Wow, this is worth watching if you're a guitar player. There are so many variables in the sound of an electric, and he certainly provides a strong argument as to which ones matter the most (his "air" guitar at the end is great).
I have played classical, acoustic and electric guitars for most of my life. Over time my collection grew and finally settled to just a handful of guitars. The most expensive was the acoustic. Next was the classical. The electric I have now was easily the cheapest of the lot (I paid 18x it's cost for the acoustic, fwiw).
It always seemed like with electric there were just too many things that could change the sound--like information overload. Yes, you have the guitar and the string choices, but also amps and effects. With acoustic I hardly ever use an amp and I never do with classical. To me, the difference in sound from those guitars is much more inherent in the guitar itself.
Seems like even cheap electrics, if you set the intonation and action correctly (and pickup height, etc) are a better deal than similarly cheap acoustics. Just test out the pickups first, as they vary greatly in quality.
I think intuitively I would've guessed the body of an electric has much less to do with the sound than the body of an acoustic, but it was super cool to see this tested with the air guitar. I never would've attempted to build that so I'm glad he did.
I came here to post this, you beat me. I remember an interview where 2 great players swapped gear (one was EVH, I think the other was Jeff Beck) and even on the other's gear they sounded like themselves.
I had the privilege of jamming with Tommy Emmanuel a few times in my younger days. He told me how his brother Phil and himself would find ways to match the sounds off records by using their fingers, as they didn't know about effects back when they were children.
mfragin|2 years ago
I have played classical, acoustic and electric guitars for most of my life. Over time my collection grew and finally settled to just a handful of guitars. The most expensive was the acoustic. Next was the classical. The electric I have now was easily the cheapest of the lot (I paid 18x it's cost for the acoustic, fwiw).
It always seemed like with electric there were just too many things that could change the sound--like information overload. Yes, you have the guitar and the string choices, but also amps and effects. With acoustic I hardly ever use an amp and I never do with classical. To me, the difference in sound from those guitars is much more inherent in the guitar itself.
Seems like even cheap electrics, if you set the intonation and action correctly (and pickup height, etc) are a better deal than similarly cheap acoustics. Just test out the pickups first, as they vary greatly in quality.
wunderlust|2 years ago
karmakaze|2 years ago
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GiF-GVLgg
lapcat|2 years ago
How many guitarists have broken their back with a heavy Les Paul LOL?
jtode|2 years ago
Perenti|2 years ago
I had the privilege of jamming with Tommy Emmanuel a few times in my younger days. He told me how his brother Phil and himself would find ways to match the sounds off records by using their fingers, as they didn't know about effects back when they were children.