I'm shopping for a begiinners guitar. I currently have a childrens minature guitar that I bought at a garage sale for $20.00 that I have been learning on and I think its time to get a real one.
Ok, I was at the guitar store and they have three acoustic guitars that are the same make and model, (Art and Lutherie Wild Cherry) the only visible difference is their color. One is wood, one is black, and one is a fire color. The fire color sounds really rich and happy, the wood sounds fairly rich, and the black one has a less happy, deeper, darker tone. Is this because they are tuned slightly differently? Or will they always sound different? The problem is, I like the sound of the fire guitar best, and the sound of the black guitar the least. But I can't stand how the fire guitar looks. I think it is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. The black one, is the coolest looking and my favorite cosmetically. So will the fire one always sound better than the black one? Or can I make the black one sound identical to the fire one by tuning it differntly? The guy at the music store quickly tuned them using a handheld tuner, but I'm almost positive they are not tuned EXACTLY alike, they are fairly close though. But can fairly close make the difference between sounding great and sounding ok?
Basically, I want the black one, and think the fire one is a really ugly guitar. But the fire one sounded better than the black one, can I make it sound better by tuning it at home? (I use a computer tuner)
I just went to their site and wow, those are pretty guitars!
Anyhow, guitars from the same builder and from the same line or design should sound pretty much the same, with slight variations. The difference in sound could be from, like you said, the strings being tighter or looser on each guitar, or even of different makes or thicknesses. Usually guitars will ship from the factory with the same type of strings (usually inexpensive bulk type strings), but even so, one model or color of guitar might have been built and setup and strung in one month, and then maybe they made a bunch of the other color later and you might wind up with the same strings but put on at a different time and sounding older, or duller.
It might just be a difference in the strings being older or newer. The salesguy tuned the guitars up with his tuner, so it's probably not a difference in the string tension - it's probably the newness of the strings. Stores don't always change strings on the instruments they receive because it costs them time and money to do it. You might write to the manufacturer and ask them.
http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/wildcherry.htm
It might be as simple as putting new strings on the black one. The store could (and should) do it for you when you buy the guitar.
So there shouldn't be much noticable difference between two guitars of the same model? Also, is it better to get a wood colored guitar since they don't have all the paint on them that the black one and fire one do? I assume they just have a clear coating on them?
Well, there can be some difference. And usually not as big a difference as you describe unless there's some serious quality control issues at the factory. If you're serious about buying the black one ask to put a new set of strings on it. If they won't, buy a cheap set and have them put them on and try it out.
-Metaellihead
There can be huge differences in tone between two models that are exactly the same. Go with the one that sounds best.
Building a guitar is as much an art as it is a science.
That said, understand that if you build 1000 guitars out of the exact same parts, on the exact same day, in the exact same place using the exact same tools... your going to get 1000 unique guitars, each with their own subtle sonic nuances. Wood density is never perfectly consistent, and neither is the machinery used to shape it.
Buy you're guitar based on what's important to you. If you can't stand the way a guitar looks, it's going to be hard to deal with if that's something that bothers you.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
That is true, but how often have you heard someone say..."Damn, that song sounds like, but the guitar looks nice."
Sure, but given that, how many guitars do you own that you hate the look of?
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
That's too bad I really like the sound of mine. I take it everywhere with no worries thanks to the ply top( campfire sing alongs BA-BEE!)
Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear!
ChuckNorrisFactsdotCom
The main reason for different sounds of identical models is the wood.
No 2 pieces of wood are exactly the same.
Aside from my woodworking that I have done for over 30 years I have seen the difference in guitars when shopping.
Case in point.
I bought my daughter a Dean Cutaway a while back. The shop had 3 on the wall. Same model, color, everything was identical except for the sound.
All 3 sounded different. We, of course, bought the one that sounded best to us.
See if he has any more black ones and try them out.
I get your point undercat.
But even the ugly ones grow on you if they sound good.
I went to another music store and played all their guitars of the same model. They sounded almost exactly the same, not like the huge difference between the ones at tbe first music store. I also found a stained wood guitar that I think looks nice and has nice sound (the same sound as the other identical guitars at the store) I think I'm going to go buy it tomorrow.
