Tone Test fun

All three sounded good, Roy. Nice playing as well. I do think I lean toward liking the Gretsch's sound in this particular case.

Jim

Yes, they sound different. And all three sound good!

Some tones are more appropriate to some styles if you want to sound in the way they usually sound. But, at least for me, there is nothing wrong if you play metal with an archtop (if we don't consider the feedback).

Well, I tell you what. I get tone burnout fast. I listened to this now and can plainly hear the diferences. It was tougher before, and I really had not been playing all that much. It was still early morning.

My fav is the LP, but she's the one I play probably 50% of the time. The Gretsch was jangly and bright while the the P-90's seemed a little thinner than the others. On a side note, I wonder if the thinner tone has a bi-product of leaving space open in the digital studio. Hmmmmmmm

Thanks to anyone who offered up their opinions and thoughts on the tonal differences....if any detected. If you don't detect differences, that's also interesting. I bet my wife could not detect. (Not saying bad things...she doesn't play guitar, that's all)

I needed a couple of year to detect the differences between the neck and bridge pickups... I remember I said "and they say the pickups sound different?"

No direct experience with P-90's but they sound like P-90's to me.

Hmmm.. If I wasn't listening carefully I'd have missed that they were different guitars.
But I did think the wound strings on the Gretch sounded ... fuller... rounder...? (gah, how do you describe subtle sounds with text?)

Hmmmm. I think there's two to add to the tone test. Throw in the Tele and the Ibanez with the flat-wounds.

I was thinking of a part 2 for this. Instead of jacking everything up and out, dial it back a bit. Maybe 5 on volume and 6 on tone.

Hey Roy (%

Was bored this Saturday, so I took a look here on GN.... Tone Test Fun was something I HAD to check out!

Here's how they sounded to me:
1) Was Full sounding. Thick, but Dark.

2) Was Dry and a bit Muffled, though Bright.

3) Was Vibrant, Full of Life. Lively/Springy, though a bit heavy on the High End.

So, yeah - #1 was pretty close to what you might expect from a Les Paul w/HB's.
#2 was def a hollow body of some sort.
And though I wouldn't have pegged #3 as a Strat type guitar (not woody enough for a Strat), it is a testament to the perfect design that constitutes Stratness! It was very much alive (%
(Sorry, I'm still a bit biased towards Strats! LOL)

Ken

I could tell a couple of subtle differences, but overall I thought they all sounded pretty good. Thing is, though, 99.99% of the great unmusical public wouldn't know the difference between a Les Paul and a Tele unless you pointed said differences out to them....if Slash suddenly popped up on MTV playing a Strat, or Clapton a Tele, or Page an Explorer, they probably wouldn't notice those subtle differences. Those of us who do play guitar and love our guitars probably would....but I wonder how many of us could tell, by listening to a recording, what guitar was actually being played if Slash/Clapton/Page came without video? I'd be willing to bet it was less than, say, 20% - and in my case, it'd be pretty much guesswork. I'd be one of the 80% who'd be vacillating.....but on the other hand, who gives a monkeys if it sounds good? To each his own....I know now, after years of trying different guitars, the Tele's the guitar for me. I love everything about it. Other people here are Strat fans, LP fans, SG fans, hell, almost every brand under the sun. There are loads of people here who have LOTS (meaning more than, say, five...) of guitars - but I'd be willing to bet real money that every single one of 'em's got a #1, no-messing, favourite go-to guitar. For me, it'll always be the white MIM Tele. If I'm ever fortunate to have enough money to go out and buy more guitars, I'd probably buy an MIA Tele or two or three.....but the MIM's the guitar that'll always be closest to my heart! That's the one that'll never, ever, EVER get sold or traded in.....

:D :D :D

Vic

One thing I failed to mention. different scale lengths too. 24.75, 25 and 25.5.

This wasn't about which one is better. It was just a curious sampling of tones and differences.

You're right about me in one sense, Vic, in that I do have the one guitar that I go to first. My epi LP. I do like 'em all, though. I'm in no hurry to go out and get another Tele. My Squire Tele has the stock American Standard Pickups, courtesy of a friend. :mrgreen: That thing barks like an angry West African Spider-Monkey in heat. You know that sometimes I cannot play a guitar with the volume turned up much at all. On those days, this one is the worst offender. And yes, too, the MIM does feel different, too. Not sure why. well, aside from the strings thing.

