madagascar vs brazilian

[Bruce Sexauer]

Originally Posted by platbr

These are some great thoughts -- the plan is exactly as you state, to build not only two similar guitars, but two identical guitars. The tops are Lutz from the same tree, same cut. As near as I can tell, they are almost perfectly matched (you can't really even tell one from the other). As for everything else, the plan is to make it as close to the same as possible for the almost singular purpose of testing two identical guitars side-by-side. So top bracing, materials, etc., everything will be the same. Size will be something 000 or less. Still discussing that, but we have space in the woods...

Here are the top woods, by the way. The Madagascar set is some of the prettiest I've ever seen:


And the Braz isn't too bad, either.

You are starting off this apples to apples comparison with apples to oranges wood; the alleged MadRose appears to be of significantly higher quality than the alleged BRW.

Edited to mention that while I cannot tell about the BRW, the MadRose set pictured is flatsawn. The heart is where the knot is, and it appears to have a classic heart crack toward the top as well. Still looks like superior material to me, but the heart crack could be thought of as a portent of things to come.

[247hoopsfan]

I had a Larrivee D10 Spruce/EIR that was a great guitar. I was lucky enough to come across a Brazilian D10 a few years ago, which I bought. I could tell from one strum that it was noticeably different than my EIR D10. The Brazilian D10 has a glassy sort of reverb tone that the Indian Rosewood D10 did not have, as well as more sustain and clarity. The bass is rich and full, and notes on the upper register just ring. The Brazilian D10 was made in 1998 with some very high quality brazilian wood that Jean Larrivee had. It is one of the best sounding guitars I have heard. I am convinced that in the hands of a skilled luthier, brazilian is sonically superior to other rosewoods. Here is a little sound clip of a song I wrote, recorded on a Snowball microphone, no effects added. https://soundcloud.com/247hoopsfan/summer-breeze

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, lets face it - although we are musicians and have our guitars for the noises they make - most of us lerv - the looks of beautifully featured woods. There is nothing wrong with that.

I've seen really boring BRW AND Mad-rose, and truly beautuiful EIR.

I have heard from two different makers that they have Mad-rose in stock but wolt use it out of social conscience - ther is some bad stuff going on in Madagascar.

BRW, unless it is on a provably elderly instrument is simply not worth the bother for me any more too problematic to travel with.

My Rosewood backed guitars are all East Indian - that'll do for me.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by usb_chord

FWIW, I dont really hear as much of a difference in Taylors of difference rosewoods. They all just sound like...Taylors with rosewood.

Ha ha; IMHO so very true...

Cheers,
Steve

[bbatko]

Any update on the 2 guitars?? What was the difference in sound?
Brian

[birdsong]

Originally Posted by bbatko

Any update on the 2 guitars?? What was the difference in sound?
Brian

Well, it's been nearly 6 years, so........

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by birdsong

Well, it's been nearly 6 years, so........

6 years and it still depends on the luthier, the bracing and a number of other variables.
Best,
Jayne

[Yrksman]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

6 years and it still depends on the luthier, the bracing and a number of other variables.
Best,
Jayne

Exactly. This a a boring, oft repeated topic.

[mmasters]

The main difference I notice is good Brazilian has a glassy quality to its sound.

[dbintegrity]

How about this....
I can take 10 identically spec'd guitars, from the same builder... all 10 will sound slightly different....
There are WAY too many variables to get a guitar to produce completely identical tone...
I personally prefer high quality Brazilian when making a purchase... more so due to rarity, tradition and resale..... other than that.... Bob Taylor proved some many years back that even a fork lift pallet could sound great in the right hands...

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Yrksman

Exactly. This a a boring, oft repeated topic.

One of many “vs” threads that set up opportunities to present opinions as fact.

[musicman1951]

My guess is that the Madi would be a little warmer sounding and the Brazilian would have a bit more ring to the top end, and that if you played me only one I would have no idea which one it was.

I can hear the difference in any A/B comparison, but I can't tell you which parts of the guitar contribute the major differences I hear.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Steve Berger

I remember awhile back on this forum someone posting a comment that Jim Olsen himself said EIR and Brazilian sounded so similar most everyone wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Once one gets beyond the mythology, all bets are off.

http://www.leonardo-guitar-research.com