'Thunk' came from where?

[vinlander]

Even modern heavier built instrument can express thunk, I get plenty of it even unplugged on the Tal.
Laminated maple combined with medium flats and its 25.5 scale seems to emphase the faster decay and bluntness of Tal's thunk.
Thunk from a 175 is different, looser feel on the bass string less assertive.
I never could achieve anything close to that with a modified Emperor Regent even with 15-56 (the Tal has Swing 12-50)
Difference of wood and construction as a huge incidence on the thunkness!
A Tal Farlow in action from DutchBopper, raw and percussive just as I dig it :

[gianluca]

and what about pick, string gauge and recording microphone?
do they take part to the thunk equation?

[WillMbCdn5]

what is the opposite of thunk? I think I like the opposite of thunk . Thank goodness I got that out there.

Will

[Dutchbopper]

and what about pick, string gauge and recording microphone?
do they take part to the thunk equation?

No. I'd say the guitar, the amp and the player are more important parts in the equation.

DB

[Dutchbopper]

what is the opposite of thunk? I think I like the opposite of thunk . Thank goodness I got that out there. Will

The opposite of thunk is plink.

DB

[christianm77]

Heavy rest stroke picking with equipment choices noted above?

If so, then I as a player of 175 with heavyish flatwounds and rest stroke technique should be able to conjure the thunk but to honest I’ve never listened out for that, and not sure if do.

When playing a guitar with flats I notice a distinct clank and lack of sustain.

Could it be that the clank is cousin to the thunk? I think of Jimmy Raney as being a clanker.

Probably my ideas are stupid, but maybe they are of some interest to someone.

[WillMbCdn5]

The opposite of thunk is plink.

DB

Hmms "plink" as a word does not have a lot of coolness factor
Will

[princeplanet]

That's funny, I often describe player's wimpy tones as "plinkety-plink". Somewhere in between can still be OK, so maybe I'm a "plunker"...

[Dutchbopper]

Hmms "plink" as a word does not have a lot of coolness factor
Will

Well, plink is the least desirable end of the sound spectrum. You go from thunk (left) to plunk (middle) and then to plink (right).

And there seems to be clank but I am still figuring out what that is.

DB

[citizenk74]

Well, plink is the least desirable end of the sound spectrum. You go from thunk (left) to plunk (middle) and then to plink (right).

And there seems to be clank but I am still figuring out what that is.

DB

"Clank" is what happens when, in the middle of the "bridal dance" at a 400-guest wedding, and you're concentrating on a new twist to the 37th iteration of "Wonderful Tonight" the bass player to your right decides he needs moar beer and whirls around to his left and you take a Gibson Ripper Bass headstock square in the face. "Clink" is where you wind up without monumental self-restraint.

[Boston Joe]

Dude, really, listen to the Farlow clip, listen to the low strings...there's about...no sustain. But it still sounds great.

People get in it in their head that the thunk is the only good jazz guitar sound...not even close! But it's one of them.

Funny, the thunk is precisely what I DON'T like about archtops. I want to hear the whole note, not just the attack.

[Dutchbopper]

Funny, the thunk is precisely what I DON'T like about archtops. I want to hear the whole note, not just the attack.

Thunk is not about hearing only the attack because you'd be listening to a drummer or percussionist instead of a guitarist. Attack without content is NOT what thunk is all about. It's just a type of classic, dry, woody sound some prefer and that is generally associated with laminated instruments. Listen to MVI. His notes are pretty well articulated.

Of course we all have our own interpretation of what thunk is.

DB

[Boston Joe]

Thunk is not about hearing only the attack because you'd be listening to a drummer or percussionist instead of a guitarist. Attack without content is NOT what thunk is all about. It's just a type of classic, dry, woody sound some prefer and that is generally associated with laminated instruments. Listen to MVI. His notes are pretty well articulated.

Of course we all have our own interpretation of what thunk is.

DB

Maybe it's a language thing, but I wasn't being completely literal there. Maybe about 80% literal, and 20% hyperbole.

And this is more from a playing perspective than a listening perspective. When I've taken my archtop to jam sessions, etc, I find the thunk to be kind of overpowering and distracting. On records and whatnot, it doesn't really bother me.

[hagstrom]

from Nowhere.

[Litterick]

The earliest instance I have found in print is in a 1966 review of Julian Bream in Life magazine. Carter Harman writes, 'In this tight continuum, Bream is able to project a whole spectrum of tone-color variations, from a very quaint, pastel-tinted thunk, produced by his fingerprints, to a brassy twang, produced by his nails; his guitar can sound like a harp, a harpsichord or even a piano.'

Viva the no-voltage guitar!
Carter Harman
Life
Vol 61, No 19, November 4, 1966, page 12

[AllanAllen]

First 5 seconds, that’s the most clear example of thunk I know of.

[mickmac]

" Mary, you got thunk" " I hate thunk". Lou Grant.

[tbeltrans]

"Thunk" is the sound you hear when you drop an archtop on a carpet floor.

Tony

[sgcim]

I dunno, still tryin' to figure that one out. Maybe percussive would be more apt.