OK, so confession time. All three guitars, according to my handy little spreadsheet, are due string changes. Where does the time go? The Gretsch probably the most. I did the Epi on feb 19th, 2010. The crusty p-90 crap-o-caster strings are almost a year old. Stupid thing won't even go out of tune hardly.

Ken, my non-strat strat: This is one is a beater. We're having are seasonal humidity changes. Air and everything gets cooler and drier. So far, every guitar I have has gone sharp except the cheapest POS one of the bunch. My previously ownded MIM Strat was darned near useless this time of year. Spring time to. Get it all set up, sun rises and ruins everything.

I am tempted to get a strat copy some day. One of those SX's from Hondo. Not sure which yet or even if at all.

I had a listen, and was pleased I could hear a subtle different between the 3, I though the first one sounded the best, it sounded much richer :D

Ken, dude, where did you stay? Long time no see you!

Roy, great thread. I was thinking about it lately. They are differences in tone and sound because the components are different but, probably, as Vic said, those are subtle differences.

Recently I was reading an interview to Pat Metheny (it is online, if I found the link I'll update the post). He said he never played or recorded if he did not use all his gear (guitar, effects, amps). Once he had to play in URSS with a Polish guitar and a Czech amp (or vice versa). He did it and he sounded like Pat Metheny!

Now I am playing my Epi LP a lot. I am having a lot of fun. But while I am playing I think of my Strat... and when I play my Strat...

Now I am playing my Epi LP a lot. I am having a lot of fun. But while I am playing I think of my Strat... and when I play my Strat...
This keeps me more and more intriqued. Everyone knows they're different tones. Most have to focus to detect, but can easlity do so.

Nuno, something you said just triggered a thought on me that my gear is all set up for HBs on my LPs and others, it works quite well for the p90s, I think.

In the office/music room, my M-FX unit was at +1 out of 20 for input volume and +3 of 20 for Pressence. The volume number was higher when I played mt strat. In the room with the Blues Deluxe, the bright switch is on and pressence is 1/3rd the way up. all these settings were done to reduce the muddy from the HBs.

My MFX amp has treble at 4 out of what really is 9 (my 1 is 0) to reduce double pre-amp coloring. The stand alone blues Deluxe is set at 7 (out of 12 ) to boost the highs from my favorite HBs and has the brightness switch on some times. When I plug in the tele, the brightness is over the top.

I'm thinking of setting up a few patches with a different guitar withing my M-FX that'll let me play the Tele's more. I'm allowed 3 user guitar settings, but have never messed with it much beyond the frst one.

If I can, I tend to set up my gear for each guitar although I also try the settings in the others, even I try patches for guitars with the bass and vice versa. I say "if I can" because my guitar amp has only a volume knob. This time is easy!

I also use the knobs in the guitars. The volume also affects the tone, if you lower it, it sounds darker to me (or different). The tone knobs in the Epi LP practically do not modify the tone, so I use the pickups. As the tone knobs as the pickups in the Strat are very sensitive and I use different setting according the music I play.

Some people say they prefer single coils or humbuckers (or P-90's). Really I like all of them. And the same with the guitars. My complaints about the LP is the weight but I love how the neck vibrates when you play a open six strings chord! My Strat is wonderful. It seems it is made by a taylor for my body, it fits perfectly.

And I was playing a Tele this summer and it is "the" guitar. Very similar to my Strat but much simpler. I love the simple things. Great tones and great versatility. By the way, Vic is the responsible of my love to the Teles!

The tone knobs in the Epi LP practically do not modify the tone, so I use the pickups.
That's odd. My tone knobs to a ton in my epi. I'll crank the tone up from time to time. The volume knobs seems to do little in mine, but more than I've previously given them credit for. The right touch on the right amp/patch can do some wonderfully Jazzy tones.

I can play some 7th chords, especially minor-7th, on any clean amp setting on mine and they really sing out. Jazz-like. Even on the neck. for me, I expecially like the neck. I get no thin tones on the Epi, though. (whatever freq a thin tone is) Even when I am on the bridge and have the treble clocked. Everything on this guitar is thick or deep or dark to some extent. I've always favored that sound.

I've decided to go flat wound 11's on my Gretsch. They need changing anyhow and I have a set right in front of me.