Custom build with the most overtones and harmonics...?

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Cocobolo Kid

Mike Baranik is known for his modern sound with great overtones, bloom and sustain. Both of my Baraniks excel in these areas and many more. In fact, on my last build, I asked Mike to pick out a top that would have the best and most complex overtones, and he delivered in spades. The link to my build thread is in my signature if you want to see more.

Here is sample recording of my Baranik Meridian:


I look forward to coming back to this thread and seeing what guitars others have chosen. It might give me some ideas for upcoming builds or purchases, as I am drawn to guitars with great overtones.

Beautiful composition and playing...sounds heavenly.

Is this your African Blackwood? or your Cocobolo? on that recording.

[Simon Fay]

Choosing the brand/luthier is usually the foremost decision - and then you decide on the woods. The reason is due to most folks noticing more difference between Martin and Taylor than they do between different guitars from the same builder. As has been mentioned, certain builders tend to build very harmonically complex guitars. It's been a while since I played a Goodall but their instruments tend to have a lot of tonal complexity. Lowden is another one that I've found tends to have a complex voice.

In terms of woods, Rosewoods will give you more tonal complexity than Mahogany or Maple. And Redwood/Cedar will give you more tonal complexity than Spruce.

My build style is to create guitars with a rich timbre while also having excellent balance and articulation. Most of my customers tend to go with Spruce/Rosewood but one of my personal favorite wood combinations are those that involve Redwood (more specifically, I use Sinker Redwood). The Redwood softens and mellows the overall sound - Spruce, in comparison, sounds a bit more strident. Redwood also gives the sound a great deal of depth and complexity. All that to say is that if you are looking for a build with a lot of depth and complexity, you should consider Spruce/Rosewood or if you want an even richer sound, go with something like Redwood or Cedar. I've built quite a few Redwood/Walnut guitars over the years and it makes for a great sounding guitar - it's really beautiful too. Here's a guitar I recently finished in this wood combination

[Cocobolo Kid]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Beautiful composition and playing...sounds heavenly.

Is this your African Blackwood? or your Cocobolo? on that recording.

Thanks for listening. The recording is of my 2013 Baranik Meridian (Colorado Blue Spruce and figured Cocobolo). The song is Stephen Wake's lovely arrangement of "Star of the County Down" in CGDGCD. The sheet music is available from Stephen if you are interested.

Gorgeous guitar above Simon! I love that sinker redwood and walnut combo.

[Muse-ic]

Originally Posted by Simon Fay

Choosing the brand/luthier is usually the foremost decision - and then you decide on the woods. The reason is due to most folks noticing more difference between Martin and Taylor than they do between different guitars from the same builder. As has been mentioned, certain builders tend to build very harmonically complex guitars. It's been a while since I played a Goodall but their instruments tend to have a lot of tonal complexity. Lowden is another one that I've found tends to have a complex voice.

In terms of woods, Rosewoods will give you more tonal complexity than Mahogany or Maple. And Redwood/Cedar will give you more tonal complexity than Spruce.

My build style is to create guitars with a rich timbre while also having excellent balance and articulation. Most of my customers tend to go with Spruce/Rosewood but one of my personal favorite wood combinations are those that involve Redwood (more specifically, I use Sinker Redwood). The Redwood softens and mellows the overall sound - Spruce, in comparison, sounds a bit more strident. Redwood also gives the sound a great deal of depth and complexity. All that to say is that if you are looking for a build with a lot of depth and complexity, you should consider Spruce/Rosewood or if you want an even richer sound, go with something like Redwood or Cedar. I've built quite a few Redwood/Walnut guitars over the years and it makes for a great sounding guitar - it's really beautiful too. Here's a guitar I recently finished in this wood combination

Beautiful guitar - and thanks for chiming in.... I know that cedar, for instance as I've never played a redwood, gives a rich sound, have you ever gotten that kind of... resonance let's say, from a spruce top?

[SiliconValleySJ]

Muse-ic and I discussed already, but for the crowd, my personal take on most overtones (sometimes to a ridiculous level) are Ryan and Goodall, but they are slightly different overtone structures. I've only played one Wingert and that had quite a bit too--just not as much as R and G. For the record, I've also found more of the recent Goodalls to have less overtone content than the older ones I've played--not sure why.

Because I favor highs, I tend to like the overtones on spruce that are richer than cedar, with European and Engelmann tops doing well for me in that front rather than Sitka. (I've only had some Adirondack float my boat, but that's more the exception than the rule) All generalizations of course.

[phil1]

Another one that hasn't been mentioned is Breedlove. Small shop rather than hand built by one person.

Years ago I played a jumbo with ebony back and sides. I'm pretty sure it was made with the JLD bridge doctor as part of the design. The sustain and overtones were like that of a piano. For melodic fingerstyle (think Ed Gerhard) it was awesome.

But playing any other style would have been near impossible. If you were to strum or play thumb based thumping you'd spend most of your energy trying to shut the thing up. It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Still, for the one thing that guitar was built for, it was incredible!