Comparing my Eastman AR810 vs D'Angelico EXL-1 (End of a Love Affair)

[Gabor]

Acoustic sound with no effects. Mike: t.bone SC 400, audio interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.Backing track: iReal... :-(Arrangement credit goes to the great Bobby Broom (Bobby Broom - YouTube)Transcription credit goes to David Rourke (David Rourke - YouTube)

[Spook410]

Lovely playing. No surprises on the sound. Eastman sounds like a solid wood carved $3000 acoustic archtop. The D'Angelico sounds like a $1500 laminate designed to be amplified via a pickup and amp. I like both guitars but the EXL 1 is a bit out of context here while the Eastman is in it's element. Enjoyed the recording though.. nicely done.

[Gitterbug]

Fine playing, thanks! The Eastman definitely has roundwounds, the D'A probably not. So apples to pears?

[Alter]

Nice playing. I have played both guitar models, and think your sounds are pretty accurate, the Eastman being more acoustic and the D Angelico a bit more electric (despite using a mic).

[2bornot2bop]

I don’t know, to my ears the EXL more than holds its own against an acoustic in this recording.

[Michael Neverisky]

Nicely done. I like the compressed sound of the D'angelico.

[John A.]

The tone of the EXL-1 is quite pleasant. At least on the recording, I'm not sure which I prefer. In the room, I imagine the Eastman is louder and sounds more like a real acoustic instrument, but close mic'ed and played back at matching volume, they both sound good, but different.

John

[Gabor]

Fine playing, thanks! The Eastman definitely has roundwounds, the D'A probably not. So apples to pears?

Your are right, my bad. But I so wanted to do this demo, so did not want to change to flatwounds on Eastman and so did not want to change to roundwounds D'Angelico... For my excuse there are some lines on strings E and B, and the difference is there too.

I think it would be a mean thing to put flatwounds on the Eastman, despite to the fact, that I literally scare myself with the string squeeks, which are drastically amplified by the Eastman having trebly and have natural reverb on that frequency range... so the temptation is there, but I resist :-)

[Gabor]

Nicely done. I like the compressed sound of the D'angelico.

That is an accurate observation. I think it is also more dry, because the complete lack of any natural reverb.
When used via amp, the natural reverb difference do not play because I add a minimal touch of reverb anyway. However the more stable compressed quality become a real benefit.

[Gabor]

The tone of the EXL-1 is quite pleasant. At least on the recording, I'm not sure which I prefer. In the room, I imagine the Eastman is louder and sounds more like a real acoustic instrument, but close mic'ed and played back at matching volume, they both sound good, but different.

John

That is correct, and very well hearable in live. Although I did only 2 dB correction to the favor of the D'Angelic just to get the good ratio for the bass and drum.