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  #46  
Old 05-23-2017, 11:14 AM
blacknblues blacknblues is offline
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Much depends on the type of music you play. I play mostly country blues and rag so I want a fundamental tone with a quick decay and mahogany guitars lend themselves very well to this type of music. If I were playing Celtic DADGAD, I might want the overtones that rosewood provides to add a depth and richness to this type of music. YMMV of course.
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  #47  
Old 05-23-2017, 11:21 AM
brianmay brianmay is offline
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Wow, being a humble Brit, I can only take my hat off to all you guys.

I wouldn't know an overtone if I tripped over it. Both my guitars are EIR and I love the sound irrespective of what flavour of strings I put on them. Some sound better than others to my hearing (and only my opinion counts . . . to me).

So I guess my 'overtones' are okay if only to my untutored, damaged (aircraft engines) hearing.

Things you learn eh?
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  #48  
Old 05-23-2017, 08:24 PM
Sir El84 Sir El84 is offline
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I had been playing Mahogany Gibsons for the last few years before getting a new D28. In short order, the Martin started to become almost too grating and confusing to my ears that had become accustomed to that dry hog sound. It didn’t help matters that the Martin was also much louder.

Well I stuck with it and slowly my ears started getting used to the harmonic swirl of rosewood.
I wouldn’t underestimate the value of finding the right brand of strings. I always preferred Martin SP PB’s over D’Addario bc to my ears the D’Addarios had somewhat less going on. So far, that has been just the ticket, although I’m sure there are much more mellow strings out there -
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  #49  
Old 05-23-2017, 08:32 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Rosewood back guitars do not have too many overtones for me. But this is very much a matter of taste. I have about a dozen acoustic guitars and only two of them are mahogany, the rest rosewood. So I like rosewood.

- Glenn
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  #50  
Old 05-23-2017, 08:54 PM
Johan Madsen Johan Madsen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ii Cybershot ii View Post
I find that many rosewood guitars simply have too many overtones going on for my ears. The only way I can describe it is like an un-easiness in listening. It's just a little too overwhelming at times.

Anyone else have this experience?
I can handle the overtones but I really dislike rosewood's kind of metallic trebles, don't like its scooped mids either.
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  #51  
Old 05-23-2017, 09:59 PM
GGSanders GGSanders is offline
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I have two rosewood steel string guitars, and I love the way they sound. One, just over 40 y/o almost sounds[I]too[I] lush, however, so A while back I tried 80/20 bronze strings in place of the PB I'd been using for so many years. After a day or two it lost the metallic jangle and tamed the overtones a bit. I tried PB strings on it several times since, and each time pulled them within a couple days. So, if your rosewood guitar has a bit too much of a good thing, give another alloy string a try.
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  #52  
Old 05-24-2017, 03:55 AM
bluetweed bluetweed is offline
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Mahogany for me all the way. The overtones in Rosewood just seem to get in the way for me. I came from playing Tele for years where you can get anything the hands tell the guitar to do quickly with all type of nuance.
I think Mahogany is less forgiving with more rewards and tone if you can really work it. I also think there are more avenues of tone to explore.

In the electric world Mahogany would be Tele like and Rosewood Les Paul-335 like.
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  #53  
Old 05-24-2017, 09:32 AM
macmanmatty macmanmatty is offline
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I LOVE rosewood, and osage orange, and black locust. That aside rosewood is not for everyone . It has LOTS of ovretones. But, I like the overtones, and because of all the over tones rosewood guitars and similar woods( osage orange, black locust ect.), are killer for open tunings. Open D or G will sound much sweeter with rosewood then maple or mahogany.
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  #54  
Old 05-24-2017, 10:02 AM
sdelsolray sdelsolray is offline
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I have guitars with different ratios of fundamental and overtone presence. I like them all.

As to rosewood inherently creating more overtones, I agree with that in a limited sense. Other factors have a much greater influence on the fundamental/overtone ratio, such as the body shape, top design (e,g. bracing and thickness), the top wood used and, of course, the luthier.
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  #55  
Old 05-24-2017, 10:36 AM
amyFB amyFB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mbroady View Post
Nice to have the option. Sometimes I love overtones sometimes I don't
I didn't even know they existed until I spent time here at AGF and got some ideas about what to listen for.

My way to describe the overtones of rosewood is that it is like having the sustain pedal 'on' all the time. For me, it seems easier to palm mute the sustain on a rosewood guitar, than it is to add sustain on a mahogany guitar without also adding some gear.

I don't have a 'hog guitar so I might be missing something that others know.
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  #56  
Old 05-24-2017, 11:15 AM
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MichaelD23 MichaelD23 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by macmanmatty View Post
I LOVE rosewood, and osage orange, and black locust. That aside rosewood is not for everyone . It has LOTS of ovretones. But, I like the overtones, and because of all the over tones rosewood guitars and similar woods( osage orange, black locust ect.), are killer for open tunings. Open D or G will sound much sweeter with rosewood then maple or mahogany.
Aha. First love I've seen on this forum for Osage Orange, an excellent tonewood I'd have never considered if not for the suggestion and demonstration by luthier Steve Novelli. It's a rich complex tonewood that I'm considering for an upcoming 00 custom build. As kids, we used to chuck their lime-green brainlike fruits at each other as hard as we could; lucky no one got brained (or maybe I did!!) Who'd have thought that the somewhat common Osage Orange weed tree (also known as Monkey Apple in the midwest) would prove to be so valuable? And, yes, rich in overtones (trying not to hijack the thread) that make my eardrums happy. Surprised to find so many hog lovers on AGF; I'd expected the ratio to be reversed. In my herd, I have 5 rosewood guitars, 1 mahogany, 1 sapele (almost a hog!), 1 koa, and 1 wild cherry 12-string. Lots of variety, lots of different sounds, lots of different songs to play on them all!
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  #57  
Old 05-24-2017, 11:39 AM
TheShadowKnows TheShadowKnows is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
I don't mind a little rosewood overtone color but, there is a limit. When the overtones drown out the fundamental notes, that is the guitar is telling me it is overbuilt and more suitable for bar fights than making music!
Personally, I'd use a blonde Telecaster for bar fights. Could probably stop bullets too! ...and maybe play 'better' afterwards!
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  #58  
Old 05-24-2017, 11:52 AM
TheShadowKnows TheShadowKnows is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscmp View Post
no, not at all. i have a variety of guitars with different body styles, top and, back and side woods. they all sound great and i don't notice that with any of them.

i'd suggest changing your strings. or, if you just changed them, let them settle.

as with everything on the agf, it is all subjective.

play music!
I tried that with my new Martin MMV-GC & put 80-20's on it & it barely brightened up. I really hated that 'wet blanket' tone it gave me. It was a 2016 model with ebony board n bridge. I tried 2 others same model at GC & they all sounded the same. As much as I loved that guitar & wanted it to work for my style, it just didn't. It had a spruce top with rosewood B&S, full lacquer finish.

On the flip side to this story, I scored a Martin DSR-GC & that took the cake!
Same specs as the MMV (same bracing too) but with a full satin finish & rosewood board & bridge. Bright, sparklie, cuts through the mix tone! It was about $800 less (used) than the new MMV & already had 5 years playing time on it.

I'm very happy with that model, so it's hard to say about rosewood builds. Is it the finish? The build? Your playing environment? I play in my bathroom sometimes. Has mirrors all around. Sounds great! Then I take it out to the large bedroom & the volume / loudness drops off drastically. YMMV.
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