A LES PAUL sounds different from a $14000 PRS, Right?
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- Опубліковано 30 січ 2024
- A few weeks ago, I shot out a $4000 Les Paul vs a $269 Harley Benton. To make things more fun, let's throw in a PRS Private Stock, valued at over $10,000!!! Does it have any distinct qualities? Let's do a blind test!
Get my strings at: sitstrings.com/product/glenn-...
Lets be honest, at this point Gibson makes guitars for collectors, not musicians.
This.
I know 2 people with Les Pauls.
Neither see any regular action, aside from just noodling around at home - Both people using other guitars for shows/recording.
I've never asked why, but I'm sure the reasons are plenty.
Correct, it’s a lifestyle brand after all
@@bmir89Probably had their shit stolen enough times
@@bmir89 A LP is kind of comfortable to noodle on while sitting on the couch, truth be told.
It's what I call the "investor brand" People don't buy Gibson's to play, they buy them to sit in a case to never be played.
They're like Grandma's fine china set. Looks nice, supposedly worth a lot of money, but Grandma will never use them for anything.
Don’t let Glenn fool you. None of those were actual guitars. He was practicing his guitar noises into the mic. Very believable but some of us aren’t so easily fooled sir.
So I did some testing of my own, and I came to a conclusion for another really great way to change the tone of the guitar for cheap, and even free in most cases. there’s these weird knobs on the amp with a bunch of numbers around them and if you turn them the sound changes. I would have never known if I didn’t accidentally brush up against it the other day. It blew my mind. I still don’t know what any of them do but I will update when I find out. I’m not sure if other amps have them but I have a 6505.
Be careful, those knobs are magic. No one knows what they are and who puts them there
Put them all to max, that way you get all the tone
Wait until you can see what an eq pedal can do through the send/return jack. Wow
🤣🤣
@@karolszymanski4791Ive played amps that sound best diming the eq knobs and using subtractive eq.
And yet another fine test you've gotten us into! Colour is just an audio quality that most find pleasing to their ears.
No it’s in the speakers Glen. How many times do I have to tell you ?
🤣🤣🤣
yep all sound the same. D is just the loudest
don't forget what kind of material is used to cover those speaker cabinets...and how thick the wood is...and what it is.....
I have no idea which one is which but I liked the 2nd tone best. It seemed clearer and brighter than the others.
That’s what I was thinking.
Yep, one can only say which one they preferred.
watch it be the harley benton lol
@@jonathanwolverton705 Imma buy one if that's the case. It's too much value for money. RIP PRS and Gibson.
@@jonathanwolverton705You need to play authentic 😡
Glenn, let me just say that this video was the best at explaining to the other guitarists how the tone is basically unchanging when you compare stuff while recording. I feel like a lot of people don’t pay attention to that sentence even though you’ve said it a million times in other videos. But I feel like this video it would be near impossible for someone to not understand this 😂 Awesome video of tests!! 🤘🏼
Really cool to see the SIT String shop. I play a 7 string and use the Rusty Cooley set. I really like the way they play. As always thank you so much for making these videos, so much great information for everyone!
Could you do a tone comparison between strings and no strings?
I can speak from experience. A guitar with no strings has the cleanest tone ever. Difficult to achieve distortion though.
@@BandOfHarjaps who’s there
@@CodyBarnette-GNARK Ton(e)y
@@BandOfHarjaps Tony who
How about when the volume is in 0 and in 10?
Awwww Glenn, you did it again! None of those guitars were actually used. You OBVIOUSLY went with that new company, ALL SOUND and used their newest model, THE SAME.
AWESOME! Good job as always Glenn.
This is a great and incredibly informative video. Great job Glenn.
Thanks for having me on Glenn! I guess I should chime in, it would be crazy if I couldn’t guess!
Test 1:
A: Harley
B: Shecter
C: PRS
D: Gibson
Test 2:
A: shecter nickle
B: PRS
C: Gibson
If this is true, I really liked the gibson the best from the Audio.
II liked D in the first one and the C in the second. If you tell me that has the HB, I will take it as is. I still liked it the best.
@@crunchchannel8788I may be wrong tbh we will see
Crushed it Glenn, what a collection you’ve built of hypotheses testing videos for us all to use on our journey🤘🏼at this point the GAS is on us at least somewhat now vs the marketing
This is true, especially in a live setting. There are so many times where the signal is being processed by something different, thus creating a different interpretation of the sound. By the time it comes out of the venue’s PA speakers (that are blasting way too loud and are probably abused af, btw), there’s absolutely no way that you could hear the difference between a flame-maple top or a quilted-maple top, or tell what material the tuners are made out of or what their mass is lmao.
Guitarists primarily care about how their gear sounds in a room to them... making all of your statement irrelevant. How the guitar sounds in a room will alter how a player plays, too; you can't deny that gear can make us play more 'inspired'. Personal choice is very important here.
I'm glad you advocate for bland, boring sound. Go play cardboard guitars, since it makes zero difference (to YOU).
