The Steel Guitar Forum

where is the original clip?

Make it easy on yourself and mouth the mantra: All steel guitars sound alike.

This is the clip: http://www.box.net/shared/yi7sn7ellb .

This is the thread in which it appeared: Guitar tone comparison.

b0b wrote:There is so much echo and reverb that it's hard to isolate the actual guitar sound. The effects are as loud as the original signal.

Over a year and a half later, that's still what it sounds like to me: a heavily-processed recording that tends to homogenize and obscure rather than allowing individual tone character to shine through.

Still, it's an interesting game, and the effort Darvin put into it is appreciated.

I hope you mean all guitars in this clip. If you really believe that is true in the real world, you have to be tone deaf.

bob

Jeff Evans wrote:

where is the original clip?

Make it easy on yourself and mouth the mantra: All steel guitars sound alike.

This is the clip: http://www.box.net/shared/yi7sn7ellb .

This is the thread in which it appeared: Guitar tone comparison.

b0b wrote:There is so much echo and reverb that it's hard to isolate the actual guitar sound. The effects are as loud as the original signal.

Over a year and a half later, that's still what it sounds like to me: a heavily-processed recording that tends to homogenize and obscure rather than allowing individual tone character to shine through.

Still, it's an interesting game, and the effort Darvin put into it is appreciated.

Bob S.....If you would like to make a fair and unbiased tone/sound comparison, you might consider trying the following:

1. Chose as many different brands of guitars you want to compare.

2. Be sure each has the same tuning .

3. When comparing guitars, use the same volume pedal and cables .

4. Play the same thing (licks) on all guitars WITHOUT using pedals or knee levers. (pedal noise may vary, and could contaminate a “tone” comparison)

5. Set the amp of your favorite sounding guitar so as to get the tone/sound you prefer, then make a note of the final amp settings on a note pad.

6. Adjust the amp to each of the other guitars so that, in the opinion of those who are making the comparison, each of the guitars sounds as close to the preferred guitar as possible.

7. The player must also note the final amp setting of each guitar, so that when swapping guitars around during comparison, the sound of each guitar is matched to the previously assigned amp settings of the other guitars.

8. All who wish to participate in the comparison will also need a note pad.

9. During the comparison, the one playing the guitars (or preferably someone else) to make note of the playing sequence of the guitars, as will those who are making the comparison evaluation of each guitar played.

10. At times during the comparison, the player should take the same amount of time necessary as though switching guitars, yet again play the same guitar.

11. THOSE WHO WISH TO MAKE THE COMPARISON MUST “NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE WHICH GUITAR IS BEING PLAYED”.

12. As each guitar is played, a sequence record of the guitars being played is to be kept by the player, AND those making the comparisons.

13. After the comparisons are completed, I believe it would prove interesting were different people to play the same guitar and everyone listen how differently it can sound when played by different players .

on different days my mullen sd 10 rp sounds different to me some days it sounds fine other days it sounds awful i suspect it is me and not my steel or amp i think its sometimes the players mood most steels i hear sound fine

Well Mike you're no different than most of us. Someday everyone will probably find tone as being totally subjective, not objective, and if that's true it's going to be very difficult to prove "Inherent Tone Relative to A Certain Brand Guitar".

I've already failed the MSA test as well as several better players than I. Julie Tharpe for one and I was there.


phred.

I don't trust my ears anymore. They are old and their frequency response varies from day to day, even hour to hour. Sad but true.

yeah bob and fred its sad but true my ears dont work like they use to neither do my hands and mind but one way to look at it every day we age so does everyone else we just may not be around to see the youngsters get old and deaf

Mike Bowles wrote:we just may not be around to see the youngsters get old and deaf

I believe some of them are well on their way to being deaf. (probably the same thing some old person said about me when I was in my teens--God forbid!)

The best test would be to ask young girls between the ages of 10 and 15 because they have good hearing and they buy most of the CD's..look at the Justin Bieber CD sales...also they are not subjective..then let the chips fall where they may. To make the test really good play the same song using the top steel brands, same amp and VP, no effects, same steel player and about 100 people in the test group...BTW, I thought Guitar #3 was the best because of the way it handled the highs and kept the lows nice, clear and clean but that's OMHO.

Hey Mike and Doug, I think we're seeing them go deaf every time one of those cars with the trunk full of sub woofers go by. In my day, car music came from a set of headers, a lumpy camshaft, and the Beach Boys!! John

Brad,

Whats a Beiber?


Sorry couldn't resist, I just saw the Superbowl ad with Ozzy.

Clete

John Robel wrote:Hey Mike and Doug, I think we're seeing them go deaf every time one of those cars with the trunk full of sub woofers go by. In my day, car music came from a set of headers, a lumpy camshaft, and the Beach Boys!! John

Add cherry bombs and my 8-track of Linda Ronstadt turned way up on the Blue Bayou steel solo! Those were the good ol days.

i dont know what a bieber is but i gotta go to my barber today yes i hear a lot of cars go by they rattle the windows in our house im sure they will pay for this in later life i worked in the coal mines for 30 yrs around a lot of noisey equiptment it had a lot of effect

Doug, could we hijack this post!!!

it looks like you already have.

Sorry b0b, it wasnt my intention! John

Sorry bOb, I got off track.

To help bring it back, I know that I would have difficulty telling one guitar from another, just as I did in the sound clip. I could tell the 4th steel had a little brighter tone, but that's it. I figured I would be surprised to find out which guitar that was, just because I felt it would have been too easy had that been the PP. I tend to not necessarily listen to the tone as much as listen to the player, their style and how tasteful the notes are that are being played. I don't really care what effects are being used, but I can listen to good playing all day long.