I lived upstairs from the "Radio Clinic" in Ottawa, and would buy mic's and things and marvel at there singular colection of electronic equipment, they called me out back one day to check out a guitar, which I played ,tryed, upside down as I play left, gibson les psul junior, serial #0003, and passed on as I couldnt use it, just came accross an original paf from my time there.
But the original leo fender prototype! thats too much, dweazle has jimi's monteray strat, that was given to frank......imagine having that handed to you now....or just having it hanging up.....right there....looming
to bad there wasn't something like with the strads, where they must be played......
As a guitar player (20+ years) and a audio engineer/electrical engineer/dsp programmer one thing that really keeps baffling me about the field of guitar playing is how much myths about what affects the sound in which way exists. With people trying to get the sounds of their stars by buying products that were made in the 60s and somehow assuming the wild quality fluctuations and effects of the recording chain during that time don't matter all that much. Meanwhile you can get extremely good (studio quality) sounds with a 200 Euro guitar and a 250 Euro amplifier and the rest you can do with 2 or three effects pedals and (crucially!) the correct strings, instrument setup and above all playing.
In each hobby you will find people that are in it for the gear more than anything. I play the same guitar since the past 15 years and I know exactly how to play to make it sound a certain way. I wonder how the people who buy a new guitar each month even manage to get to know theirs..
There is a German youtube channel by a former university professor of acoustics that picks many of the myths surounding electrical guitars (especially those repeated in the press) apart scientifically (website: https://www.gitarrenphysik.de/). I am not aware of any english resource on that topic that goes into the topic even at a fraction of the depth. He made laser measurements of various parts of the electrical guitar to measure power dissipation and model it, influence of the whole electronic chain, etc. If there is an aspect to the guitar, he probably measured it.
Like did you know that strings don't just vibrate up/down, but also left/right and how this directional change plays out when you pluck a string differs depending on the guitar? Yeah me neither.
Did you know wood has next to no influence on the sound of an electrical guitar, despite being called "tonewood" by the press?
> You’ll find people in every hobby who are more into the gear than the actual activity
Honestly, that’s part of the fun for some of us, even early on. I’ve been playing guitar for a while now, and while I enjoy it, the repetitive nature can sometimes get dull. Exploring new gear and chasing different tones has been my way of breaking through those ruts.
Yes, it’s expensive and it eats into practice time — no doubt. But some of us are just wired to enjoy the experimentation. I eventually found a setup I really like, but I don’t regret going through the gear phase. It kept things exciting and helped me stay connected to the hobby.
The "air guitar" demonstration in his first video memorably shows that the wood doesn't matter.
One non-obvious thing that does affect the sound is the type of pick (a.k.a. plectrum). Both the shape and the stiffness of the pick affect the sound, and playing with fingers sounds different too. I don't see a lot of discussion of this, even though it's cheap and easy to experiment with (you can buy sample packs of many different picks). I recommend trying it if you haven't already.
I own some Fenders and Gibsons, but over the last couple of years, Harley Benton produces very good guitars that are very affordable.
I have one of their telecasters, and it’s on par with a squier or a cheap fender, provided that you get it set up properly.
When I got to that cheap telly, I initially had planned to replace the pick ups, but guess what, the stock pick ups are good actually.
For amps, that strongly depends on your personal taste, but usually you go used. For example, if you’re into metal, you can get Peavey ValveKings for low $, they just require a good speaker. There are also several cheap clones available. YouTube has you covered with demos.
Also, digital amps have become good enough, even those software only, for example GarageBand.
You just need some audio interface.
A Harley Benton or similar guitar paired with a 100 Euro audio interface plugged into a computer that runs Neural Amp Modeler has been the perfect setup for me https://www.neuralampmodeler.com/
Not sure about the amp, but the Yamaha Pacifica I have is decent. It's been used in a stage show successfully (not played by me), and the artist was very happy with it.
I just bought an American Telecaster. I guess they are one of the few things that are still primarily produced here (some guitars). But yeah the store owner told me that fender is about to raise prices across the board regardless of whether or not something is American made or not.
Guitars are - essentially - a luxury item, brand guitars especially so.
If you are a 'prestigious' manufacturer, and you raise the price only on the imported stuff, not the all-American one, you are comparatively 'devaluing' the local-made guitar as compared to the ones that are made abroad.
That makes sense to me, but does it even have to be that?
If your competition is now artificially x% more expensive, there’s no reason not just pricing yourself where you want relative to them as you have already been.
A bought a cheap "Harley Benton" (Thomann store brand) telecaster clone for a family member that wanted to start with the electrical guitar. And I was shocked at how good the build quality was.
When I started playing twenty-odd years ago getting cheap brand guitars was a complete gamble and you had to do a lot to make them not suck. This guitar I got had at least the build quality of my US strat that went for 7 times the price at the time, and the sound was without doubt.
I suspect it has to do with more/preciser CNC milling in manufacturing.
And Gibson, which as far as I know only makes guitars in the US, will probably then raise prices too to a) keep more-or-less same relative pricing to Fender b) to keep Gibson guitars a notch in pricing above the import sub-brand Epiphone.
It's a reference to one of Donald Trump's defenses of his trade war with China: that tariffs are acceptable because it's immaterial if American children "have two dolls instead of 30 dolls"
The owner is the grandson of the Ziff Davis fortune. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziff_Davis (Popular Electronics, PC Mag, ZDNET, etc.)
https://archive.ph/1geSw
> In the spring of 2027, the museum will open a permanent gallery devoted to the evolution and cultural impact of the American guitar.
This is fun, it looks like they have many important prototype and early production guitars.
