The guitar that "sounds worse" has more soul

[Bookstorecowboy]

I have two classical guitars, an Alvarez Yairi and a parlor guitar by Matthew Wan in Hong Kong, an experimental model. The parlor guitar has great soul. It's tiny but it's twice as loud as the Alvarez. It also has far more expressiveness. It really has a wonderful sound.
I think most people would say the Alvarez "sounds better," but I doubt anyone would prefer to hear it over the Matthew Wan, when it comes to feeling.
The Matthew Wan also has very limited string options since it is set up like steel string acoustic for ball ends. If I could find some beads with holes in them I could tie my preferred strings (Goldins) to the beads and then I think I'd really have something.
I don't know how long this little guitar has for this world. They sold it to me with the warning that it had structural problems and might only last a couple of years, but it's been two years since then and it's fine although clearly needs delicate handling.
Has anyone else had this experience, of a guitar that "sounds worse" but is much more expressive?

[Silly Moustache]

Why not cut the barrels off some old strings and run them through your nylon strings ?

[Bookstorecowboy]

After posting that, I discovered this product, which would seem to increase my options to any string at all. https://www.stringsbymail.com/string...ck-1a5439.html

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[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Bookstorecowboy

Has anyone else had this experience, of a guitar that "sounds worse" but is much more expressive?

How a guitar sounds is pretty much controlled by the operator.

If a particular guitar inspires THAT operator to play more soulfully, then it is the results of that chemistry.

HE

[Bookstorecowboy]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Why not cut the barrels off some old strings and run them through your nylon strings ?

I had not thought of that. Will take a look.

[musicman1951]

Great sound is probably fairly subjective, but I certainly know what I consider great sound. For me, a guitar without great sound does not inspire great playing to the same extent.

Soulful music and expressive playing, on the other hand, doesn't come from an instrument - it comes from the player.

[kizz]

Martin make classical strings with ball ends and if the guitar sounds good and have soul that´s just great...

[RJVB]

d'Addario Folk also have ball-ends, and GHS have some with them too IIRC.

But really, pin bridges were the norm in the 19th century (so NOT a steel-string thing at all) and people just tied their own knots to their strings. I'm sure you can find tutorials on how to string a Stauffer or Panormo similar guitar with modern strings. My own knot that I have been using for decades (including with gut strings on baroque violin) is as follows:

- start with the simplest knot (overhand knot) such that the free end comes out pointing upwards. Don't pull the loop you just formed closed too tightly yet.
- lead it backwards under the string
- lead it through the knot's loop from above
- holding the free end, pull on the string guiding the 2 loops such that they close equally and form a little ball.

I think this is actually the closed form of a bowline.

Brittle strings like the Aquila Rubino 1st and 3rd but also some D strings resist longer if you tighten the 2 loops around a short piece of toothpick, and with really thing E1 strings you may need to do this in order to make the ball big enough.
The good thing is that you can learn to make this knot with very little loss (free end sticking out) so if the string breaks it's trivial to make a new one provided you haven't cut the string (too short) at the peg.

Let us hear something of that guitar?

[rollypolly]

To me a guitar that has soul is one I’ve made a connection with and I make music with it that I’m happy with. It doesn’t have to be the best sounding guitar. And it’s funny cause I’ve connected mostly with my Recording Kings and cheaper guitars that aren’t the slickest builds in the world.

[Bookstorecowboy]

Thanks, I might try that if the string ties don't work, or don't arrive, which is always possible with an international delivery.

Originally Posted by RJVB

d'Addario Folk also have ball-ends, and GHS have some with them too IIRC.

But really, pin bridges were the norm in the 19th century (so NOT a steel-string thing at all) and people just tied their own knots to their strings. I'm sure you can find tutorials on how to string a Stauffer or Panormo similar guitar with modern strings. My own knot that I have been using for decades (including with gut strings on baroque violin) is as follows:

- start with the simplest knot (overhand knot) such that the free end comes out pointing upwards. Don't pull the loop you just formed closed too tightly yet.
- lead it backwards under the string
- lead it through the knot's loop from above
- holding the free end, pull on the string guiding the 2 loops such that they close equally and form a little ball.

I think this is actually the closed form of a bowline.

Brittle strings like the Aquila Rubino 1st and 3rd but also some D strings resist longer if you tighten the 2 loops around a short piece of toothpick, and with really thing E1 strings you may need to do this in order to make the ball big enough.
The good thing is that you can learn to make this knot with very little loss (free end sticking out) so if the string breaks it's trivial to make a new one provided you haven't cut the string (too short) at the peg.

Let us hear something of that guitar?

[Bowie]

No, but guitars with less sustain and fewer overtones tend to be more expressive. That's why they're popular for blues.

[Mr. Jelly]

There are guitars with character and there are guitars that don't. I apply the term of "a modern sounding guitar" to be a guitar with no character. I am drawn to older guitar recordings as I hear more human presence in the music. The music is often more interesting. Allot of modern guitars sound generic to me. Even the most expensive.

[printer2]

A guitar is a number of resonances in a box tied up with a bow. The greater the resonances the more 'alive' the guitar sounds. It does not surprise me that a guitar that was built to be an experiment by a luthier could be more expressive but may not last. I built one as an experiment also, it sounded fantastic, for half a year. Then the top deformed and the bridge peeled off. I know I went thin on the top when I was building, low quality wood did not help but it was built as a 'what if'.

[Robin, Wales]

My D-18, with its beautiful voice, sits in its case while my cheap plywood acoustic archtop, that growls and barks and spits, gets all the gigs!

[TBman]

Classical guitars are finnicky when it comes to strings. It took me a few sets to find a set that I like for my Cordoba C12. Until I found the right strings, my Fusion 12 kept jumping in my lap.