@@AMSOfficial79oh, word 👍🏻
@@AMSOfficial79🤡
@@AMSOfficial79 Judging by posts like yours, I think that (some) guitarists primarily care about having their choices validated and having their ego stroked. 🤣
@Vykk_Draygo See.... that isn't me, though. My main rig is a Peavey Bandit 112 combo modded into just a head, using a 5150 cab. A Nux MG30 is in the effects loop. All of my guitars are self-built partscasters. No purchases to justify because I'm already budget minded.
Great video, Glen. I've been playing guitar for 40 years but I'm always open to learning, especially when it comes to recording. I've learned quite a lot from your channel. Looking forward to the next one!
Thank You Glen!! Great video!
Very subtle, essentially indistinguishable differences. Nothing that I'd stress over: I'd be happy with any of the four.
First test:
A. PRS - sounds like a semi-hollow/hollow
B. Harley Benton - bigger bandwidth and higher output than a classic PAF
C. Les Paul - Sounds the thinnest and honkiest, so likely the vintage style PAF
D. Schecter - High output high bandwidth makes me think this is the active pick up.
Not sure 100%, but thought it might be fun to give it a try.
I think that schecter doesnt have active pickups
None of these guitars are active. Explain thin/honky sound. If you can't define it, don't use it to describe sound. And, genuine question, IS the PRS hollow/semi hollow? I think Glenn would've mentioned it if it was. Or maybe I just missed it. Genuinely don't remember.
@iancarney3082 I don't really feel like it, take it or leave it. The PRS did have an f-hole. As for active vs not, it doesn't really change my impression of D, where I heard a wider bandwidth and higher output, which you could still get from a more modern style passive humbucker. I guess we'll see if I'm totally full of shit, which I may well be.
@@bartpappas3236 You're right it does have an f hole and I just missed it. I would still like "honky" defined though...that's just a buzzword. What makes it honky? More defined mids? Trebles? I genuinely would like to know since, to my ear after hundreds upon hundreds of guitars across my workbench, I hear VERY very little difference between A, C, and D. The only guitar with a significant difference in sound is Guitar B to my ear. I believe B is the HB, the others are far too close to call.
@@iancarney3082 honkey is easily described as a bump in the upper midrange. centered around 600hz.
diyaudioheaven.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/descriptors2.png
theres a graph showing the frequency response affects that we associate with each phrase we use to describe audio.
Thanks for your continued efforts, Glenn. I used to replace pickups whenever I would buy a guitar. The thought was that I needed to get good pickups in the guitar to start with. Now, I generally leave the guitar stock. You've saved me a considerable amount of money.
One of your best vids yet. 🤘🏼
Regarding PRS' lighter tuners: from what I read in reputable sources (i.e., engineers who actually tried it), the phenomenon of "dead spots" (i.e., notes that have significantly shorter sustain than others) is due to resonant frequencies of the neck, and the frequency of the dead spot can be shifted by adding weight to the headstock. That kinda makes sense to me. It would, however, indicate that even if a neck with regular tuners dampens one particular frequency, putting on lighter tuners would merely dampen a slightly different frequency.
Weight absolutely increases sustain in some regards; astute observation!
as a wise chinese man once said....."BS"...!!!!!
Yes, the PRS sounds in tune
😂 spot on!
LOLLLLLL
STRINGS - I can say fairly confidently string test #3 was semi flat wound. String type absolutely makes a difference in tone, I've used all types to either mellow out or brighten up a guitar. It works and its much cheaper than new tone pots or pups.
Great test Glenn!
Are the tone and volume knobs made with vintage plastic? Are the truss rods made from steel salvaged from WWII battleship guns? Is the wire for the pickups from the original Tesla coil and hand-wound by one 97 year-old spinster?
No, Nigel’s mummy winds them.
I would totally buy a guitar with a truss rod made from steal salvaged from a WWII battleship.
oh yes please......
On the 1st Clean tone test - listening on Yamaha HS7 monitors: A & D's tone sounded a little different then B & C - but not in a better/worse way just different,, and D seemed like it might have a little bit hotter pickups than the rest of the guitars, or the player just strummed 10% harder that time. B & C sounded almost identical. Overall they all sounded similar enough with only minor differences and I couldn't guess which is which specifically. They all sounded fine - as far as a bone dry and uninspiring clean tone can sound fine. Re: string test - idgaf, whatever.
I had the exact same thought. A and B sounded more dynamic, D was probably the schecter and I think C was also less expensive. A and B were the nice ones in test 1. Don’t care about strings either
I definitely thought guitar D had a hotter output
Always great info from you for free, Brother. Please keep it up
I am glad to be able to hear at all after concerts in the 90s and early 2000s. I'm more glad that I learned what little difference pickups make, for the cost.. saved me tons Glen!! Rock on ehh!! From almost nearby in Michigan 🤟
After listening a few times to those tests I can very confidently tell you that I haven't the faintest fuckin' clue which guitars were which, nor what strings were which. I can't even tell you for sure which one I liked the most. It does remind me a bit about the legendary Stradivarius violins that supposedly have this incredible unique silvery quality to them, but whenever they're A/B tested musicians can't tell the difference or they lean towards preferring modern instrument sounds.
