McPherson Sable _- Standard, Basketweave, or Honey Comb ?
 

Anyone have a chance to play all three top styles available on the McPherson Sable - Standard, Basketweave, and Honey Comb ?

Did you notice any difference between them sound-wise ?
I heard that the Basketweave has less of a scooped mid-range than the other two, which I take to mean that it is more balanced across all six strings.

Have yet to see and play one of these guitars and it is tough to make a judgement based on listening to on-line video/audio clips, even using headphones.

Thanks.

I would find it very hard to believe that Mcpherson would allow thier sables to have a variance in acoustical sound properties solely for the purpose of offering a few different patterns of weave on their tops .The properties of carbon fiber are very different than wood thus the top thickness , bracing and resin hardness are the most important factors in determining top resonant frequencies....From everything ive read on this forum , and internet along with my personal experience with my sable , this companies stringent quality control policy wouldnt allow this to be true.....If it were Mcpherson definitely would be aware of it and market the basket weave as a tonal variation

Here’s a quote from Justin working for Mcpherson. I asked about the tonal differences a few months ago:

« The standard top and honeycomb top sound the same, but the basket weave has slightly more midrange, and seems a touch louder to me. I like the sound more personally.

It’s a very minimal difference however.»

It must be very minimal but I would still not believe it unless I heard it for myself or a side by side comparison is done in a controlled environment using several test guitars....Sorry no disrespect to justin just my skeptical nature based on many years experience of various manufacturing processes.

I seem to recall either hearing in a youtube video directly involving a McPherson employee or reading from a McPherson factory source (interview, article, or directly on their site), that the material for their tops comes from some place in Germany. That same source talked about how the top is layered. It might have just been the honeycomb top. If I can find that source, I will post a link here.

Anyway, I also recall reading Tøf's post quoting Justin some time ago and thinking that if the tops are layered and made somewhat differently, then I could see there being some sonic variation.

Fortunately, I like my honeycomb topped Sable just fine, so it is a non-issue for me other than fodder for forum discussion. :)

Edit: So far, I have not found that reference to the tops being made in Germany. Until either I or somebody else here does, please take that statement with a grain of salt. I could well be mistaken on that.

Tony

I find this subject very interesting and would love to get a definitive answer but doubt it will be possible because there are just too many variables and questions that we wont be able to get answered unless one of us gets a job at Mcpherson....Tony im looking to retire in a few years so I guess its gonna have to be you...Try and get at least a few weeks paid vacation and christmas off.:)

Weeelll, Ed, I hate to break it to ya, but I am already retired and other than a short term engineering contract here and there, I really have no desire to go back to work. Even that is probably coming to an end too.

I suspect one of us could email Justin and ask him about the tops. I have emailed him in the past and he seems responsive.

Tony

Geez,...you would of thought i asked you to cut off your picking hand for cryin out loud...you only have to work there for a few weeks maybe...just find out the mass , density,resin hardness, thickness, and do a few tensile strength comparisons between the standard and basketweave...not a big deal although you may have to skip a few lunch breaks to get it done in a timely manner for us to be happy with you.... Think of all our smiling faces here on this thread if that helps :)

Could this be construed as encouraging industrial espionage? Are we all accomplices by reading here? I am too pretty to go back to jail.

(Cue the theme to Mission Impossible)

Any engineer worth his or her salt ought to be able to get inside, get all that information, and be out before lunch break without the company ever knowing.

Unfortunately, I am not that good. :eek:

Tony

See....I knew I had the right man for the job!!!!..you may get fired but you wont care!

We are all busted. I suspect that those of us who already own either a Sable or Touring (or both!!!), will get a lighter sentence such as house arrest so we can continue to play. The rest, well I wouldn't want to even think about it. :evilgrin:

Tony

Just to get back on topic a little bit...Your best bet is to go play one and listen with your own ears regardless of which top it has...the guitar itself has very unique tonal properties and playability that you will either like or not based on your style of play....The possible tonal difference between a standard or basketweave wont sway you one way or the other because you may not hear it with your ears...I personally didnt like the look of the basketweave so I ruled it out as a choice and didnt care what it sounded like.....I bought my sable without ever have played one and its probably the best choice ive made in my entire life and Ive had a lot of nice guitars over the years.

My choice for the tops on both my Sables and Tourings was the honeycomb. I don't much care for the other choices of top. I also opted for the gold package with the EVO frets. The only tops on McPhersons that I ever saw in person were the honeycomb and whatever the "raw" top is called. I have never cared for the look of raw carbon fiber, so the choice was easy for me. The basket weave came along after I already had purchased my guitars. I wouldn't doubt that there might be other top designs at some point in the future.

Tony

I lean toward the Standard, but if another great deal shows up with the other tops, I like the well enough to own them.