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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | OK.....after the shootout with the Baxendale and the 1688 in my studio, here is my opinion (for what it's worth)!
The first thing you notice is the weight difference. Like most Adamii, the 1688 is heavy compared to the Bax....probably 3x the weight. Everytime I pick the Bax up, I have to look and see if the neck came off in my hands because it is so light.
Necks....pretty much a tie....and this is because I took the 1688 in and had Scott take the dimensions of the 1688 neck and duplicate it because the 1688 has the best 12 string neck I have ever played. Scott did a fantastic job of duplicating the feel. The biggest difference is in the cutaway aspect. Since he built the cutaway by twisting the wood and not having a heal (like a Martin cutaway), sliding up the neck past the 12 fret is a dream.
Intonation on the Baxendale is slightly better than the 1688 due to the fact that the Bax has a fully compensated saddle. Now the intonation on the 1688 is pretty close to spot on but the Bax just edges it out a bit above the 14th fret.
Sound....this is where it gets tough because I have always felt the 1688 was the best sounding acoustic I had ever played. Well, the Bax beats it....but not by much. Put the Bax at a 10 and the 1688 at a 9.5. The difference lies in the balance.
I recorded both guitars on multiple takes using a Blue Baby Bottle, a Neumann TLM103, a AKG C414 XLII, a Studio Projects C1, a Rode NT5 stereo pair, and finally a good old Shure SM57.
The recordings duplicated and confirmed what I thought I was hearing with my ears. The Bax just had a better overall balance tonally....The lows, mids, and highs were just pefectly equalized. No frequency outshone or dominated any other. Each individual note or chord (and mistakes) was so crystal clear that if I closed my eyes I thought that someone was sitting across the room from me and playing.
The 1688 was almost as good but it gravitated towards a bassier sound and the overtones tended to cause certain regions to sound slightly mushy. If you listened to the 1688 recordings first, it sounded totally incredible. It was only when you would flip over to the Bax and back that you could here the congestion in the lower and mid registers of the 1688.
Is the Bax worth 1.5 times the cost of a 1688. If you can afford it, absolutely..... but I still feel that the 1688 is a fantastic playing and sounding instrument. I honestly believe it is one of the finest 12 strings that you can play or own.
If I was playing out at a venue, I would absolutely use the 1688 (can't beat the Adamas durabilty) but for recording purposes the Baxendale wins the sound battle hands down.
I am extremely happy and very very lucky to own both.
What am I gonna do when my 2080D baritone 12 string shows up....man what a problem to have! :D |
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | Stephen;
She's a beaut, for sure!
Can you possible post a couple of the a/b clips so we can hear the differences?
Wayne |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Nice. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Wayne, I am afraid that mixing down to mp3 will lose the majority of the crisp differences between the two...plus with my injured nerve in my left hand (numbness an loss of strength) I think my playing, especially on a 12 string, sounds like shit.
However, since you asked (and are obviously a glutten for ear punishment) I will post a couple up. |
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Location: ranson,wva | beautiful geetar stephen..jason |
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Location: Hiram, Georgia | nice playing! phil |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Where both samples the Baxendale? Or was one the 1688? |
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April 2004
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | did the mixdown to mp3 make them sound that close? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Sample 2 clearly sounded better...
(I missed your post before the "Samples" explaining them...) |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | That makes me feel a little better about posting them. If you look at the titles, A12 is the Adamas and B12 is the Bax. |
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12 Fret 12 String Slothead Cutaway