I'll pick the Harley Benton as my favorite because that is not only within my price range but I also wouldn't be terrified of playing the damn thing. Hell, that's exactly what I did. My R-446 is my workhorse and while I very much appreciate my Solar V1.6 I kind of wish the R-446 or the Solar S series existed back when I bought it.
I wish everybody were as honest as you are.
Hitch slap!!!! Nice to see a Christopher Hitchens quote!!! Loved that guy!!!
I tip my fedora to thee good sir.
Great video Man!
3:58 - 4:02 minute mark is my favorite part. I listened to this several times.
My setup is with my Kali monitors and an Audient iD14. I honestly tried to hear a difference.
Thanks for that.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH GUITAR IS WHICH. THEY ALL SOUND THE SAME TO ME.
They have wood, check. They have metal, check. They have a body, check. They have a neck, check (Check check if it's a double neck). Yeah, they're all the same.
Especially in a metal context where everyone is using enough distortion to make Lemmy blush, that's gonna happen.
truth
Go listen again! There's a difference for both test (guitars and strings test).
Theres a difference. Very and I mean very small, but theres a difference. If I tried to guess which one was which, even if I guessed correctly it would be a lucky guess, thats how similar they are. Guitar C for some reason sounds like someone turned down the tone knob, just a bit. I'd say thats the Schecter Omen 6.
You have the best guitar channel on UA-cam. Congrats
Agreed. The best guitar channel isn‘t even a guitar channel
it's low-information lowbrow garbage
@@truescotsman4103Gibson owner? 🤔
I just went on your channel dude and talk about lowbrow garbage! Your second video is exactly the definition of it!@@truescotsman4103
I watched the results video before this video. But I definitely would not have been able to tell the difference on anything. I was surprised how dull the nickel strings sounded though. This is all very fascinating stuff, and I am a guy who buys pricey guitars.
Great video Glen. 😊
I preferred guitar D in the first test and guitar B in the second test.
String material composition is supposed to make a difference. Nickel strings are said to have less magnetic pull, and that results in a lower output from the Pickups. I've never tested this myself, but it makes some sense.
Just out of curiosity: would the differences between all the guitars and strings used in this test be more discernible through a direct input (into an audio interface or something)? My guess is that they probably wouldn’t be more discernible, but a test like that would still be interesting to hear.
It might just be the volume difference, but Guitars A and C sound "cheaper" to me, while B and D sound "more expensive".
But even the percieved difference is very small.
But considering that two of those guitars are over 10k while one isnt even 300 bucks, they shouldnt even come close to one another. And thats on a pretty clean tone that still lets you hear some of the guitars sound.
Love the new console. So cool.
Glenn!!! I own an S2 PRS, and I love how it plays. The wood finish is nice, but honestly when I got it, there were tons of micro-scratches in the finish on the back of the guitar. I was really taken aback by this, for a $2K guitar to have scratches like that. They were very minor, barely noticeable, but I could see them. As far as the tuners go, the switch from metal to the plastic tuners, IMO, has nothing to do with tone, and everything to do with them being cheaper for them to manufacture. It's all about increasing their bottom line; again, IMO. Love the channel! Keep it up!!!
Second test, C sounded a little quieter compared to the other two.
I agree, and based on how stainless is supposed to be less ferromagnetic, I would say C being the stainless strings is the only maybe definitive answer out of the whole test which is honestly zero idea.
No clue on which string is which but it was the only difference i notice and it was just not as loud compared to the other two lol
@@frjhracing
On the second test, guitar C was the one I liked the least. Could have been due to it being quieter...
I agree with that fact.
@@jasonbone5121 Not just quieter. Deader. Like all the harmonics took a backseat.
Hey sir ! Could this test be applied to a bass guitar? Maybe a Wal vs Jackson vs Stingray? Kudos !
Solo, differences should be much more noticeable, even after an amp or "in a recording setting" because you're dealing with a higher energy input at the same perceived volume. So any attenuation or differences along the chain will be more pronounced, say pickup to pickup and amp to amp.
However, I think once it's in a mix- you lose subtle differences because of less ear sensitivity in the bass range in context of everything else going on.
I recently put fishman fluences on my 5 string and I also wired up all the different mode switches (3 eq profiles + single coil "tapping" on each pickup + pickup blend). Just with a straight amp and playing you could play with settings for days, but the second I tried to record it - it all fell apart as you're just trying to get whatever out of all the billion choices that gets you the best sound stage for the mix, which isnt always what sounds good solo.
@@frjhracing there is audible difference between pickup types in basses actually, even in the mix. In metal, pickup types matter the least, but in less crowded mixes you can easily distinguish Stingray from Jazz bass, Precision from Thunderbird, WAL from Ibanez. Even Spectors with PJ setup sound way different (even in the mix) from Fender PJ because of the active preamp and different mgagnet materials.
