What $2500 buys you

[birdsong]

Originally Posted by BadWithNames

Listening through headphones the difference was striking. As another poster suggested- it sounds like you applied reverb. I’ll guess that’s the $2500 guitar.

Thanks for the reminder. Noticeable difference with headphones. Cool to hear this way.

I'll bite: #1 Seagull, #2 Avalon

[Dwight]

Have you been practicing guitar when you were supposed to be here posting?
Your playing is getting pretty good

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Dwight

Have you been practicing guitar when you were supposed to be here posting?
Your playing is getting pretty good

Thanks,

Occasionally I do actually practice

Also to all:

All eq, reverb, etc was applied to the entire sound file.

[FrankHudson]

Hmm. As a long time owner of an older Seagull Folk (Cedar/Lam. Cherry) I should be able to pick it out. I first played your two recordings over my monitor JBL Monitor speakers running out of a focusrite scarlet. These speakers tend to emphasize high mids a bit, which some monitors like to do so the one can hear the "harshness" area more distinctly. I listened at a modest volume level, similar to what I'd hear acoustically if I was in the front row of a house concert without PA support.

I thought they both sounded valid. I thought there was a bit too much low end for my taste on #1 and definitely too little on #2, but those are matters of taste, and mine's probably no gold standard of anything. On those speakers I preferred #1. Adjectives about sound are inexact, but on those speakers #1 sounded "rich" and #2 sounded thin, if articulate.

Then I slapped on my Sennheiser 450 headphones. Now I could hear what others in the thread were hearing in #2. The overtones were pleasant, not overdone and I'm not sure if the performance was better, or if I was hearing the guitar, but the articulation of the notes was nicer. #1 sounded somewhat muddy. #1 wasn't ugly or anything, but in a reverse of the first listen, it sounded like I would have ideally changed the mic position or EQ'ed differently.

Your OP pays notice that listener's taste's differ, and that most listeners, even hard core music fans, are listening more to the music as a whole than the timbral subtleties of a performance. Now I'll add that even when we are listening carefully to the sound qua sound, that it of course makes a difference what we're listening on. I'm growing to mistrust the JBL monitors, but then I always try to listen to 3 to 4 different playback systems on things I release (including earbuds on a phone/tablet, where so much current music is heard).

I'm not sure if your Seagull Coastline's woods or other possible differences from mine, but I think #1 is more likely the Seagull. It's a bit more fundamental (in a valid way) and the low end I heard is well within the range of that instrument in my experience--people look at it's body and quickly size it up as "small, thinner sounding parlor" which mine isn't.

[Music-N-Yarn]

My ears like the sound of the second guitar better. My knack for preferring the more pricey of two options says the second one is not in my budget. If it only costs $400, my Yammy might be getting a buddy much sooner than originally planned.

[TBman]

Ok, here's the reveal -

Guitar #1 is my Seagull Coastline Folk. It was about $400 new, but it came with a hard shell case. It has a solid cedar top over laminate cherry back and sides. The guitar is 14 years old this September.

Guitar #2 is an Avalon L2-320C which is sitka spruce over rosewood. (all solid woods). It was built late 2016.

I put a sound port in the Seagull years ago as it was a fairly quiet guitar. The sound port gave it a boost. I have silk and steel strings on it which I do often, but I have a set of D'Addario NB mediums sitting here that I'm thinking about using next string change.

The Avalon has Elixir HD PB lights which have medium trebles and light bass strings.

Headphones really highlight the differences in the two guitars, my computer speakers, not so much,

The sound file actually sounded better in my car via blue tooth than it did on my computer speakers.

I recorded the clips using a spaced pair of AT-2035 mics, about a foot from the guitars and 18" - 24" apart into a Zoom H5 and then used iZotope Rx 7 for clean up, reverb and a bit of stereo width.

Here's a couple of photos of the guitars. The first photo shows the sound port I cut into the Seagull.

[mc1]

Thanks TB. I really enjoyed this thread. It was super fun and super revealing.

What was the tune in the recording? I'll guess another Tozier Celtic tune. You did a nice job playing it.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by mc1

Thanks TB. I really enjoyed this thread. It was super fun and super revealing.

What was the tune in the recording? I'll guess another Tozier Celtic tune. You did a nice job playing it.

Hi, and thanks MC1! If I play slowly I manage not to poke myself in the eye

The tune is a few measures of an arrangement by El McMeen of "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" which is found in his Celtic Treasures book. All of his arrangements in this book are in CGDGAD.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by TBman

All of his arrangements in this book are in CGDGAD.

CGDGAD. That seems like so much work I want to take a nap. Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting.

[L20A]

You showed us that a good guitar in the right hands with a bit of electronic technology can sound very good.
I agree that there are a lot of great guitars being made today. Many cost under $500.00.

What a nice time to be a guitar player.

[Rinaz]

Originally Posted by TBman

Ok, here's the reveal -

Guitar #1 is my Seagull Coastline Folk. It was about $400 new, but it came with a hard shell case. It has a solid cedar top over laminate cherry back and sides. The guitar is 14 years old this September.

Guitar #2 is an Avalon L2-320C which is sitka spruce over rosewood. (all solid woods). It was built late 2016.

I put a sound port in the Seagull years ago as it was a fairly quiet guitar. The sound port gave it a boost. I have silk and steel strings on it which I do often, but I have a set of D'Addario NB mediums sitting here that I'm thinking about using next string change.

The Avalon has Elixir HD PB lights which have medium trebles and light bass strings.

Headphones really highlight the differences in the two guitars, my computer speakers, not so much,

The sound file actually sounded better in my car via blue tooth than it did on my computer speakers.

I recorded the clips using a spaced pair of AT-2035 mics, about a foot from the guitars and 18" - 24" apart into a Zoom H5 and then used iZotope Rx 7 for clean up, reverb and a bit of stereo width.

Here's a couple of photos of the guitars. The first photo shows the sound port I cut into the Seagull.

Thanks for the reveal. My ears are pretty good so I'm sure that the second one is the more expensive one. Well, Instantly noticed the difference after a first few notes.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Rinaz

Thanks for the reveal. My ears are pretty good so I'm sure that the second one is the more expensive one. Well, Instantly noticed the difference after a first few notes.

It had more overtones and was more lush, but the first might sit better in a mix of other instruments. And it sounded good on its own.

[Music-N-Yarn]

So my Yammy is not getting a buddy soon. I did not think it would. My first listen was with my laptop speakers. Listened a few times afterwards with my headphones. Either way, my ears liked the Avalon the best. The Seagull is not bad, but not Avalon nice.

[Rinaz]

Originally Posted by mc1

It had more overtones and was more lush, but the first might sit better in a mix of other instruments. And it sounded good on its own.

that is true the first one is not a bad one, it gets the job done for $400. I would say it's worth the money if anyone wants an affordable guitar to play on

[davidbeinct]

I preferred the sound of the first, and did not read ahead to see which was which. Having said that, I am a shallow, shallow man. I almost bought a Seagull once, lovely sounding and playing guitars. But that headstock, gah! Like I said, shallow.