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what makes a guitar so great?
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3464
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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 RE: what makes a guitar so great? (in reply to mmenk)
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quote:
Is a great guitar made, or is it discovered by a musician?
The two possibilities you put forth above are not necessarily mutually exclusive. A great guitar can be made, and then be discovered and appreciated by a musician. Nevertheless, I think I know what you are driving at.
A great guitar is made. It may be played by a musician who has the ability to bring out its finest qualities, or it may be played by a mediocre player who is not up to the level of the guitar. In either case, the brilliant qualities are inherent in the guitar; they are not dependent upon the level of ability of the guitarist. That some guitarists may bring out those brilliant qualities better than others says everything about the guitarist's ability, not the inherent brilliance of the guitar.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 25 2016 12:32:53
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julianev
Posts: 78
Joined: Apr. 13 2015
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RE: what makes a guitar so great? (in reply to BarkellWH)
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quote:
It may be played by a musician who has the ability to bring out its finest qualities, or it may be played by a mediocre player who is not up to the level of the guitar.
On a related point, is it possible for a great guitar to sound mediocre unless played by a great guitarist? I ask as I recently had the chance to play some top name guitars that were being auctioned off as part of a collectors estate. I thought I'd go to the public viewing as I've been frequently intrigued by the descriptions of Felipe V Condes, Gerundinos etc on this forum: as a relative newcomer to flamenco, they always made me wonder what a top guitar must sound and play like. To my great surprise, I was somewhat underwhelmed. There was a heavily played 1960s 1a Ramirez which sounded lovely - deep basses, singing trebles and warm open tone, plus a Felipe V Conde blanca which was also fantastic. However there were 3 other Felipe V Condes, plus some 1990s Gerundinos, other Ramirez, etc none of which sounded much better than my Bernal Sueno (dare I say it).
Some explanations that occured to me are:
1. I'm not good enough to make the other guitars sound good (no idea whether this is possible/common, or whether great guitars generally sound great regardless of player?)
2. My ear has become accustomed to what my guitar sounds like and initially dislikes anything too different (that said, the 1a Ramirez didn't sound too much like my Bernal so maybe not such a factor)?
3. The guitars might have been sat in their cases for ages without being played. I know from previous discussions on here that this can be a factor, but could it fundamentally impact the sound of the guitar temporarily - or is it a matter of a few % points in tonal difference?
Thoughts?
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 25 2016 13:31:32
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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RE: what makes a guitar so great? (in reply to mmenk)
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It´s like Ricardo mentioned above.
Humidity conditons can have dramatic effect, and some guitars are specially prone (depending on values on assembly and mass, I think).
Once had a Burguet sent to me by cab on a rainy day. It had been away only 2 or 3 days.
Changed to no recogniition, totally dull and lifeless. As the dealer had put on new strings I tore them off in desperation and exchanged them, not aware of the actual cause.
The extreme opposite (of low RH values) years later with a Ramirez that an idiot of cab driver had put into the trunk in the summer heat of well above 40° C, with a common low air humidity of 30% here and that at burning sunshine and traffic jam on a ~ 1 hour trip to my house.
The guitar was totally dried out and even the strings deformed from heat. Yet, me couldn´t believe it to be the cause for the guitars total dumb being.
Sat down and wrote a raging letter to the seller in Europe. Luckily without sending it out right away.
A while later, after humidification the axe managed to recover (which bordered on a miracle) and turned out to be a gem. We are talking real day & night differences.
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I am aware to have mentioned these examples several times, repeating them for thinking it to be about clues worth for everyone to note about (who hasn´t already consciously experienced such).
From there, when you check out a guitar, it is always worth to find out what values there are at the place the instrument is being presented.
I have seen bad humidity values even in specialized guitar stores. (With fret wires sticking out et al.)
The conditions then can lead to disappointing impressions on guitars otherwise performing drastically different.
Taking them home for some days on trial under moderate climate can reveal originally unexpected characteristics. And you can count with them improving even further over the course of weeks and months, depending on how badly deranged they were.
Make sure to acclimatize them moderately in their case!
Ruphus
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 26 2016 4:37:09
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