Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Emerson
That’s a perfect example of artists/players using the sonic limitations of inexpensive instruments in their best light.
It’s proof that context is paramount.
It’s also a common reason for runs, ie buying sprees, on guitars that were often ignored by anyone with even a modest budget.
The disappointment is no surprise, of course, because too many listeners think “If I had that guitar I’d have that sound!”
David Rawlings all over again.
Regards,
Howard Emerson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Driftless
The pressed archtops, birch guitars, and ladder braced flat tops are all in a similar category of "sonic limitation". If you want to just strum cowboy chords and hear a choir of angels, they will not be for you.
But whether intended or not by their makers, they have useful sounds. The dry plinky fundamental is very useful in the hands of musicians who know what to do with it, and what context to put it in.
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These two arguments sum up my conundrum. I have "sonically limited" archtop, my Godin 5th Avenue. And I have to say that I have really enjoyed playing and singing with it in that sparse Carter style kind of way. And Travis picking on it with thumb and finger picks. But I also love the richness of my flat top, albeit a 000 size spruce top with cherry plywood b/s.
I have some money for a new guitar, and I really don't know what to get. I think that a vintage birch archtop would work for me for the open mic's and sessions I play around home. But something like a Martin D-18 or Gibson J45 or even an LG2 would also work.