@@oskarus3 bass's with some amount of eq, even just bass/treble boost mixed with a bass preamp w/ parametric + shaping makes a world of differences in a mix as well. And then like your saying with the P or Jazz bass - their different pickup layouts and types are very obvious. With guitar and all the "magic pickups", at the end of the day there's really only two layouts; H H or S S S... yes there's more but they're not "standard". But with the bass's they have the offset S's like on P bass's or like a H and S mixed, etc. Bass's just have more layouts that aren't as standardized across the board.
The key is that a dedicated bass preamp has all the low-mid-"high" in context of the sonic range of bass itself. Unless you have a really granular parametric, those adjustments are typically ignored
- some people just DI their bass into a preamp/interface without even amp modeling.
Though - SMG's "element" bass plugin really shows how far you can get with just plugins for bass in a mix.
Definitely. You're not comparing one humbucker loaded guitar with another humbucker loaded guitar.
Wal and MM both technically have humbucking pickups and active electronics, but those are superficial similarities. They can be made to sound similar, or they could sound totally different.
And the Jackson bass probably has either J or P pickups, which are sonically different again.
But yeah, deep under a dense rock mix, I couldn't tell you which is which.
And with bass, the style of the player will come through much more. Bass isn't all chugga chugga or screaming solos, so the tone isn't quite so dominated by the amplifier and speaker.
For example, compare Justin Chancellor with Geddy Lee with Lemmy with Steve Harris, who plays flatwound strings with his fingers and gets more attack than anyone.
lmao i love these blind tests. I listened while not even looking at the screen and i could barely tell a change at all. At one point the volume slightly went up, but no tonal change to my ears.
TEST 1:
GUITAR A: PRS Private Stock, short scale neck, less projection.
GUITAR B: Harley Benton Double Cut, the best sonically of them all.
GUITAR C: Schecter Omen Elite-6, the most high in bass of them all.
GUITAR D: Gibson Collectors Choice 39 Minnesota Burst, bad acoustic sound but it changes when the sound coloured by effects.
TEST 2:
Guitar A: Pure nickel. Something in the middle. Gibson.
Guitar B: Stainless steel. Most ring. Harley Benton
Guitar C: Silencer. Most depth. PRS.
This is just a lucky guess.
People do shop with eyes, not ears.
Thank you Glenn for this community service.
It's a therapy. 🙂
Nice one man. I like your take on the strings. I do too believe that D is the Gibson one. The rest.....pfft no idea.🤘🤘
Can you do the bass guitars comparison pretty please?
That's actually a great idea. He mainly focused on guitars and guitar tone but hasn't really made much content on bass.
guitarists don't pay attention to bass players....everybody knows that.....chhhhh....
No idea which guitar was which. D was louder, B was brighter?
Strings A and B sounded the same to me but C must be the semi flats wounds. Going by the fact flat wounds usually sound “duller” on bass?
Guessing B is the PRS.
I liked the sound of guitar B in the first test and guitar A for the second test, C used flat wound. In terms of guitars test 1: Benton, Prs, schecter, & Gibson.
I've never commented on your videos Glenn, but this one was the best!!! I love how you shot down in flames both the big G and PRS bullshit!!! I couldn't wait to hear you call it how it really is!!! Thank-you!!!
Bravo, Glen. This PRS tuner BS is the peak trust-me-because-I-built-a-good-product-so-everything-I-say-must-be-true situation of the guitar world as we know it. Paul is a likeable, seemingly brilliant, guy, but the more I learn about why he does what he does....I think he's just a good furniture salesman. "That chair is beautiful! I bet it sits better than any other chairs!"
I genuinely think Paul Reed Smith is just very much trapped in this boomer artisan mindset of yesteryear (when he actually learned what he knows about guitars and luthiership), when availability of different products for comparison was very very much more limited. Even professionals working around instruments would probably hardly ever lay their hands on more than five different styles of guitars. A-B Comparisons with modern recording tech was unthinkable. So most of what these people knew came downhanded from their teachers and other builders, and their own experiences - which we know are mostly seriously flawed and coloured by a shitload of preconceptions.
Add some beds & office tables & a jacuzzi to the pile of his speechcraft and we have a deal...🤣
Hey man, Paul isn’t just “seemingly brilliant” he’s incredibly smart when it comes to guitar design and luthier stuff.
It’s probably the case that he just doesn’t look at things through a recording lens like Glen is saying
i have so many vintage guitars
... I'm playing an Ibanez rgt320 and rg580b at the moment.... guitar is a guitar is a guitar... but. when i sell those vintage guitars I'm glad these people exist. 😂 I'm one of them lol.
That's why I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio. The differences in pick-ups are tiny and you can dial in a Studio's 490/498T combo to sound like the most expensive humbuckers on the planet (probably its used on the Les Paul Custom). It makes more sense to buy a versatile guitar and a flexible amp than dumping thousands on useless accesories.
Another good episode, really happy I found this channel. Would love a one on one one day or a clinic if you ever come near to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Please Please Please do a video about soldering 4 cassette decks together!!!!
Has to be tone plastic then!
And tone solder.
Otherwise null and void.
but only "original" phillips casettes......
