What's the Ryan Guitar House Sound?

[PTL]

Though luthiers can tailor an instrument's sound to some degree according to a client's wishes, I believe that each luthier tends to have his or her own 'house sound'.


For you familiar with Kevin Ryan's instruments, how would you describe his 'house sound'? Also, if you don't mind, what other makes do you own as a basis for comparison?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

[colins]

I think you are right about good luthiers having a characteristic sound.

For the Ryans I have played (not many) or listened to I would say the Ryan sound is crystalline clarity with a touch of warmth. As an example of how they sound I recommend you listen to the Altiplanos album by Pierre Bensusan. He plays a Ryan on some tracks and a Lowden on others and, to me at least, the differences are pretty significant.

[gitarro]

I have played a 10 year old plus ryan cathedral and 3 newer nightingales. The nightingales were completely different from the cathedral. The cathedral had the usual overtone heavy but clear tone except it had the most subterranean surround bass imaginable. The nightingales on the other hand had a completely unique tonal signature that I had never heard and havent heard since from any other guitar. Super warm and super thick. There was literally no difference between overtones and fundamental - they melded together in one super thick note. Very dark toned. Unparalleled for dark moody tunes. Really good strummer. But not the guitar to go for if you want separation and clarity and crystalline purity.

[Jeff Mc]

I have Ryan Mission Grand Concert that is approaching 20 years old and is Adirondack and BRW. I would say warm and darker than my other guitars. I think that may be more attributable to the age and woods though.

[Richard Mott]

My brother had a Ryan Mission in coco/Engelmann. Very clear, deep and dark, lots of overtones and big bass. As Robert Frost might have put it, “The woods were lovely, dark and deep ...”

[Guitars44me]

I have had two NICE Ryans.

Both were Big. One had European Spruce over Madi RW. One in Cedar/Koa

Both sounded spectacular. I did not have them at the same time to compare but the Cedar/Koa had a more rounded, Mahogany-like tone as you would expect.

Both had Lots of overtones, and a lot of bass, but still VERY balanced to my ears. I loved the super slim neck carves, too.

I prefer a shorter scale and a 12 fret configuration so they both went to good homes, but they sounded REALLY GOOD, and when I visited Kevin's shop I found him and his wife both super NICE folks, too.

Have fun checking them out

Paul

[Jeff Mc]

When I bought the MGC, I called and asked if he had any spec guitars. He said that he had a MGC that was almost finished and found a crack in the back. They offered to the person that ordered it at a reduced price but he said no so he said that it was just sitting underneath a workbench. So I bought it at a great price. It was his highest grade Brazilian. Took about 2 weeks for him to finish it. At the time, he had a fellow functioning as manager. I mentioned that we were having a get together with a bunch of guitar friends in a couple weeks so he finished mine and sent another one along for people to play. I had never met most of these guys before and I was a nervous wreck as they passed that loaner guitar around. I think as soon as it made it around the circle one time, I put it back in its case.

I also owned his Cathedral prototype for maybe 10 years. It was a great guitar but really huge. Amazingly light for how big it was though. It was sitka, EIR and I think may have actually weighed less than the MGC. I regret selling that one.

[usb_chord]

Big, Warm, Full, Complex, Wide, Long sustaining, Lush, Rich, etc

[PTL]

Thanks to all of you who replied. Much appreciated.

JeffMc, sent you a PM.

Thanks again!

[Dustinfurlow]

Ryan's, to me, have a deep tone that almost sounds like a well. That's probably a poor choice of words but it's just so deep and reverberant that that's what I typically think of when I hear demos of them. Deep bass and rich trebles.

[Doug Young]

I'd call them warm and rich, but words aren't very useful for describing tone. There's some variation as well, my cedar/koa Mission sounds quite different from my Spruce/Brazilian Nightingale.

I'd suggest starting by checking out recordings or demos - you can find some videos using my Ryan's on my you tube channel, and I used 2 different Missions on many tracks of my CDs. Dream guitars surely has lots of different Ryans being played on videos.

Better, tho, to play them yourself. Dream, Guitar Gallery, Luthiers Collection and others often have models in stock.

[ericcsong]

I have an African Blackwood/Bosnian Spruce Cathedral and it is a monster. Warm, lush, round, smooth, cavernous, bassy, open, deep, etc....

Words don't mean much because they are very subjective and what they mean to one person can mean the exact same thing to another person who plays an entry level factory guitar.

When I first commissioned mine, I was able to visit a store who had 12 Ryans in stock. I also made a road trip to play as many Ryans and wood combinations as possible. I found one that stood above the rest (to my ears) and I ordered the exact same guitar.

One thing you have to consider is Ryans have a longer 25.7 scale (Abbey Parlor has a 25.5 which is long for such a small guitar). I think this adds to the projection and other physics of the guitar.

I have played many other more current Ryans with his newer bracings, bridge plates, flutes, etc, but personally I think Kevin's best guitars are from the 2005-2010 years.

Best thing to do is play them if you can. Where are you located? If you are ever near Washington DC, you are more than welcome to play mine

[Rick Shepherd]

Originally Posted by ericcsong

I have played many other more current Ryans with his newer bracings, bridge plates, flutes, etc, but personally I think Kevin's best guitars are from the 2005-2010 years.

Late-comer here! Gosh Eric, I don't think Kevin would be happy to hear this! Lol!

[ericcsong]

Originally Posted by Rick Shepherd

Late-comer here! Gosh Eric, I don't think Kevin would be happy to hear this! Lol!

Somogyi wouldn't like me either because I like his early to mid 2000s models best