New video: Warmoths versus a Les Paul

[aarontunes]

It's cool to be passionate about your opinions. It is not cool to sling ad hominems at people who have different opinions.

Warnings have been issued.

 

[NedRyerson]

I am so stunned that I got the models right! C was unequivocally the alder body to my ears as compared to A & B, as it just sounded more trebly and crunchy than the other two. When I focused strongly on the differences between A & B, I thought I could pick out the difference between the LP and the MH.

But take them all out of the context of a side-by-side-by-side shootout and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, honestly. Play just one of those on a recording or live and I'm certainly not going to be able to say, "oh, yeah, that's definitely Aaron's Meadowhawk." Yeah, I have no idea.

I did a similar shootout with my own collection out of curiosity. LP Studio vs. Jackson Kelly vs. a 7-string kit build.

LP, y'all know what the construction is.
Jackson: I believe it's a poplar body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. "Duncan Designed" high output HBs.
7-string: basswood body + maple/rosewood. DiMarzio Titan HBs (plus Blaze single coil in middle position). Not as high output as the DDs. This will be significant in a moment.

If I listened really, REALLY closely, I might be able to cork-sniff a few differences, but taken out of the wine tasting context, they all sounded effectively the same. Because I played all of them like me. But as Aaron said in the video, while I was playing the comparison riff, it felt different for each of them and therefore, I thought they sounded different while playing.

The recordings proved otherwise.

I'd have assumed that my Jackson would've produced the loudest and most aggressive result because that's how it sounds when I'm playing live. When just swapping cables between guitars and not adjusting my pedals or controls on the amp, I assumed that the 7 would sound weaker because the DM output is audibly lower than the Duncans on the Jackson.

Again, the recording proved otherwise. There was ultimately no discernible difference.

That was what told me "tone is in my head," long before I watched Aaron's video talking about the same. So that actually makes me more comfortable just playing what I want to play and building what I want to build. High-end brand name pickups vs. generic import no-names? For me personally, based on my experiment and my musical career (in that there isn't one ), they're all equal. The difference is the price tag.

So if I can build something more visually aesthetically pleasing without being constrained by amorphous specs, than I'll go for more of the artistic presentation than something that can be argued like at a muscle car show.

 

[Spud]

I am so stunned that I got the models right! C was unequivocally the alder body to my ears as compared to A & B, as it just sounded more trebly and crunchy than the other two. When I focused strongly on the differences between A & B, I thought I could pick out the difference between the LP and the MH.

But take them all out of the context of a side-by-side-by-side shootout and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, honestly. Play just one of those on a recording or live and I'm certainly not going to be able to say, "oh, yeah, that's definitely Aaron's Meadowhawk." Yeah, I have no idea.

I did a similar shootout with my own collection out of curiosity. LP Studio vs. Jackson Kelly vs. a 7-string kit build.

LP, y'all know what the construction is.
Jackson: I believe it's a poplar body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. "Duncan Designed" high output HBs.
7-string: basswood body + maple/rosewood. DiMarzio Titan HBs (plus Blaze single coil in middle position). Not as high output as the DDs. This will be significant in a moment.

If I listened really, REALLY closely, I might be able to cork-sniff a few differences, but taken out of the wine tasting context, they all sounded effectively the same. Because I played all of them like me. But as Aaron said in the video, while I was playing the comparison riff, it felt different for each of them and therefore, I thought they sounded different while playing.

The recordings proved otherwise.

I'd have assumed that my Jackson would've produced the loudest and most aggressive result because that's how it sounds when I'm playing live. When just swapping cables between guitars and not adjusting my pedals or controls on the amp, I assumed that the 7 would sound weaker because the DM output is audibly lower than the Duncans on the Jackson.

Again, the recording proved otherwise. There was ultimately no discernible difference.

That was what told me "tone is in my head," long before I watched Aaron's video talking about the same. So that actually makes me more comfortable just playing what I want to play and building what I want to build. High-end brand name pickups vs. generic import no-names? For me personally, based on my experiment and my musical career (in that there isn't one ), they're all equal. The difference is the price tag.

So if I can build something more visually aesthetically pleasing without being constrained by amorphous specs, than I'll go for more of the artistic presentation than something that can be argued like at a muscle car show.

Did you use your main amp the Fender Champion 40 for the testing?

 

[NedRyerson]

Did you use your main amp the Fender Champion 40 for the testing?

Yes.

Though, I just listened to my clips again. The 7-string did indeed sound different from the other two. Less aggressive -- more of a hard rock tone than metal, so that's in line with what I thought while playing it. But between the Gibson & the Jackson, if I was to do a blind listen, I'd have a hard time picking out which was which.

The difference with the 7 could be materials, could be pickups. But I don't have it anymore to swap out components to test (nor do I have a stockpile of 7-string parts in the first place)

 

[alexreinhold]

I once built a guitar with some (but not all ingredients) to get a Les Paul sound. The main characteristics:

• mahogany body but Tele shape
• two humbuckers (EMGs though)
• gibson scale neck but wenge/ebony and Tele shape
• hardtail bridge instead of tuneomatic

The guitar sounds heavy (one of my best sounding guitars) but not nearly as wholesome my friend's Les Pauls. The tonal difference was shocking when we compared them. Never understood how Les Paul sounds are so hard to replicate.

 

[DrTeeth]

You know, after watching that video (because of course, I have been asking myself the same question for years), I came to a very important conclusion. Namely that I forgot how good the Meadowhawk sounds. Wow, that is one heck of a guitar. I know that the Les Paul was easy for those familiar with it to identify but because I know nothing about “that” sound, I was simply listening to the choices to see which sounded the best to my ears. I chose the Meadowhawk every time in the blind test. Clear and crisp but also quite beefy. The 40th anniversary that almost was was quite a thing to behold. That guitar was quite special.

 

[Spud]

I finally realized the reveal was actually in the video have been waiting for confirmation all this time duh

 

[alexreinhold]

@aarontunes i really like the inlays on your meadowhawk. Is that an off menu item by any chance?

 

[NedRyerson]

Guys, can we chill with the snark and sniping? This isn't TGP.

 

[Rick]

After I used the ignore function peace returned, just sayin' ...

 

[mayfly]

I prefer snark being limited to my tuner:

 

[aarontunes]

Guys, can we chill with the snark and sniping? This isn't TGP.

This.

I've deleted comments and given final warnings. Play nice.

Here is some recommended reading.

 

[alexreinhold]

@aarontunes i really like the inlays on your meadowhawk. Is that an off menu item by any chance?

Despite all the snark (wonder why Gibson always seems to trigger it lol), can you still let me know about this @aarontunes ?

 

[aarontunes]

Despite all the snark (wonder why Gibson always seems to trigger it lol), can you still let me know about this @aarontunes ?

I named that inlay pattern "Eclipsed Blocks". My goal was to create an inlay pattern that got bigger as it went up the neck rather than smaller, as most do.

As to your question, this is one you will have to call in and inquire about because I honestly don't know if the pattern was programmed in a way that it can be applied to other necks or not. My guess is that it might be possible, but probably only on 25-1/2" scale necks....but that's just a guess.

If I get a chance I'll ask and post that answer here.

 

[alexreinhold]

I named that inlay pattern "Eclipsed Blocks". My goal was to create an inlay pattern that got bigger as it went up the neck rather than smaller, as most do.

As to your question, this is one you will have to call in and inquire about because I honestly don't know if the pattern was programmed in a way that it can be applied to other necks or not. My guess is that it might be possible, but probably only on 25-1/2" scale necks....but that's just a guess.

If I get a chance I'll ask and post that answer here.

Thanks Aaron. I am already in contact with Spike about my new build - will ask him directly. Unfortunately not a Paula but V build ;-)