Nice Christopher Hitchens reference at 2:43, love it!
In the first test, guitar A had more bass. Guitar D had more volume than guitars B and C, but guitars B through D all sounded near identical to me. You could make guitars B through D sound like guitar A with an equalizer.
For the second test guitar C was brighter sounding, but again you could probably use an equalizer to make guitar A and B sound like guitar C. My main takeaway from this experiment is to invest in a good equalizer instead of multiple guitars.
Love the Hitch quote!! Miss him ❤️
I won't pay $999 dollars for an entire instrument, much less just a set of pickups.
I will pay 999 only when this pickup will be strait build in the sick ass of Gibson Factory boss.
The people flipping them for 100% profit or more are laughing at you. Easy money..
I'm pausing at 9:40 to comment...very cool to see how strings are made, ty to SIT Strings! My guesses for guitars A-D: A-LP, B-PRS, C-HB, D-Schecter. All sound similar and as you said, without the visual que's, all we can tell is THAT they are different, not which is which with any certainty. EDIT: Added after the second/string shootout; I can't tell at all any longer, between guitars A-C. They quite literally all sounded like the same instrument to my ears!
After seen this video and could not stop laughing. Glenn, you are going to kill the tonesnob on the internet of this video. Keep up the great work.
Can hear a difference between them in the first test, but what is what? Who the fuck knows. Tbh they all sounded good
why was this string factory tour one of the best things I've seen on UA-cam in a long time
Quite amazing on the stainless steel test. I always use stainless steel and in person/band practice the difference is massive.
I love this channel calling out all the bullshit out there 😂 I wanted a Gibson Les Paul bad until I started watching this channel. Now I don’t give a shit about Gibson
Makes me see how foolish I was when I bought into stuff like tone wood. Love it. 🤣
To your point, I prefer the Gretsch or ESP/LTD take on the single cut body. Looks nicers than the Gibsons, in my opinion. That said, I went with a double cut for my Gretsch. It has better fret access than my Gibson Flying V! Fair price, it looks awesome, and it plays great!
tbh the string type made more audible diference. I'd say that the order on the string test was Nickel, stainless (due to the increase in higher frequency range) , and semi-flats/groundwound ('cause they sound dead)
Hahahahaha what a nonsense
Love it dude. I have been recording, playing guitar, and building guitars and pedals for most of my life. I am 100% completely lost listening to those examples. I can hear very subtle differences, but by no means enough of a difference to make me want to spend $1000s on a piece of gear. "Don't feed the greed." This saying now lives rent-free in my brain, and I will be using it to make judgments on my future musical purchases. Thanks for keeping it real.
Another key point about sound. Listening to your video with a nice set of headphones vs the speaker on my $150 cell phone will throw a wrench in everything as well. Haha Awesome channel!
Clearly the body of guitar "C" has been built with a plank of Mahogany of 76 and a half years of age; by the slight tone shift during the 33rd note I can desume that it was planted between 09:00AM and 10:35AM. The pickup has 3102 windings and the persond that wound it was wearing a green t-shirt. The pickup switch was assembled during a very cold morning. But maybe I'm wrong...
Keep it up, Glenn!!!
In Scotland! 🍻
@@markbushong4826 Benton, Arkansas man. I owned the outhouse. 🤣
All I can say, C sounds the “warmest.” No clue which it is, but gonna guess it’s the PRS. D sounded the loudest to me, so gonna guess the Schecter(assuming it has hotter pickups). Other two are negligible.
it lacked mids
I thought A sounded like it had the highs rolled off and the other three sounded close to each other.
B and C sound great. D is nice and bold. Really comes down to what tool you need for the job.
A needs better pickups.
With the second shootout, A has a similar distortion profile as A did before, though brighter, now. B and C are also bright, but C's 'throat' seems the same as C did before.
Second set of tracks:
A: A (LP with new strings?)
B: B (Schecter)
C: C (PRS)
And, again, I don't really have a strong preference of one over another. They all have their own down side: A is a bit distorted, B is a bit thin, and C is a bit 'throaty'.
Gibson: When you have Lambo, but the head gasket blows after every start 😂
“Looks good in the driveway”
1st round guess:
A - Harley Benton - boomy bottom end
B - PRS - balanced and clear, best sound
C - Gibson - lowest output, seems to clear but also lacks a bit of output and low end compared to B
D - Schecter - loudest - a lot of mid range
B sounds the best to my ears on my headphones. A had some buzzing near the end of the recording and D sounded that it was almost distorting so those 2 would not be good to record with for clean, especially D. A maybe needs a bit of a setup or another take but B & C sound good, especially B.
2nd Round guess:
A - Gibson (stainless steel strings) - sounds great, nice and clear but lacks a little on the bottom end
B - PRS (nickle strings) - sounds great as well, a bit better than A, there is a difference in mirange compared to A and a bit more on the low end
C - Harley Benton (semi flat strings) -, a bit boomy in the mid range, not so clear, still very use-able.
The D guitar was removed from this test
A and B sound very similar and almost no difference between them. C sound worse than A & B but is still use-able.
