A vs B ... Reamping with S-Gear and plugins

[Jim Soloway]

This is a single 40 second passage run though two of the S-Gear models. A is the Duke. B is the Wayfarer. Both of the S-Gear setups are amp only with neither the S-Gear Speaker sims or effects. The speaker sims along with EQ, preamp, trem, reverb and compression are all done in third party VSTs and the setup of the 3rd party VSTs setup is identical so the only change is the Amp. I'm curious what people think of the difference.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Beautiful playing as usual. Jim! But I honestly don't hear any significant difference between the two through my monitors (JBL 305) or my good 'phones (AKG Q701). I haven't run an audiogram in a year or more, so my HF hearing may have deteriorated enough to affect accurate audition. But I'm hearing the subtle differences in my own equipment and other demos on the forum that others report, so any differences beteen the two amp models are probably very small.

[Cordalis]

The sample from the Duke sounds to me more crystal clear than the Wayfarer. On my personal experience using S Gear I fall more on Duke than on Wayfarer. Anyway, is a beautiful amp sim but also time consuming and I often finish up using more hardware when recording because I don't have so sophisticated sound needs as your beautiful and delicate music has.

[dconeill]

I thought the first one was fuller, maybe a little too full in the bass. It seemed to me that the upper mids were more bell-like in the first one.

The second one was a little more nasal, and seemed to me to be comparatively thin in the bass, but only by comparison.

On my third listen I had the thought that the first one might be a bit more fatiguing to listen to longer-term than the second one, but I'm not sure about that.

Listened through Grado SR325e headphones.

[John A.]

I can't tell the difference (as in listening with my eyes closed the first time, I could not detect that two different rigs were in use). My thought is that you play with such a light touch and narrow dynamic range that amp coloration is essentially a non-factor in your tone. All the demos you've posted over the years with a pretty big range of equipment sound virtually same to me, with (maybe) some very small differences in frequency response that could just as easily be attributed to slight changes in settings or mic placement or how you're holding the guitar that day. Obviously, that's not how you hear it, though, and your perceptions are likely much more dialed into your nuances than mine are.

[Jim Soloway]

Thanks to all for listening and for the comments ... and yes, I suspect I do hear these things much differently than others but then I hear an awful lot of my own playing. I hear all the differences and some of them are actually pretty big. I played this on my Mustang tuned to standard pitch whereas most of what you've all heard from me in recent years has been on longer scaled guitars tuned down variously by 3 to 5 semi-tones, so essentially into baritone range. To me the difference in just that one change is substantial but in the end, the musical objectives, the way I play and the way I have the guitars set up all remain unchanged so I suppose it's not unreasonable that ears other than mine will hear the consistency in the bigger picture while I mostly hear the differences from what others might think of as just inside baseball.

[Woodstove]

Firstly, Jim, I’m just glad to hear you playing after I saw a post that you felt you had to stop because of discomfort. And of course you’re playing is lovely. I clearly prefer B. It sounds more present and more rounded. I’m not good with words to describe what I’m hearing. Suffice it to say it I definitely preferred it.

[Jim Soloway]

Firstly, Jim, I’m just glad to hear you playing after I saw a post that you felt you had to stop because of discomfort. And of course you’re playing is lovely. I clearly prefer B. It sounds more present and more rounded. I’m not good with words to describe what I’m hearing. Suffice it to say it was I definitely preferred it.

Thanks. My initial reaction was A but over time I really found B to have a softer, almost charming quality that I really like. And I did stop playing for a month because of a lot of pain in my left hand. A month of rest was enough to at least get me back to playing my modified Mustang with its 24" scale length and even with that I've gone to lighter strings. I still find my 25.5" scale length guitars to be a bit more than I can handle but as long as I'm able to play something I have reason to be grateful.