Getting unhappy with sound of my guitar

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Product Reviews >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Munin

Posts: 595
Joined: Sep. 30 2008
From: Hong Kong

Getting unhappy with sound of my guitar

I have been getting increasingly unhappy with the sound of my guitar, a Sanchis Lopez 2F-05, of course a solid guitar to play but for some reason it is starting to sound annoyingly bright to me...I mean, I like the bite of a blanca but it's more about the sound of e.g. arpeggios. I think I have been bothered by it ever since I got my headphones, funnily enough - because I then practiced more with headphones on which would block the highest frequencies of the sound and for some strange reason, that sounds a lot more pleasing to me! I guess it's more akin to how a guitar would actually sound recorded on a professional studio album...

Still, once I take the headphones off and have the immediate comparison I am really annoyed by the bright percussiveness for a while. I just wonder whether there might be guitars which don't share that characteristic to that degree. I have to admit I have never played many other flamenco guitars extensively - and actually nothing but blancas - so I have little basis for judgment.

Anyone ever had a similar experience?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 27 2011 21:21:36

Munin

Posts: 595
Joined: Sep. 30 2008
From: Hong Kong

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

Er. Can somebody move this into Luthierie? Thanks.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 27 2011 21:23:06

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

yup.

do your trebles also sound thin?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 27 2011 21:34:35

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

-Wear your strings out. I love the dull sound of old strings actually.

-Take a day or 2 off from playing. This helps refresh my ears so I appreciate the guitar more when I come back to it. Also I usually come back with better technique and musicality.

-Get another guitar so you can alternate depending on your mood.

-Buy a luthier guitar so you can describe the sound you want

But your guitar is probably OK. Everybody needs some healthy variety.

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 27 2011 22:10:44

rombsix

Posts: 7807
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

quote:

Anyone ever had a similar experience?

Maybe she's reached that age where the hormones start going haywire...

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 27 2011 22:36:00

HolyEvil

Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

mate.. sell it and get another one if you're unhappy with the sound.
Just make sure you don't make too much of a loss and viola.. new guitar,
and get one from Andy, I really like his guitars.. =)
or the Shelton-Fererra(can't spell their names..oops), for 2k, which is freaking awesome.

We can't do anything to majorly change the sound of our guitars.. =(
new/different strings can only do so much.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 2:40:54

Munin

Posts: 595
Joined: Sep. 30 2008
From: Hong Kong

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to at_leo_87)

quote:

ORIGINAL: at_leo_87

yup.

do your trebles also sound thin?

The whole thing seems to sound thin to me lately. But again it is hard to play any other guitars for comparison where I live...have to try it out sometime though.

This is already with old strings BTW, with new strings it is a bit more bearable because the metallic sound of new basses is like a coat over the sound quality I mean.

Maybe it is just all in my head though....

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 5:29:10

XXX

Posts: 4400
Joined: Apr. 14 2005

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

I actually prefer the live sound of a guitar to any studio album, i also like live recordings more than studio ones. In studio recordings they mess too much with the sound IMO, change it too much (or its the gear). I have a feeling that they arent as "neutral" as live recordings or just live sound, without recording.

_____________________________

Фламенко

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 9:06:14

Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Munin

... it is hard to play any other guitars for comparison where I live...

You could take a ride to Freiburg and visit Johannes Inhoffen. He has a big shop all stuffed with flamencas.
It would provide you quite an overview on flamenco guitars.
- And Freiburg is a sunny place with nice historical ambience.

Ruphus

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 13:54:27

bule_b

Posts: 65
Joined: Mar. 11 2009

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

A luthier made guitar is NOT guaranteed to satisfy you.
Each luthier is heavily influenced by what they like to hear/play.

Even amongst the luthiers here (Andy Culpepper, Faulk, Tsiorba, Eliasson, Shelton-Farretta) there is considerable variation as each luthier has his own distinctive sound.

So ignore these blanket statements that advise you to immediately order a luthier guitar, its really not that simple.

Best is to go and try some guitars in a flamenco store so you can hear the differences. After that you can make a more informed decision on how to proceed.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 16:46:39

Munin

Posts: 595
Joined: Sep. 30 2008
From: Hong Kong

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Ruphus)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ruphus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Munin

... it is hard to play any other guitars for comparison where I live...

You could take a ride to Freiburg and visit Johannes Inhoffen. He has a big shop all stuffed with flamencas.
It would provide you quite an overview on flamenco guitars.
- And Freiburg is a sunny place with nice historical ambience.

Ruphus

Unfortunately I live in Hong Kong now, not Germany, and apart from individuals there isn't really an option like that around here - maybe you could find a few factory models in the music shops if you look hard but that is about it...so I have to depend on trying other guitarists' guitars or when I am in Spain/Germany again, but won't be back for a while

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 17:54:49

Argaith

Posts: 481
Joined: May 6 2009
From: Iran (living in London)

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

I also have a Sanchis Lopez 2F-05. I selected mine two years ago among the few guitars of the same model in their workshop/factory! I then sent the poor David Sanchiz a few times to customise the action to my liking. The result was a very nice guitar that even impressed my teacher a lot and unlike you I get happier and happier with it everyday, perhaps because I am improving (hopefully) and learing how to get a better sound out of her.

At the end of the day, a guitar that sounds fantastic to ones ear may sound bad to someone elses ear.

Or may be you just fancy changing your guitar and need to convince yourself

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 19:26:37

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

quote:

The whole thing seems to sound thin to me lately. But again it is hard to play any other guitars for comparison where I live...have to try it out sometime though.

This is already with old strings BTW, with new strings it is a bit more bearable because the metallic sound of new basses is like a coat over the sound quality I mean.

Maybe it is just all in my head though....

i went through the same thing with my old guitar. changing hand position helped but it was always an uphill battle.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 28 2011 23:06:16

Ramon Amira

Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City

RE: Getting unhappy with sound of my... (in reply to Munin)

Before you start going to buy a new guitar, you might think about simply changing the strings. Many of the modern formulation strings have a bright but horribly metallic sound. Possibly a totally different kind of string will ameliorate whatever is bothering you about the sound.

You might try something completely different. Try La Bella Rectified Nylon trebles. They're bright, but they have a softer, sweeter sound, and might possibly solve your problem. It's at least worth a try. Strings By Mail sells them as just a treble set, and in four tensions.

Ramon

_____________________________

Classical and flamenco guitars from Spain Ramon Amira Guitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 29 2011 14:45:08