I have no idea about the strings and what they should do to the sound.
...interested to see how I did.
PRS looks the best tho, and that is of course the most important thing when recording ;)
Nice Video Glen
They all souns good.
Goes to show what happens when you got good amp and cabs and overall gear. A well setup generic guitar is enough to get good tones from this setup. Another great video from Glenn.
i liked the first guitar in the first test the best. There was one that sounded a bit thinner and one that sounded like it pushed the amp a bit more, which i think was the one missing in the second test.
Can't tell you which is which but there's definitely a difference. I wouldn't be worried using any of them to record.
A: had a bit more of a fuller tone. This one stood out the most
B & C: very similar to each other. less low end than A but still good tones
D: obvious jump in volume. a bit more drive. still something you could easily mold
Conclusion: they all sounded very similar and every tone could be used in a mix. nothing sounded thousands of dollars better.
As a player, as long as my volume and tone knobs are dynamic, I'm good.
Thank you for all the hard work Glen.
This is just a fun stab at it, they all sound very similar and I have no idea.
A: Schecter
B: PRS
C: Les Paul
D: Harley Benton
I’m going to say the Harley-Benton was guitar B in the first go round and then was removed for the second…and I’m probably wrong. The differences between all the guitars was so minute, that like you said, play what looks good or you like. The guitar in my icon is a 1987 Fender American Standard Stratocaster. I purchased it new in 1988 for $399 with the case. If I were to go out and buy a guitar today, I’m not spending more than $500. There’s no need. Keep on making this content, it’s honest and refreshing.🤘🏻❤️🎶
How cool. The SIT string shop is near me. That big Amazon across the street used to be a popular mall.
Thanks for another great test Glenn! Interesting how the critics need to 'see' which guitar sounds better!
One guy said in one of his videos that the tuner peg holes should be really tight to where you need to really press the tuners in to get them to seat flush behind the headstock. He said it makes more sustain in the guitar. Now, mind you. This is a guy who believes in 125 inch scale length and soaks guitars in rubbing alcohol. If this were true with the tuners, a locking nut would really change things.
First challenge.
A-Schecter
B-PRS
C-Gibson
D-HB
Second challenge.
Gibson was taken away.
A-PRS Power Groove.
B-HB Power Steel.
C-Schecter Flat wounds.
But..... I could be wrong.
awesome video.
In the first test guitar examples I preferred the tone of A & D, so I heard a very slight difference. Wouldn't say the difference between all of them was earth shaking, and nothing that couldn't be tweaked via an amp, overdrive / other pedal or board setting. I think Glenn's last comments about amps affecting character and sound are spot on.
This is fun Glen. I agree with you, and to help you prove your point, I'm willing to be wrong too. So here is my guess
Test 1
A = Gibson B = Scheckter C = HB D = PRS
Test 2
A = Scheckter B = HB C = Gibson (no PRS this time?)
I didn't have a favourite. They all sound great. Absolutely no idea about strings. Keep up the great work.
My first time guessing, so here goes. Disclaimer, i agree with Glen about tone, but it sounds fun to guess anyways:
Guitar D - PRS Private Stock
Guitar B - Les Paul
Guitar A - Schecter Omen Elite
Guitar C - Harley Benton Double Cut.
I say you removed the Harley Benton in the 2nd test, but that's just a 25% shot in the dark.
That was really fun to participate. I can't wait to hear the results of this blind guitar shootout!! The only things i could tell were the differences in the muting, and frequencies were slightly different to my ears, so maybe mic placement was a factor??? idk, it probably was just all done on the Schecter Omen Elite, but thanks for this fun video!!! Hope this comment makes it in your viewer's comments episode. Keep rockin' Glen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How I kind of rank them - guitar C sounded a little bit quiet, then A or D, both were ok, and I liked B just a bit more. Don't care how much they cost, waiting for the follow-up video to see my preferences. I play a Harley Benton fusion 3 and it plays like a dream after a setup, also play with effects and a bit of gain always on with a Boss Katana and it sound good in the room and makes me happy, don't need to overcomplicate things and worry about bullshit.
have to say I bought that same Harley Benton before i saw yours as I needed a guitar with no trem for learning songs at home. stacks up great against all my other guitars.
Another great video AND a Hitch Slap?
I love you more every day, bro!
Huge tone shift from Pre to Post Neve from Glen : ) = Happy Glen
Spot on here. I've heard recordings of Boss Katanas that sounded quite good but I have yet to hear a decent noise come out of one when I've been in the same room.
Do strings make a difference? Well, yes because they all have an individual feel which in turn will affect how you play. Might not affect the tone directly but you might hit the thing harder or softer as a result so the sound you generate will change. Different tuners? Not really seeing that having a noticeable effect.
My take on things? Get a HiWatt. If you really want to hear a guitar then a DR103 is a unique experience. Although if you turn it up for any length of time you may not be hearing much ever again unless you maintain a safe distance (about 500m should do it).
