Going from Guildsby to a harp. What GOOD stuff will I lose ?

parker_knoll

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Agree wit dat sentiment ek-zak-lee.

I don't like the Guildsby B6 type on my SFIII. I'm forced to have another bridge made - at least partly because of the B6.

I use the B6 now & then. I think even in Jazz - which I play now & then - it can help you emphasize parts of a lead.
But a B7 with its extra tension bar would have been better on my guitar. Until I get a thicker floating bridge, I'm stuck playing
.12's on my SF III. With a harp tailpiece, I think I could string it with .10's. But I wouldn't remove it on the SFIII. I like the
potential of what it can do.

most people prefer the playing action of a B6 vs a B7. Less spongey, more immediate in response. But, obviously, horses for courses.
 

JohnW63

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The only fancy Jazz chord I know well is the "half diminished 7th" ones. Like this one:

Dm7b5.png


Does B7sus4 count ?

B-7th%20Suspended%204th-B-x%2C2%2C2%2C2%2C0%2C2.png
 

GAD

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All chords are jazz chords. :tongue:

One of my favorite scene from Friends is when Phoebe was jealous of the new guitar player at the coffee shop, so she walks up and asks haughtily, "How man chords do YOU know?"

"Well... all of them."

Makes me laugh every time.
 

Bill Ashton

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John, I am very late to this party...but if you ever for some reason decide to sell the Bigsby ("licensed" or otherwise) please put me on the want-list...:love-struck:

Default, just calm down now...
 

JohnW63

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Alright. After leveling the playing field, with new strings , of the same brand/type/size, I have these conclusions.

1) Unplugged, the non Guildsby guitar is louder and sound a bit brighter.

2) Plugged in, they are very close, but I would still say the mids are more prevalent on the simple harp tail version. If you have ever had an amp that had a "Presence" knob, and you turn it up, you know what I mean. The mids are more obvious. I still like the flat wounds for the jazz standards kind of stuff I am learning on both guitars. You get a nice deep low end and the highs are not sharp.

3) I could find no difference in the sustain of the guitars. Maybe it's because they are both laminate construction. I would think with over a pound of extra mass on the top with the Bigsby style arm and saddle, there would be a difference. I couldn't find one.

I do wonder if they have a different note that would be their resonant frequency and more prone to feedback at that.

I kept going back and forth, listening for differences and trying to peg what I heard down. It took a lot longer than I thought. Their wasn't many " Oh, now THAT is a difference ! " moments. In fact, except for the unplugged tone and volume, there rest of the time were more question marks, and no exclamations.

I'll give them a day or two to settle in and make a call. I suspect the NS-X-175B is going to be the one in the For Sale section.
 

GAD

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Alright. After leveling the playing field, with new strings , of the same brand/type/size, I have these conclusions.

1) Unplugged, the non Guildsby guitar is louder and sound a bit brighter.

2) Plugged in, they are very close, but I would still say the mids are more prevalent on the simple harp tail version. If you have ever had an amp that had a "Presence" knob, and you turn it up, you know what I mean. The mids are more obvious. I still like the flat wounds for the jazz standards kind of stuff I am learning on both guitars. You get a nice deep low end and the highs are not sharp.

3) I could find no difference in the sustain of the guitars. Maybe it's because they are both laminate construction. I would think with over a pound of extra mass on the top with the Bigsby style arm and saddle, there would be a difference. I couldn't find one.

I do wonder if they have a different note that would be their resonant frequency and more prone to feedback at that.

I kept going back and forth, listening for differences and trying to peg what I heard down. It took a lot longer than I thought. Their wasn't many " Oh, now THAT is a difference ! " moments. In fact, except for the unplugged tone and volume, there rest of the time were more question marks, and no exclamations.

I'll give them a day or two to settle in and make a call. I suspect the NS-X-175B is going to be the one in the For Sale section.


Nice - That's the way to do a test! Sometimes, especially with modern CNC-made instruments that have a consistency we could only dream about in the '70s, you just keep the one you like better.

Sustain can be a fickle beast with a hollow body. Since you're playing jazzy stuff with flatwounds this probably isn't the test for you, but for rockabilly I'd consider playing them at volume and trying to find that feedback/sustain balance point. I'd bet that with round-wound strings you may notice more brightness and easy feedback from the Guildsby setup which would be a good thing for that genre, but for jazz stuff I'd lean more towards the simple harp. That's why I have both. :)
 

GAD

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You wouldn't be suggesting anything, would you ?

Sure - Buy a vintage X-170, a vintage Starfire-III, and then buy three or four X-500s trying to find the perfect mix of both. That's what I did after I bought an X-175B. That way lies madness. :livid:
 

GAD

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You mean you weren't always this way?

Nope. I used to be poor and my only real possession was my S300A-D. There were times I probably should have sold it to make rent but I never did. Instead I just let the utilities lapse. Didn't need a phone. When the power went out I played unplugged. Instead of paying to get the power and phone on I bought a Tom Sholtz Rockman when I had enough money so I could play with headphones. This is why I let my wife run the finances for the house and stuff.

I can remember sitting on the front steps of my apartment with my S300, my Rockman, and a borrowed Walkman. I'd wear two headphones so I could practice parts over songs.

I had no money, no credit cards, no worries (except when it got dark and cold) but surprisingly a girlfriend. Such is the power of guitar. :peaceful:
 

Quantum Strummer

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I recently bought, restrung & set up two versions of basically the same early 1980s semi-hollow guitar, the second about 10 days after the first. One has fancy cosmetics and the laminate body has an outer burled mahogany layer, while the other is plainer with maple atop the laminates. While working on the second guitar I did notice it sounded "a bit" brighter when plugged in than the first guitar. But when I played the two back-to-back I was astonished at how much brighter the second guitar was. It turned out that some of this was down to pickup height…the HBs involved are extremely sensitive to this. But it's also due to the guitars themselves: the fancier guitar has a lighter & brighter acoustic sound, while the plainer guitar has a more mid-forward aggressive sound. One is all about nuance & complexity, which suits its classy exterior, while the other just wants to roar. :) Gotta keep 'em both, I guess.

-Dave-
 

parker_knoll

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Nope. I used to be poor and my only real possession was my S300A-D. There were times I probably should have sold it to make rent but I never did. Instead I just let the utilities lapse. Didn't need a phone. When the power went out I played unplugged. Instead of paying to get the power and phone on I bought a Tom Sholtz Rockman when I had enough money so I could play with headphones. This is why I let my wife run the finances for the house and stuff.

I can remember sitting on the front steps of my apartment with my S300, my Rockman, and a borrowed Walkman. I'd wear two headphones so I could practice parts over songs.

I had no money, no credit cards, no worries (except when it got dark and cold) but surprisingly a girlfriend. Such is the power of guitar. :peaceful:

loved this little tale
 

JohnW63

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For a very short period; A week I think. After my apartment lease was up and there was a delay in getting in my next living space, I had to move back with my parents. All the rooms were filled, so I slept under the bow of his small fishing boat in the driveway, on the V shaped benches that hid the life preservers.

That's as close to sparse conditions as I've even been.
 
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