Looks for- Acoustic with Growl

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by richie0801

Hi GearslutZ!

I am looking for an acoustic guitar with growl, especially one that will be good for songs with drop d tuning. So something that has growl but also adds to those kinds of bass heavy, round chord tones.

Any recommendations?

Martin D-28/HD-28/HD-28V or any variation of the D-28;

Taylor 818E

[tippy5]

I'd find a broken in J45 Rosewood. Short scale with 13's and a hard right hand.

[rct]

Originally Posted by drive-south

Growl comes from the player not the guitar.

I agree with you completely. But I can't growl my M-36, it will break up and crap out before it will growl.

rct

[duluthdan]

I have to agree with HatchettJack. Martin HD-35 to HD-28. I owned them both and you could really make them rumble with anger.

[rick-slo]

Growl I associate with blues which I associate with L00 guitar shapes which I associate with my Colling C10. Others may associate otherwise.

[Steve DeRosa]

Guild F-50R...

[J Patrick]

...i think many of us know growl when we hear it...but there are many different sounding growls...this based on my keen powers of observation and the many dogs i've owned...

...a growl may be loud harsh and menacing....or low soft and sometimes even peaceful....or anything between those two extremes....i like a guitar that can play the full range of growls...

...playing style is half the equation and the guitar is the other half....for that half.. a small bodied lightly built instrument works best for me...scale length is not that important to me...i personally have to adjust my touch to each individual guitar i play but the growl is usually there to be found....for me its usually just a skosh past the sweet spot on any given guitar....

[Warrenaines]

Originally Posted by Montesdad

Can someone please define 'growl' ?

I've heard the term used, sometimes with a Martin referenced, but haven't a clue what it might sound like.

Perhaps a heavy bass rumbling?

Curious as well, though I've usually heard the term more with Gibsons. Are we talking about bass rumbling? Midrange when attacked fairly hard, particularly with the upstrums? Both? Neither?

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by Warrenaines

Curious as well, though I've usually heard the term more with Gibsons. Are we talking about bass rumbling? Midrange when attacked fairly hard, particularly with the upstrums? Both? Neither?

... i would say its more about the attack on the midrange....especially lower midrange.....but its really about when the top of the guitar is starting to vibrate as much as it can without losing its sonic integrity...often referred to as "washing out".....some guitars are simply not built lightly enough for this to occur and the strings wash out before the top can...

[justonwo]

I associate growl with mahogany, I guess. To me, growl comes from the mids, but it's a pretty "poetic" description of tone. If you want bass with growl, I would recommend some kind of 000-12 Martin with mahogany back and sides. If you really want headroom, get an adi top.

[DHillshafer]

First guitar that comes to my mind is the Martin HD28.

[rogthefrog]

Add me to the "what is growl?" chorus.

[gitarro]

Kim walker's guitars have that growl in the bass but yet sound very complete and refined at the same time.

[Marshall]

Best growl I know comes from a ladder braced guitar. I've got an old 1937 Kalamazoo KG-11 that is sassy as all get out.



In new instruments, Collings makes a great reasonably priced ladder braced Waterloo guitar

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by Montesdad

Can someone please define 'growl' ?

I've heard the term used, sometimes with a Martin referenced, but haven't a clue what it might sound like.

I couldn't have told you until I got my current guitar. And now ... well, it's obvious when you hear it.

I think it's not bass-heaviness so much as a slight amount of distortion and compression in the bass. There's something about it that's reminiscent of a slightly overdriven electric guitar. It's not about the "EQ" of the guitar so much as it is about the quality of the sound - it feels pushed, but without losing its musicality.