Many of you have been asking me the comparison between the 00 and the Mod-D. I tried to capture the differences in the soundcloud and also my mini assessment of the 00.
Lets talk about the Mod-D.
I've had my Mod-D for over 2 years now. Sometimes its not fair comparing the two. I remember I had a discussion with Kevin Ryan when commissioning my Cathedral wondering if I should deepen the body like the signature Bensusan he had at that time. He mentioned that as a guitar ages, there is a maturity in the bass. Many could perceive that there is a deepening in the bass as a guitar ages, this can all be part of the opening up process. My Mod-D certainly has matured in the short time that I've had it, and it defintiely is bassy! When I commissioned it, I asked Jason to focus on a very deep haunting tone and a thunderous bass found in a Somogyi I played.
Some remember this picture when I commissioned my Mod-D. Jason held the wood up to my ear to play around with tap tones and I remember this set was the one that rang the most:
I strung them both up with the same strings (D'addario EXP phos bronze bluegrass). I'm not a bluegrass player, but I had two sets around the house so I wanted to compare them with the same strings. The bluegrass seem to be in between Mediums and Lights.
So the Mod-D is bassy, boomy, big, versatile, the list goes on and on. But what about the differences? Upon first pick at both when they were side by side, the 00 was louder! How can this be? A small body being louder? While the 00 sounder louder, the Mod-D sounded bigger. This shows that its not always the bigger guitar that is the loudest guitar.
I'm not saying the Mod-D isn't loud, but lets just say the little guitar moves less air so its projecting that air out fast! It definitely has better projection than the bigger guitar. Being a little confused, I asked Jason what was going on here.
Of course he doesn't give me an easy answer and says there are so many variables! One thing you read here on AGF every now and then is about action vs. volume. Some say that if you reduce the action, you can get less volume. I think I'm experiencing that first hand here. Earlier this year, I was able to meet with Kenny Marshall. He used to work at Zion guitars as their neck specialist. I had his set up my guitar to my liking which is extremely low action and when drop tuned, I'll get a tiny buzz, which I like (well, the guitar will buzz, not me!) Some say that Tony is a set up specialist and after having him set up a few of my guitars, I believe it!
One slight side effect for low action would be a little loss in volume. But its not necessarily about the action itself, but everything that is involved in a setup. Even down to the break angle at the bridge. Jason said that he tends to have his action low, but not as low as I like it. One reason is that within the first year or so of a guitars life, it will adjust and acclimate to the climate where the guitar will live. Things will shift and things will move. And not everyone likes super low action!
So in comparison, the two guitars are very different, yet sound so much a like. When listening to the recording, you can tell its the same maker. You can hear that Kostal signature tone. I asked Jason about his thoughts, he probably said it best by saying that the 00 wasn't built to compete with the Mod-D. Nor was it built to compete with his OM. Its just a different guitar! He aimed to build a small guitar that would sound surprisingly bigger than it seems. He even deepened the body a hair to achieve his results.
What I learned again from this comparison is that the bigger guitar will not necessarily be the louder guitar! The 00 will give you the focused balanced tone with great mids, thick trebles, and great projection. The Mod-D will give you that haunting bass and big big cavernous sound, but at the ame time keep the balance (weird, I know!). My question now will be if I put darker strings on the 00 and brighter stings on the Mod-D, how would they compare? Its madness I tell you! But the process of playing such fine guitars is certainly fun and an enjoyable journey!
