one guitar or many for a recording project?

Hi guys,

In the fall I'm going to spend some time recording 10-15 tunes. Given the opportunity, would you use a different guitar for each tune or would you stick with one guitar for consistency?

[jim1960]

I usually have a preference for a certain guitar on a certain song, so I'm going for the guitar that best showcases the music I'm recording. However, if I'm recording a second guitar part, I may reach for a different guitar to create some contrast if I feel the song calls for it.

[Glennwillow]

Hi Doug,

I tend to identify with Jim's response, just above. I choose the guitar that I think suits the song the best. If I add a second guitar part, I will often choose a different guitar.

It's in recording where I really appreciate having multiple guitars, including electric guitars, bass, mandolin, whatever.

Best of luck on this project, Doug!

- Glenn

[Chipotle]

I'll echo Jim and Glenn--use the guitar that suits the song. Sometimes you don't even know until you get there and put a take down. Occasionally I'll be working on a track and no amount of mics/placement/EQ seems to be getting me what I want, so I'll try a different guitar to do the trick.

[DukeX]

I'd record each piece with two, three, even four guitars (you are already practiced up and ready to record). It's not that much extra effort. Then decide which track(s) to use later when mixing.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

Hi guys,

In the fall I'm going to spend some time recording 10-15 tunes. Given the opportunity, would you use a different guitar for each tune or would you stick with one guitar for consistency?

Play what excites you and let the chips fall where they may. There can be several voices for any particular acoustic guitar depending on how you play it.

[Gordon Currie]

Do you have 10-15 guitars?

I'll pile on and say - within reason - use the guitar that sounds the best for a particular song. (That may just end up being the same guitar for most or all of them.)

When I think of my favorite solo acoustic guitar records, they tend to be played on one, sometimes two instruments. To me, that is an indication of the significant value of consistency.

Unless your audience is tweaky guitar players, they may hear the differences in tone as a distraction.

If this is a vanity project, do what you want. If you are trying to sell to an audience, keep their desires in mind.

[Bob Womack]

Um... Uh...

Bob

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

In the fall I'm going to spend some time recording 10-15 tunes....

Surely you'll want to use a 12-string on some, won't you?

[kego]

Um...uh...

lol

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

Hi guys,

In the fall I'm going to spend some time recording 10-15 tunes. Given the opportunity, would you use a different guitar for each tune or would you stick with one guitar for consistency?

Hi J-Doug

When listening, I like variety.

I have done both, and I like the recordings I did with a variety of guitars better. I think I play a differently with various instruments…

I've done high string recordings with my Baby Taylor…and they sounded really great as a secondary track.

And I've used two different guitars on the same recordings (me playing different parts on each) which sounded really great. And I've done multi-track pieces with the same guitar which sounded great.

It was more about the design of the arrangement (to my ears) which made the difference between average and great sounding tracks.

[min7b5]

I use the same guitar for every tune, on every album. I like the consistency. Plus I only have the one guitar

[islandguitar]

Hi Doug!
As you may have witnessed, I'm lucky to have multiple instruments and spend some length of time listening to which guitar I prefer for any given song. Granted it's personal and might not be noticed by any casual listener! It's all about what you hear and want for your material or cover tunes.
A preferred guitar for me is mostly tone as it matches with what I'm playing/composing in whatever tuning, but often I've found subtle differences in playability for certain tunes which help make the decision on which guitar. The last CD I did in '19 had five guitars on it (including a 12 string). The latest project, I think has 4. I should mention that I have a "trilogy" in there......3 tunes which are kind of "siblings" and for that I wanted consistency of same guitar, same tuning, etc.
Looking forward to hearing how this turns out!
Best,
Fred

[Doug Young]

Here's the guitars Teja Gerken and I used on our duet cd :-)

Guitars_smaller.jpg

I think variety is good. I've thought about recording a CD all on one guitar, but I always end up feeling like some other guitar is better for this tune or that one.

But really it's up to you and what you're trying to create. I used to get uncomfortable with the idea of too much change in sound between tunes on a CD, but lots of guitarists I enjoy have made huge jumps from track to track, from solo instrumental - one guitar, to tunes with bass and drums, or vocals, or even electric guitars, and it's no big deal. We listen to the radio (etc) all the time as they move between completely different productions. Compared to that, no one will even notice just a different guitar between tracks.

On top of that, few people actually listen to a CD end-to-end anymore. No matter what you do, it's more likely to end up as individual tunes on some spotify playlist, or something.

Thanks for the responses guys! It's been helpful.