A tale of two guitars - Barrington archtop vs Yamaha Semihollow

[jzucker]

Hate to say it but I think I like the barrington better than my 175!

[jads57]

Sounds very ES-175 like, with either D’Addario Half Rounds or Flatwounds to my ears. Sounds good but I prefer no delay at all, since it’s so overused in general. But very Nice Jack Z!

[jzucker]

i think it sounds more like a GB10. For years I looked for a gb10 with humbuckers. George used them for recording on many of his albums and a buddy of mine got one from George and I really love the way it sounds. It has the bright attack of the spruce top and smaller body and this cheap barrington sounds very similar. It's about the thickness of a benson with a slightly bigger body. I think it was made in the ibanez factory. I remember them being $2500 back in 1980 but I paid 1/4 of that a couple years ago...

[John A.]

Hate to say it but I think I like the barrington better than my 175!

Definitely a different sound. More high end clarity on the Barrington, more mid-range grit on the 175 (so hard to find words for these subtle differences in sound). If I'm counting correctly, they're both 20-fret necks, right? If so, I wonder how much of the difference in tone is related to the pick-up position (right up against the end of the fretboard on the Barrington, about an inch bridge-ward on the 175). Anyway, it's a great sounding guitar. How are you liking the Yamaha?

[jzucker]

Definitely a different sound. More high end clarity on the Barrington, more mid-range grit on the 175 (so hard to find words for these subtle differences in sound). If I'm counting correctly, they're both 20-fret necks, right? If so, I wonder how much of the difference in tone is related to the pick-up position (right up against the end of the fretboard on the Barrington, about an inch bridge-ward on the 175). Anyway, it's a great sounding guitar. How are you liking the Yamaha?

the yamaha is amazing. This was obviously recorded with some gain but clean, the yamaha is very methenyish. The 175 I have been using with the tone control way down so it's kind of hard to compare but with the tone control up, the 175 sounds harsh to me whereas the barrington sounds sweeter. I think you might be right about the pickup position...

[Tal_175]

Barrington doesn't sound as dry as an ES 175. It has more overtones and sounds more spruce-y. Does it have a spruce top?

[jzucker]

Barrington doesn't sound as dry as an ES 175. It has more overtones and sounds more spruce-y. Does it have a spruce top?

yes it does. laminated I believe.

[Tal_175]

The spruce top archtops sound sweeter and more complex than maple tops but if I'm playing by myself, I find that their brightness become fatiguing to me after a while. In a group setting this is never a problem.

Maple sounds more dry and crude, but has a different, less drilling kind of brightness that doesn't get fatiguing. But everybody has different sensitivities.

[jzucker]

There's another factor too. With the maple, i find that the full-on (tone control on 10) sound is fatiguing to me so I turn the tone control down whereas the brightness of the spruce is not so I can use it on 10 or attenuated

The spruce top archtops sound sweeter and more complex than maple tops but if I'm playing by myself, I find that their brightness become fatiguing to me after a while. In a group setting this is never a problem.

Maple sounds more dry and crude, but has a different, less drilling kind of brightness that doesn't get fatiguing. But everybody has different sensitivities.

[Archie]

Sounds great! Will the new Pat Martino please send up! Oh you were standing

[Jim Soloway]

From my experiences with the Barrington I owned so many years ago, I'm not surprised. It was a really good guitar and I was silly to get rid of it (not an uncommon silliness in my case). The neck was really special. There are not many of them out there so congratulations and enjoy.

[jzucker]

From my experiences with the Barrington I owned so many years ago, I'm not surprised. It was a really good guitar and I was silly to get rid of it (not an uncommon silliness in my case). The neck was really special. There are not many of them out there so congratulations and enjoy.

Yeah, the neck is oak/walnut. A very stiff combination. Very few guitars out there with oak necks!

Sounds great! Will the new Pat Martino please send up! Oh you were standing

Haha, thanks. I think I'll duck after that one!

[John A.]

The spruce top archtops sound sweeter and more complex than maple tops but if I'm playing by myself, I find that their brightness become fatiguing to me after a while. In a group setting this is never a problem.

Maple sounds more dry and crude, but has a different, less drilling kind of brightness that doesn't get fatiguing. But everybody has different sensitivities.

I find the difference between carved spruce and lam maple quite distinct so, I think I get that. But with laminated tops I doubt I have enough experience with different guitars to really discern the difference top species in isolation from other factors consistently. FWIW, my Seventy-Seven archtop and my D'Angelico semi both have spruce tops (the 77 is lam, the D'A might be pressed; hard to tell by looking at the grain lines through the pickup cutout). I can tease a surprisingly similar neck tone out of both (note envelope aside), such that on recordings I where I've forgotten which one I used I have to listen pretty carefully to figure out which one it is. But it's the same player, through the same amp/model, consciously trying to get a personal idea of "jazz" tone, so who knows what's the dominant effect?

[jzucker]

I find the difference between carved spruce and lam maple quite distinct so, I think I get that. But with laminated tops I doubt I have enough experience with different guitars to really discern the difference top species in isolation from other factors consistently. FWIW, my Seventy-Seven archtop and my D'Angelico semi both have spruce tops (the 77 is lam, the D'A might be pressed; hard to tell by looking at the grain lines through the pickup cutout). I can tease a surprisingly similar neck tone out of both (note envelope aside), such that on recordings I where I've forgotten which one I used I have to listen pretty carefully to figure out which one it is. But it's the same player, through the same amp/model, consciously trying to get a personal idea of "jazz" tone, so who knows what's the dominant effect?

i can unequivocally say that regardless of solid vs lam, there's a huge difference between lam spruce and lam maple.

[Jim Soloway]

For anyone who's interested, there's one on Reverb right now in a natural finish.

Barrington BGW-400 1988 Archtop Natural Blonde | Reverb

[jzucker]

For anyone who's interested, there's one on Reverb right now in a natural finish.

Barrington BGW-400 1988 Archtop Natural Blonde | Reverb

I paid a lot less than that for mine but i guess they are so rare that you have to make your own decision. Of all the 175 width guitars I've played including the ibanez lawsuit models, the greco, the ibanez LGB-30, the aria herb ellis, I think this is the best one.

[jads57]

So Jack Z it’s more like a laminated Gibson L-4CES model?

[jzucker]

So Jack Z it’s more like a laminated Gibson L-4CES model?

but more like the thickness of a GB10 which is 2.5" at the edge. The barrington is 2.75", the 175 is 3.5"

[jads57]

I always wished Gibson would have reissued the ES-175 Thin line as well as the very rare L-4CES Thin line models. But I bought my Benedetto Bambino back and am happy!

[jzucker]

I always wished Gibson would have reissued the ES-175 Thin line as well as the very rare L-4CES Thin line models. But I bought my Benedetto Bambino back and am happy!

Yeah, i had a heritage eagle thinline that I really loved. Similar in tone to the barrington but more complex and lush because it was a solid top. Those 175T guitars are super expensive now.