Cantalope Island 1996 Gibson L4CES vs 2016 Yamaha SA2200, which do you like?

[Peter C]

In the first clip, to my ears, Hubbard is playing a sustained Bb there, not a B natural (which would be b5, a very different animal). In the second, he's not hanging onto E natural anywhere, though it is probably contained within the barrage of notes he's throwing at you.

Yeah sorry about the "thread drift", it wasn't my intention.

[PDeville]

Well, I have to commend Jack for making the effort to create these videos, with notation /tab on the screen.
It seems like lots of work, and they are very professionally done.

And I really like the sound of the Ibanez GB10 that Mr. Zucker plays in his other recent video. I like it more than the Gibsons he has demonstrated.

[Archie]

Jaz I think the Yammy sounds good. They are great guitars for the price and I enjoyed you channeling your inner Gabor.
The L4 has the more standard tone you would expect from an archtop; fatter notes with less sustain.

I still feel the same way about L4CES’s as I always have. They sound a little too dark and flat BUT can sound great if everything is eq’d right. I think Severson gets the most out of the L4 because he plays lightly. Your style has more dynamics and I think the L4 can't hang as well.

All things considered though and I say this as someone who’s never really been a fan, the GB10 sits nicely between the L4/175 - SA2200 divide and is still the nicest sounding with your advanced Bebop style (imo).

Regarding the Maj 7, in classical (as you know) they call that a 'leading note’. Perhaps that’s why it sits well over 7th harmony? I like it, you pulled it off well.

[jzucker]

Thanks archie, well said and the gb is also the easiest and most fun to play of my archtops

[Enlightened Rogue]

Hello. I thought the Yamaha sounded the best. I base this on the smaller sample of slower playing in the beginning. As with any amplified guitar, the faster the lines are played they lose a lot of their personality. For warm, woody tone, the Yamaha sounded much nicer.

[Jim Soloway]

I like the Yamaha. I'd really like to hear it with the TI 12's. I suspect it might really shine.

[jzucker]

I like the Yamaha. I'd really like to hear it with the TI 12's. I suspect it might really shine.

I put JS112 strings on an Ibanez AS200 once. It sounded great for jazz but I think it took the instrument outside it's design parameters. One thing I like about roundwound .010s on the yamaha is that it allows me out of the jazz box some and I play it differently which can be nice. It also sounds great for rock and blues and I'd hate to lose that. I used to think a true-blue gibson 335 was a superior guitar but i'm not so sure anymore. I think the workmanship and materials are clearly superior on the yamaha. It's a tad brighter than the gibson. It's birch ply instead of maple and it does have the ebony board. Not sure if that's the diff or if the pickups are brighter.

I thought my 339 had a slightly better fusion/blues tone - a bit more classic but since I switched to the fractal, I don't really have any complaints about the yamaha's tone.

[Jim Soloway]

I put JS112 strings on an Ibanez AS200 once. It sounded great for jazz but I think it took the instrument outside it's design parameters. One thing I like about roundwound .010s on the yamaha is that it allows me out of the jazz box some and I play it differently which can be nice. It also sounds great for rock and blues and I'd hate to lose that. I used to think a true-blue gibson 335 was a superior guitar but i'm not so sure anymore. I think the workmanship and materials are clearly superior on the yamaha. It's a tad brighter than the gibson. It's birch ply instead of maple and it does have the ebony board. Not sure if that's the diff or if the pickups are brighter.

I thought my 339 had a slightly better fusion/blues tone - a bit more classic but since I switched to the fractal, I don't really have any complaints about the yamaha's tone.

I've seen that Yamaha used by sidemen in a couple of really big name shows. Clearly it's held in very high esteem by some really serious players.

[jzucker]

I've seen that Yamaha used by sidemen in a couple of really big name shows. Clearly it's held in very high esteem by some really serious players.

I actually sold the SA2200 a while back because i felt that it was too bright. This was when I was using the Helix Stomp. When I got my fractal FM3, i discovered that a couple of my "bright" axes that were unusable because really beautiful sounding. So coincidentally, the guy I sold the SA2200 to contacted me asking if I wanted it back. Glad I took him up on the offer.

Now, I wonder about the Eastman 339 copy I sold, the T484 which also was "too bright". I bet it sounds great through the fractal too...