Pick the guitar tone you prefer - Part II.

**Vihar** · 01-25-2023, 12:38 PM

Which guitar tone do you prefer out of these two examples? (Note that this time the player, the playing style and the piece of music being played are the same.)

Guitar tone A: SndUp | Post info

Guitar tone B: SndUp | Post info

**Vihar** · 01-25-2023, 01:05 PM

After we received a significant amount of votes, the guitars will be revealed, with videos.

**Tal_175** · 01-25-2023, 01:13 PM

I prefered the guitar B for solo playing. It sounds like a large body flattop. Very wide frequency range. Deep bass, clear highs. Guitar A sounds like a shallower body guitar. A bit more focused and brighter.

**Vihar** · 01-25-2023, 01:16 PM

It will be interesting how people will perceive these two examples without seeing them being played.

**supersoul** · 01-25-2023, 01:41 PM

I like A, and I'm gonna guess that both are the same guitar just recorded using different microphones.

A has clarity; B sounds scooped to me.

**Tal_175** · 01-25-2023, 01:43 PM

I'm assuming that the instruments are recorded and processed the same way. Otherwise the comparison doesn't make much sense.
You can use different picks and get as much variance as there is in the recording.

I was gonna mention this in my earlier post but I thought it was obvious.

**Vihar** · 01-25-2023, 01:49 PM

The guitars are different, the microphones and the playing style are the same.

**Stringswinger** · 01-25-2023, 01:56 PM

Guitar B for me as it sounds more "balanced".

**NSJ** · 01-25-2023, 01:58 PM

I picked B, even though A announced itself better and the last 15 seconds of playing of A were more interesting. B had more nuance to it.

**John A.** · 01-25-2023, 02:15 PM

A can hear differences - e.g., through my earbuds B is louder and bassier, and A has a bit more of a kind of shimmery, chorusy sound on the high strings. But the differences are subtle enough that it could be the same guitar played at different distances from the mic, or just played a little differently. I can’t say which I prefer. I’m guessing one might get more fatiguing than the other with prolonged listening, but I don’t know which. I think A might sit in a mix better because it seems less dynamic.

Regardless, cool playing.

**6v6ster** · 01-25-2023, 03:04 PM

B is definitely more present, I think louder.
I ran a studio for a number of years and this sounds like B is a raw track (just mic and into the board) and A sounds like after adding some processing (compression and EQ).

im not saying that’s what happened here, but that’s what it reminds me of.

Not sure which one I prefer. A sounds too squashed but B sounds untamed…I think I’d prefer something in between.

**mr. beaumont** · 01-25-2023, 03:10 PM

A is midrangey...a bit more than I like. And I like midrange.

So I'd pick B. If you added bass and drums though, my guess is I'd like A.

**StefanoGhirardo** · 01-25-2023, 03:23 PM

I vote B.

**RobbieAG** · 01-25-2023, 03:59 PM

I'm not hearing a lot of difference. They both sound like steel string flat top acoustics (with low E tuned down to D). Is this a trick question?

**Vihar** · 01-25-2023, 04:10 PM

Interesting answers so far, guys.

**StuartF** · 01-25-2023, 04:34 PM

I’m not completely sure B is a flat top.

Like someone else said, I like B better for solo, but A would probably be better in a mix.

And with that, my guitar-sound-describing vocabulary is exhausted!

**DawgBone** · 01-25-2023, 04:51 PM

I liked them both so no voting for me. It was nice playing so who really cares about the small tonal differences of two guitars? I would guess guitar A was an auditorium size, flat top as it has a smooth, even sound without having excess bite like some of the other small bodies.

Guitar B sounded like a jumbo, dreadnought or other larger body acoustic, maybe even a mic'ed archtop. The signal was louder. I think with a little EQ or something B would've been my favorite, but that's marginal and my own personal taste. There is nothing wrong with guitar A for that style of music either. No fetishes for me, just how does it sound and was the performance clean? Both guitars were good.

Once I had the guitar part down for guitar A, guitar B wouldn't be worth using to re-record because it isn't significantly better, and vice versa. I listened to them on M-Audio studio monitors via bluetoot for what that's worth.

**garybaldy** · 01-25-2023, 05:45 PM

A for me!

**sgosnell** · 01-25-2023, 05:58 PM

I prefer b, but not by a lot. Both have a midrangey, somewhat nasal, slightly harsh sound, but b is a little mellower. If I had to guess, I would guess that b is an archtop, but I wouldn't bet the rent money on it.

**Cunamara** · 01-25-2023, 07:14 PM

A for me. I usually prefer a darker sound, but B sounded like the top end was just cut off with the EQ. I should also note that this was using the speakers in my iPad.