Hey Glenn. I'm so happy to see you got that Neve,, analog/digital console. It's a real Neve. But instead of getting those 1084 modules. I might recommend the 1081's for you, instead. Or 4 of each. Because the 1081's are quite different. And when you push those. They do something even more spectacular than the 1073/1084's. As those have the same, A/B op amps. I have in mind Neve. And I don't want those 1073's. I've got the 3115's. And what those are. Are the, BA-438 and BA-440, op amps. They are of A/B, design. And they have an extra rock 'n' roll edge to them. You don't get in those smoother sounding modules! They are, too smooth sounding. They don't have any, bite to them. They are just overly, smooth and blubbery sounding.
I mean really. You want those 1081's for, Death Metal.. They have an extra edge. That really comes to light in the mix. You don't get with 1073 or 1084's because those are Pure Transistor Class A. At they just get bloated sounding. You don't want bloated for Death Metal. You want something that's going to Punch Through. And that would be the 1081's. Plus they have a Notch button. That became very important. To all the hits. Of the late 70s into the 80s. Because they weren't all, CLASS A circuitry.
And everybody has gotten terribly misguided with this. As Rupert only believed in Class A. He didn't realize. Some of his coolest sounds came from his Class A/B, circuitry. Because those have a dissonant, Odd order harmonic, small component. That gives you that extra edge. You don't get in Your Class A transistor circuitry. It doesn't exist.
I just want you to know that Glenn. Because you're going to miss out on that exciting sound. And you shouldn't. The 1081 came out of the, 8068's. That were still all transistorized. It wasn't until they got to the,, 8078's. They went all cheap, IC chip, 5534's. And if you push those. They will not sound good. They will fall apart. You have to run those within normal parameters. They are not like Neve's, of, yore. Like I had. Now in the past tense. I just sold it off.. After using it since 1984 and owning it since 1996. And I don't want a Pure Class A Neve. I really don't. Everybody is misguided in that thinking.
As my 3115 modules. Had that 1081 microphone preamp. And the 1081 equalizer. Configured as a 1073 equalizer. So I had the best of both worlds. In one module.. But I did not have that Notch cut, feature of the 1081 modules. They would not fit my console. They are wider. And if I could have? I would have absolutely had those!. As they were in the 8068's. And right now. My memory is faltering at 68. I forget whether we had at Media Sound Studios NYC, 8058's or 8068's? I thought it was the 8058's? I could be wrong? Memories are fading. I haven't been there since 1979. And they closed years later. And became a nightclub.. I never saw the nightclub. I wondered how it had changed? It was a fabulous studio. Where so many rock 'n' roll hits came out of. Mostly by, Michael DeLugg and Bob Clearmountain. But so many others also. All came from that studio. Where I ended up working for not quite a year before I resigned.. Because I didn't like getting mugged in the subway. And I resigned at 9 AM the next morning. And took a job in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Where I would be safer.
And so I did not get a chance to create any rock 'n' roll hits. Though I was involved with some productions.. Of some very notable hits. One in particular, Barry Manilow's, Copacabana. I don't get a credit on that. Because I was only filling in for the assistant engineer that didn't show up. They took me out of the Maintenance Shop. And said you have to go do a session remedy. Bobby didn't show up for and overdub session.
I got to work with the famous Latin Percussionist. I think it was Lenny Castro? There were no lyrics on the song yet. It was just the instrumental track. And three hours later. We were done with that 5:30 song. And then Bobby showed up finally. And he took over from there. But had to keep my microphone set up the way it was. And it wasn't until about a year later. Then I found out what that song was? It was really pretty funny.
At that time. I was at a dance club. Halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Miami in Hollywood, Florida. I was just there having a couple of drinks. It was a fabulous place. A fabulous sound system. A huge dance floor completely packed. And the DJ was great. And then this song comes on and it sounds familiar to me? It goes into the lyrics. At the Copa. Copacabana. Oh my God it's Barry Manilow! It's my song! And where am I?
I'm at the Copacabana Nightclub in Hollywood, Florida. Oh my God! And I'm listening to the final mix of the song I recorded. And the Latin Percussion Track. Plays a Solo! I didn't know what I was recording at the time? I was only filling in. I thought this was very funny.
I really can't imagine what these,, Hit Engineers must feel like? Whenever they turn on the car radio. Whenever they are in a restaurant. Whenever they are in a retail store. And they keep hearing their recordings coming on. Do they like them? Do they hate them? Do they cringe over them? I've never asked any? I know them all! George Massenburg, Bob Clearmountain,, Bruce Swedien. I grew up around George. I went to work around Bob Clearmountain when I was 23.
But I ended up at this huge, National Advertising Agency. Where I would be in charge of engineering all the commercials. With some of the greatest announcers in the USA. They were great fun. To work with. And then I convinced the boss. He didn't need to pay those exorbitant prices for jingles out of New York City and Chicago. I could record them all in our little voiceover studio. With just a lousy Yamaha PA board. And a 8 track analog recorder. And what I was going to do. Was a pure impossibility to do. As the technical capabilities did not yet exist. But I had to make it work somehow? And so I did.
