|
|
#1
02-09-2023, 08:29 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Muffled Sound
Two of the Alvarez guitars I own have a sound/tone that's a bit muffled. One is an AD70S which has a solid spruce top and laminate Rosewood back and sides. The other is an AD60K which I believe is an all laminate Koa guitar. It's absolutely gorgeous!
Both of them sound a bit muffled...they don't ring out. The all Koa sounds more muffled out of the two. I also own two Oscar Schmidt guitars, an OG2-SM and an OG2N-A. The OG2-SM has a gorgeous Spalted Maple top and is all laminate and although the OG2N-A has a spruce top I believe it is also an all laminate guitar. But both of my Oscar Schmidt guitars ring out and sound great and don't sound at all muffled as my Alvarez guitars. I compare the two brands to demonstrate that not all guitars that have solid tops or laminate back and sides, or even all laminate guitars have this type of issue. Besides experimenting with strings, will a bone saddle and nut also help the situation possibly? I also heard that a bone nut will help improve the tone but I've also heard that the nut doesn't contribute that much to the tone. Changing the bridge pins also I hear may help? Thoughts?
__________________
Liam F. 👽🖖🏼👑 🎶 
|
|
#2
02-09-2023, 08:39 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Don't expect much from any tweaks (saddle, nut, especially pins) you might do. It's mostly all about how the box (guitar body) was put together.
However if I was to try anything it would be checking into the saddle material.
__________________
Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above
|
|
#3
02-09-2023, 09:00 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
Liam F. 👽🖖🏼👑 🎶
|
|
#4
02-09-2023, 09:09 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Couldn't say with 100% certainty but the Alvarez guitars may be dryed out or too over humidified? I had a neice who's guitar starting sounding muffled some. They asked me to look into. It just needed major humidity adjustment. Threw it in one of my cases for a few days with a humidifier and presto.. Rings just fine now. The soundboard was kinda caved in. Couldn't tell unless you measured it. Try checking that too along with the other suggestions.
|
|
#5
02-09-2023, 09:11 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
Liam F. 👽🖖🏼👑 🎶
|
|
#7
02-09-2023, 10:04 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
Liam F. 👽🖖🏼👑 🎶
|
|
#8
02-10-2023, 05:36 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
One person's 'muffled' is another person's 'pleasingly mellow'. Likewise, one's 'clear' can be the other's 'shrill and lacking depth'.
As has been said, it's just the nature of the guitar and not something you can easily change. Solid wood guitars are often more resonant and have more depth of tone than laminate guitars, so the difference in tone that you are describing isn't really a surprise to me. It's worth involving other people. Get someone else to listen and, without steering or prompting them one way or another, ask them to describe the tone differences. Then get them to play the two guitars and see how they sound to you from the front rather than from behind. Muffled might suddenly become balanced. Or it might not. But it's worth trying.
|
Unless all your songs consist of only playing open strings, then yes, the nut material will have extremely small effect on your guitar's tone.