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#1
01-25-2023, 10:13 AM
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Recording Blue Guitars
Hello,
I recently had the opportunity (and honor) to record some music with 4 guitars from the famous Blue Collection. The guitars were: D'Aquisto Monteleone Gibson 400 Lacey I played some duets with Bert Lams and a few solo pieces. I would like to share with you my experience and opinion about the guitars. Before going into details, let me clear it: they were all great instruments and each one had a quality of its own. Since we play with CGDAEG tuning, we had to re-string all of them, and I was surprised how well they hold the tuning and the intonation. Only the Gibson suffered a bit (the high G broke two times!) GIBSON All guitars were 18", but this one looked and felt huge. I really liked the neck and the fact it had a wide nut (like all the other three) instead of the most common 1/16". It had that classic Gibson archtop sound and it would probably shine over most modern Super 400s, but I didn't find it so "special", overall. LACEY I had for a while a very beautiful sounding L7 from the '50s, and this reminded me of it a lot, but this was more refined and sweet sounding. A great instrument, easy to play. A very classic archtop sound, similar to Gibson. I preferred it over the Super 400. D'AQUISTO It is quite overbuilt, but not so heavy. We are in a different category here: it's apparent how Jimmy pushed the boundary of the archtop construction. The top end sounded sweet and full, and I loved it. I found it rather boxy on the low-mid, not very strong bass register, but still balanced. It was my favourite for the session, since it's a sound I love and I'm quite accustomed to (I own a Mirabella that has the same sweet full tone on the high strings). MONTELEONE To me it was the best of the four. Light, balanced... It was quite a shock when I played it for the first time. The clarity was amazing, big, full basses and it was incredibly RESPONSIVE. As my friend Bert said: "it's the guitar that plays you"! When I played the Monteleone, I suddenly saw other ways in which I could play a certain passage, notes or chord, that I never thought about. I can decrease and increase my dynamic so much more, and the guitar was supporting my playing. Amazing. I still preferred the top-sweetness of the D'Aquisto, and the tonal quality of the midrange was not really my cup of tea. Also its mini-pickguard was quite uncomfortable... just for me, of course! RECORDING Studio was very cold, luckily: now I can have a great excuse for any sloppy performance! I was also quite tired, at one point my fingers couldn't move anymore  But I think we managed to get some good takes. It was a great experience and I was really honored to be invited on this project. The Archtop Foundation aim is to raise awareness of the wonders of the acoustic archtop guitar, and show the versatility of this instrument. As an archtop player for so many years, it's something I firmly believe too, and this opportunity even gave me inspiration and ideas for a new work on this instrument. 
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#2
01-25-2023, 10:43 AM
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Hello Fabio,
We look forward to seeing & hearing the recordings you and Bert made! A question: On the video with the 16" L-5 were you also tuned to NST (New Standard Tuning)? I could understand it being easier to reach G on that 1st string using a .010, especially if it is like my L-5, which has a 24.75" scale, so there's less tension to a given pitch. Ciao, How
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#4
01-25-2023, 12:02 PM
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Quote:
I've played 12 string for a very long time, and early on I played in standard tuning where the high 3rd string was tuned up to G. They are routinely supplied as a .008, and if you tuned them up to quickly they would snap! I can NOT imagine how nervous I would be if asked to tune a .012 to G. Do you ever consider playing a multi-scale to address the string tension issue, or do you just like to live dangerously? :-) Best, Howard
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#5
01-28-2023, 11:46 AM
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Ahahahah! I guess I love the risk
 But honestly, I think I've snapped very few strings in my career. Also, it seems that once the guitar will "accept" the tuning, it's a process as easy as re-stringing in traditional tuning. Yes, I had a very fine Kraut acoustic, which unfortunately I had to sell, which had a fan-fret fretboard, from 24" to 26", I think. https://youtu.be/MSLTEnYwa4A Multiscale does NOT provide a more ergonomic approach as some people say, but it's a clever way to compensate for the different tension between the strings, which especially occurs in my tuning. But if the guitar is good, it is good with a normal fretboard too... I still have multiscale on my electric guitar, though.
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