Did Some Personal Geetar Comparisons...

[shreddermon]

So I took Friday off, and finally got some time to crank my full set-up, which I haven't done in a while. Having recently gotten a couple of new axes, I decided to do some "A vs. B" comparisons of a few of my guitars. At the end, I was pretty surprised by the differences. A lot more pronounced than I would've expected...

The "Tone Monsters"

In terms of tone, there were three guitars that sounded flat out huge, and with a very "natural" tone and resonance.

My EVH was one. I know there are a lot of naysayers on basswood bodies, but I've been converted. Is it the greatest wood for long-term durability? Probably not, too soft for that. But it sure does sound fuckin' GREAT. Loud, open and very "natural" sounding tone. Lots of mids. I think the pickup deserves a lot of credit, too. Wished they would make it available for sale, actually. And it cleans up in a really amazing and unique way with just a little dialing back of the volume knob. This guitar also feels a little "loose" compared to some others, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Like broken-in type loose. An familiar old friend-like loose.

My new PC1 was another. This didn't surprise me, though, as I used to have another PC1 and was expecting it. The mahogany body/quilt maple cap & maple/maple neck is just a killer set of specs. Again, open and natural sounding. Lots of lower mids. IMHO, the Super3 is a really great pickup. This guitar felt medium "tight", and has a steller set-up. The sustainer is a pretty cool gimmick, too. I really wish they made a non-sustainer version, too - maybe in unique solid colors only? - so I could justify buying a second one. Best of the USA Jackson line, IMHO.

GMP Pawn Shop. A totally different animal than my others. Huge sounding in a dark, low-toned kind of way. Think juiced up Les Paul. Tons of sustain. Mine's got a SD Custom / '59 set, which fits real nicely with the chambered mahogany/maple cap set-up. If you ever get the chance to play one, do so. These guitars kick ass.

The "Bad Asses"

My JB Orange Charvel. This was the "tightest" feeling guitar of all. It just felt like every part and screw was done with super-fine precision. This one is an alder-bodied hum-single set-up (Custom / Classic Stacked), and was the straight-up rock & roll machine of the bunch. A "player's" guitar - it does it all-type versatility, and extremely well. Also feels like it brings a little bit of an extra "edge" to the table.

My Zebra Charvel. Hands-down the appearance whore. About as tight feeling as the Orange, but it's even more of a bad ass. HSS, but they're more powerful pickups (Dimarzio Evolution & VV Blues). Much more powerful, actually. In fact, this guitar has so much gain and harmonics (even in SC mode with clean tones!), that it requires dialing back some of your amp/effects settings. The are the kind of pickups that like to drive an amp harder - less natural toned, more compression and distortion class. The VV Blues are a nice output match to the Evolution. Think distorted SRV. Overall, a little over the top tone-wise, but that's what I wanted. It matches the visual appearance.

Anyone else done this recently? What did you find? It was a cool experiment. I mean, I expected to hear/feel a lot of differences. But I was pretty shocked at the large range of them. It's probably not something I would ordinarily notice just using one or two guitars at a time.

I'll probably do it with the rest of my personal stash, when I get some more spare time without the kids again. That probably won't be for a few more months.

[gtrbuyer]

great post...I just grabbed me a EVH and I am looking forward to A/B'ing it against some of my originals.

When you A/B ar eyou keeping the amp settings constant?

[jackson1]

Nice write up, thanks. Pics of your zebra Charvel, please.

[shreddermon]

When you A/B ar eyou keeping the amp settings constant?

Yes, same for all guitars. But not just one - I used a bunch of different patches for effects, etc. So maybe it would be more accurate to say that I used the same SET of settings. A core of about a dozen of them.

[RacerX]

Yeah, I'd rather have you come over to my house and run my collection, as I'm not as knowledgeable on describing tones.

[shreddermon]

Nice write up, thanks. Pics of your zebra Charvel, please.

Prior thread on the zebra, with pics:

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53335

And Ron, I'm by no means a tone expert. Just general observations to my unedumicated ear.

[jackson1]

Ah sorry shreddermon, i've of course seen your zebra before. I've drooled over it for days. I had forgotten it was yours.

[jgcable]

I've done that recently. Out of all my humbuckered guitars the 3 that stand out the most when my Soldano is cranked are:

1992 Washburn N2 with the stock Lawrence L500 in the bridge. It absolutely nails the 80's metal tone

1994 Fender Mexi-strat, maple/maple board loaded with Seymour Duncan Duckbuckers. Super clear and punchy. A joy to play with fantastic controllable sustain.

2000+ Allparts strat, maple/maple board loaded with Carvin H60 stacked single coil sized humbuckers. Again.. super clear and punchy with just the right amount of sustain.

I have come to the conclusion that I like the way stacked humbuckers sound better than the side by side traditional style.
If my strats had more than 21 frets I would play them exclusively.

[shreddermon]

I have come to the conclusion that I like the way stacked humbuckers sound better than the side by side traditional style.

You know, I used to hate traditional strat-style 3 SC routed guitars. But ever since getting a Charvel Traditional, and loading the bridge position with a hotter PU (Dimarzio Fast Track2), I've really come to love them. I think that's the key for me: I just need something semi hot in the bridge position - but not necessarily a full-sized humbucker - to round it out for better flexibility. It's a real nice change of pace when you're looking for something different.

[sully]

....jeff beck orange charvel? pix please.

[shreddermon]

....jeff beck orange charvel? pix please.

You've probably seen it before, Sully. Given the multiple pic requests, I'll throw a visual reference up for each of them...

[sully]

ah yes....thanks! i tell ya, the jeff beck orange soloist would have made a sweet JCF edition. then again, i guess a special batch of them could happen on its own...

[shreddermon]

Actually Sully, at the time, that's what I was considering ordering. But I really wanted a new Charvie, too. So, I thought "what if JB played Charvies instead"? And that's what I ordered.

[hippietim]

When you A/B ar eyou keeping the amp settings constant?

Hmm...I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I get the value of doing that for comparing guitars to determine relative volume and bright/dark differences. But if you are trying to compare them for best tone/feel I would think you'd want to do your best to dial in the amp to get the guitar to sound it's best.

Like plugging a Telecaster into a rig that's dialed in for a Les Paul is very likely going to sound shrill.

[jgcable]

The biggest difference between my guitars is comparing passive pickups to actives. My guitars with EMG's sound totally different and all my amps have to be re-eq'd for them. The EMG equipt guitars (18v systems) are all brighter with more bottom and an unusual midrange that gives them a unique voicing regardless of what guitar they are in.
I have found that EMG's make alot of my guitars sound the same as each other.

I decided to crank up my Soldano now that its home for a last go around before I put it up on Ebay.

My Soldano sounds better with guitars with moderate output pickups. With high output pickups it tends to compress a little forcing me to dial the gain down a little. With low to medium gain pickups like HS-3's, Duckbuckers, Carvin H60's the Soldano sounds much more open and articulate.
I decided to keep the Soldano. It looks good in my TV room.