Yes there was nothing like getting 72 overdubbed tracks. All recorded on separate pieces of 8 track tape. And then flown in InSync. Using my fingertips. By using reel Flanging. It was quite the process. Everything flown in,, by hand InSync. Until I had 72 tracks on 8 to mix down. Which was impossible! Nobody could do this. And with 13 musicians in the studio. I only had 4 headphones to go around. So I blared the rhythm tracks out the studio speakers. Picking more of those up. That I was the violins or the woodwinds. Even the brass. It sounded horrible! So I fixed it. To sound fucking Great! And nobody could believe it when I finished. How did you do that? One track at a time. Until I stacked them all up. I was using Virtual Analog Tracks! Never before done!
And all sorts of crazy phase cancellation. To get rid of the slop over. From the studio speakers blaring. As I developed a brand-new recording technique! I had to! This wouldn't have worked if I hadn't. And it took a lot of marijuana I was not compensated for! But I had to do it. I had to make that sacrifice. Yes, yes. And what did it sound like? Now that the old examples are coming from sticky tape, about 8 analog generations down.. And it will sound awful. But it's all I've got left. From 30 IPS down to 7.5 IPS. From junk tape. That ended up in the wastebasket. I just roll that back on the reels again. And record over it. With lots of splices. You'll hear some of the splices. They were not fully closed. Oh well? It's the only archive I have left from 1979.
soundcloud.com/remyrad/remygolnickjinglesotdemomb2
Yeah I produced all of this at, 23 years of age. Never having attempted anything like this before. And certainly not with the right technical equipment to do it with. The stuff was just awful. I was fighting my Yamaha PA mixer the entire way. It was horrible! But I couldn't let it sound horrible. If I had only had the right API 1604 mixer and 16 track MCI analog recorder. It would have been 10 times better. It really would have. And this is 8 generations down. No Dolby was used. That's why it sounds good. I could never stand that crap. It only clouded the sound. Sure he got rid of the noise. It also got rid of the sound!
And this is how you have fun. Not by jumping off of mountaintops. Not by jumping out of airplanes. You could even go bowling instead. It still exists. And it's great when you smack into those pins. It's a wonderful sounding explosion. I like throwing hook shots. It goes down the right side of the aisle. And just before it gets to the pins it makes a hook to the left. Right between the 1 and 3 pins. And Voilà! That's fun. And you can keep doing it and doing it. And never get hurt or killed. Though I don't like doing that to the joints in my fingers anymore. So I record rock 'n' roll, instead. I don't care where the microphones are placed. It's up to me to make it sound good. That's all.
(More Neve Hierarchy in following post)
As a long time channel viewer.. the guitars being so similar I've already expected.. but the strings test surprised me - no major tonal difference, if any, to be found. as you said, put on distortion, fx, amps, yada yada -- and put them in the context of a mix an that will no difference at all. Nicely done Glen.
I can hear some minor differences but it could be have more to do with each pickups output level hitting the front of the amp differently… but I couldn’t tell you what is what…
My stab at the 1st blind test…
A, Gibson because it sounds basic and nothing special.
B, Shecter for no reason other than guessing…
C, Harley Benton because I would think cheep pickups would have lower output levels…
D, PRS, possibly because it has a hottest output level but could easy be mistaken for the Shecter.
Test no’2
A, Gibson with stainless steel strings
B, Harkey Benton with pure nickel string
C, PRS with the Silencer stings
you pissed the Schecter off.
Love you work mate… keep it going
great sounding amp
Hey Glenn, great video! i got a question, if different guitars plugged through the same amp on a clean channel have a similar sound due to the coloration as you mentioned, then wouldnt guitars (dry) sound entirely different coming out of monitor speakers since monitors are supposed to be flat/not have coloration? thanks!
Great show, Glenn! Always learn something new. That SIT boss guy "We don't give lunch". Factory work America 2024! Yippee!😁😀😀
What a time to be alive when Glenn has become the voice of reason on those subjects. Thanks! I'm not losing hope yet
I'm just happy i can hear the sound difference
My preference (1st test) in order - B,D,A,C
That being said a premium guitar is better mostly because it feels better to play and is built better (at least it should be). Harley Benton is great but they could do better QC especially with sharp fret ends. As for pickups - well, they are magnets and if you understand Faraday's laws of magnetics and how it interacts with movement to generate electricity you will understand what factors affect the signal and what don't.
Glenn!!!!!!!!!!!! G'day from Australia.
In the spirit of me looking like a fool, I'll bite....
My guess is as follows;
A - Gibson
B - Schechter
C - Harley Benton
D - PRS
My reasons? Guitar 'A' sounded a bit darker than the rest, like my Les Paul's seem to on comparison to my other guitars, the rest were just assumptions on what I perceive the other guitars to sound like.
I thought the nicest sounding one was D. So, if that's the Harley Benton, well played!
Really though, as soon as you add the tiniest bit of gain, they'll all sound exactly the same.... So, I guess the takeaway is buy/play guitars that are comfortable to play and you can afford/justify spending the money on (why not, it's your money).
Love the channel mate, keep up the good work!!!