They’ve already got an incredible collection in their instruments section. Amazing early Martin’s etc
I lived upstairs from the "Radio Clinic" in Ottawa, and would buy mic's and things and marvel at there singular colection of electronic equipment, they called me out back one day to check out a guitar, which I played ,tryed, upside down as I play left, gibson les psul junior, serial #0003, and passed on as I couldnt use it, just came accross an original paf from my time there. But the original leo fender prototype! thats too much, dweazle has jimi's monteray strat, that was given to frank......imagine having that handed to you now....or just having it hanging up.....right there....looming to bad there wasn't something like with the strads, where they must be played......
As a guitar player (20+ years) and a audio engineer/electrical engineer/dsp programmer one thing that really keeps baffling me about the field of guitar playing is how much myths about what affects the sound in which way exists. With people trying to get the sounds of their stars by buying products that were made in the 60s and somehow assuming the wild quality fluctuations and effects of the recording chain during that time don't matter all that much. Meanwhile you can get extremely good (studio quality) sounds with a 200 Euro guitar and a 250 Euro amplifier and the rest you can do with 2 or three effects pedals and (crucially!) the correct strings, instrument setup and above all playing.
In each hobby you will find people that are in it for the gear more than anything. I play the same guitar since the past 15 years and I know exactly how to play to make it sound a certain way. I wonder how the people who buy a new guitar each month even manage to get to know theirs..
There is a German youtube channel by a former university professor of acoustics that picks many of the myths surounding electrical guitars (especially those repeated in the press) apart scientifically (website: https://www.gitarrenphysik.de/). I am not aware of any english resource on that topic that goes into the topic even at a fraction of the depth. He made laser measurements of various parts of the electrical guitar to measure power dissipation and model it, influence of the whole electronic chain, etc. If there is an aspect to the guitar, he probably measured it.
Like did you know that strings don't just vibrate up/down, but also left/right and how this directional change plays out when you pluck a string differs depending on the guitar? Yeah me neither. Did you know wood has next to no influence on the sound of an electrical guitar, despite being called "tonewood" by the press?
> You’ll find people in every hobby who are more into the gear than the actual activity
Honestly, that’s part of the fun for some of us, even early on. I’ve been playing guitar for a while now, and while I enjoy it, the repetitive nature can sometimes get dull. Exploring new gear and chasing different tones has been my way of breaking through those ruts.
Yes, it’s expensive and it eats into practice time — no doubt. But some of us are just wired to enjoy the experimentation. I eventually found a setup I really like, but I don’t regret going through the gear phase. It kept things exciting and helped me stay connected to the hobby.
Jim Lill has several excellent videos on Youtube testing guitar tone myths:
https://www.youtube.com/@JimLill/videos
The "air guitar" demonstration in his first video memorably shows that the wood doesn't matter.
One non-obvious thing that does affect the sound is the type of pick (a.k.a. plectrum). Both the shape and the stiffness of the pick affect the sound, and playing with fingers sounds different too. I don't see a lot of discussion of this, even though it's cheap and easy to experiment with (you can buy sample packs of many different picks). I recommend trying it if you haven't already.
What is a "a 200 Euro guitar and a 250 Euro amplifier" setup that you recommend? Honest question.
I own some Fenders and Gibsons, but over the last couple of years, Harley Benton produces very good guitars that are very affordable.
I have one of their telecasters, and it’s on par with a squier or a cheap fender, provided that you get it set up properly.
When I got to that cheap telly, I initially had planned to replace the pick ups, but guess what, the stock pick ups are good actually.
For amps, that strongly depends on your personal taste, but usually you go used. For example, if you’re into metal, you can get Peavey ValveKings for low $, they just require a good speaker. There are also several cheap clones available. YouTube has you covered with demos.
Also, digital amps have become good enough, even those software only, for example GarageBand. You just need some audio interface.
A Harley Benton or similar guitar paired with a 100 Euro audio interface plugged into a computer that runs Neural Amp Modeler has been the perfect setup for me https://www.neuralampmodeler.com/
Not sure about the amp, but the Yamaha Pacifica I have is decent. It's been used in a stage show successfully (not played by me), and the artist was very happy with it.
As a British person I thought some stolen guitars had been found and the London Metropolitan Police were dealing with it.
[flagged]
I just bought an American Telecaster. I guess they are one of the few things that are still primarily produced here (some guitars). But yeah the store owner told me that fender is about to raise prices across the board regardless of whether or not something is American made or not.
That does follow psychological marketing logic.
Guitars are - essentially - a luxury item, brand guitars especially so.
If you are a 'prestigious' manufacturer, and you raise the price only on the imported stuff, not the all-American one, you are comparatively 'devaluing' the local-made guitar as compared to the ones that are made abroad.
That makes sense to me, but does it even have to be that?
If your competition is now artificially x% more expensive, there’s no reason not just pricing yourself where you want relative to them as you have already been.
A bought a cheap "Harley Benton" (Thomann store brand) telecaster clone for a family member that wanted to start with the electrical guitar. And I was shocked at how good the build quality was.
When I started playing twenty-odd years ago getting cheap brand guitars was a complete gamble and you had to do a lot to make them not suck. This guitar I got had at least the build quality of my US strat that went for 7 times the price at the time, and the sound was without doubt.
I suspect it has to do with more/preciser CNC milling in manufacturing.
And Gibson, which as far as I know only makes guitars in the US, will probably then raise prices too to a) keep more-or-less same relative pricing to Fender b) to keep Gibson guitars a notch in pricing above the import sub-brand Epiphone.
I don’t get your comment; we’re in the golden age of guitar manufacturing quality.
It's a reference to one of Donald Trump's defenses of his trade war with China: that tariffs are acceptable because it's immaterial if American children "have two dolls instead of 30 dolls"