and state that the first guitar is the Gibson. This is not a super strong opinion, but it's my gut.
In either case, you play them both beautifully and deserve to own whichever one(s) you prefer!
-
They both sound lovely. As is your playing. Number two gets my vote. Warmer.
-
They can pass as such yes, but i don't really hear the typical L-5CES "quality" in the recorded sound. I believe with the modern direct way of recording and effects in the chain, almost any archtop (and certainly quite a few solidbodys too) can be processed in a way that they could pass for an L-5CES.
Originally Posted by rpguitar
Bottom line, they both can pass for an L-5CES.
-
I am with SS that second I like better a bit warmer but they were not far apart. Regardless of the the test a Mr Wu is not an L5 by an stretch of the imagination.
-
2nd guitar is the L-5 To my ears there is an obvious difference. I'd be pretty shocked if I'm wrong! It would destroy my whole guitar perception theory. Beautiful playing!
-
To me the second sounds more like Gibson a 57 Classic pickup, the first slightly more like a single-coil pickup. Both sound great, and I think the point scored here is that there likely is not thousands of dollars worth of difference in the tone as recorded here. I've shown that also with recordings switching among an L5ces, an Aria Pro II PE180, and an Epiphone Elitist Broadway. Based on nothing but recorded tone in that discrete test, the three are pretty close.
-
This reminds me of a time at a retreat I was in the chapel and they had real cheapie flattop guitar with super high action sitting on a stand. I picked it up and played a few familiar Hymns straight nothing fancy. Two of the resident Sister's at the retreat house came over and said.......Wow Deacon that sounded great very nice playing the guitar sounds great too.......
I did not have the heart to tell them the guitar was so poorly made that even I would not try and get it playing better...….just burn it in the fireplace and get another one. It is all in the ears of the listener right?
-
The tuneomatic adds to this brightness. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
-
Indeed, that is why all of my archtops have wooden bridge saddles. But comparing a guitar with an alnico 5 neck PUP (the T-Top) to a guitar with an alnico 2 neck PUP (the 57 classic) is not a good comparison, particularly if the guitars are recorded directly into the board, where you are mostly hearing the pickup and not the wood. Originally Posted by skiboyny
-
The second one sounds like the Classic 57. All my Gibson archies have Classic 57s save the two with CC Blades. A test like this one is really set up as a test of pickups. You could mount the Classic 57 on a cinder block with a 25.5" scale length fretboard and it would likely still sound like a Classic 57 in the same test.
The guitar has little influence on the sound when recorded like this.
-
Leaving aside Gustavo's ability to play guitar, which is remarkable, I think that an L5 or any carved top Gibson can produce better tones than the two alternatives presented by the OP. He plays tango on electric guitar. Maybe some of us are accustomed to classic Gibson sounds. Check Oscar Lopez Ruiz around 06.12:
I like the playing but not the tone of any of the two alternatives.
-
It would also be nice to have pics of the two guitars being compared.
-
But one of the OP's alternatives is in fact a Gibson L5, presumably, a carved top Gibson. The Wu might be carved as well, I don't know. Originally Posted by gcb
-
In fact a Gibson L5 presumably? a contradiction in terms. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
-
The Wu is a carved top, I'd bet on it. AFAIK Wu doesn't even offer guitars with laminated tops, nor sides/backs. That takes specialized equipment and materials.
I don't see how recording direct or with a mic'd amp makes any difference in hearing "wood". You're hearing the pickup in either case, through one amp or another. If you just mic the unamplified guitars, then you'll hear the wood, but when amps are involved you hear the pickup. Unless you mic both the amp and the guitar, which can introduce other variables. The two guitars in the OP sound different, but that's no surprise. Two L5s would sound somewhat different. I'm not sure which guitar in the OP I prefer, they're different but both sound good.
-
I was being ironic of course. He says it's a Gibson L5 so that's a carved-top guitar. If it were a couple years earlier, it would have a laminated back, but by 1970 the solid-carved two-piece backs were in place. Originally Posted by gcb
And "in fact" is not in conflict with "presumably." If it is in fact a Gibson, we may from that presume it has a carved top, since the correct definition of "presume" is "assume, take for granted." If in fact it's a Gibson L5ces, we may assume, take for granted, that it is a carved top. The only exception would be if it were some strange type of custom build, or modified in some way without the OP saying so, which I regard as unlikely.
-
I would prefer to see pics of the two contestants.
-
Here they are
Enviado desde mi LG-H870 mediante Tapatalk
-
I don't think Wu does laminates?
I preferred the second. Were they recorded the same way? The first sounds very "direct."
-
Both are carved archtops: spruce top and maple back and rims.
3 piece maple neck and ebony fingerboard.
What somesaid about the difference between pickup is the real issue in this test.
Enviado desde mi LG-H870 mediante Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
No more 10" Neo Speakers?
Today, 10:31 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos