Tone. At Home.
Johan Segeborn is back – and his beard almost is too – with another of his mad science experiments about tone.
Ah, tonewood – and the endless debate of whether wood makes a difference or not. (It does, and so do other things.)
This time, Johan tries an experiment with pickups. How microphonic are they, and does that explain why tonewood makes a difference?
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and join in the lively debate in the comments section there.
Check this out. Michael Nielsen has posted a video comparing a real mic + cab setup vs 5 different ways to record silently at home. And he’s picked a great way to do it too.
He’s recorded the best sound he could with each approach, and used them in a mix so that you can hear the kind of final results you might be able to get. Best of all: the guitar is soloed to begin with, to give you a taste of what it’s like to simply noodle through each setup.
It isn’t a straight comparison. The real cab has V30s in it, and is mic’d using an SM57. The impulse responses used are of G12M Creambacks with a couple of different mics, and I’d swear that the OX is emulating G12Hs not G12Ms. But that’s kinda the point. He’s gone and done exactly what we’d do ourselves – dial in what he thinks sounds the best.
Do have a read of the comments people have been leaving on his video. It’s clear that not only do people have different tastes, but that different people actually hear different things too.
The other thing that’s interesting? Play it back to back a few times. Once ear fatigue kicks in, just how much difference can you hear any more?
(And just how good does that BE-100 sound?!? Me want …!)
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment for Michael’s video.
Johan Segeborn is back with another of his comparison videos – and minus his beard. Today, he’s comparing the difference between bridges and saddles from the 50s and 2008.
There are whole sections of major Les Paul forums devoted to the endless discussion – and decrying – of trying to capture that legendary 50s Les Paul burst tone with modern instruments. (Yours truly might be a lurker and occasional contributor *cough* to those debates …)
Johan’s comparisons are always interesting, and certainly add fuel to the debate 🙂
I don’t chase that 50s tone per se. I’ve never played an original Les Paul burst, and likely never will. And if I did, I’d need to have it through my rig (that I’m most familiar with) and have the chance to A/B it with my own Les Pauls to really understand the difference anyway.
The key thing I chase is the 3D aspect of those old vintage tones. That’s the magic for me. My own experience is that sometimes a pickup upgrade will unlock that without any other changes at all. How much of it is the pups, and how much of it is the guitar they’re going into, I don’t know.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Johan’s video. Or if you miss the beard – which seems to have generated the most comments so far!