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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Ok, I just finished going through the submissions for the 8 guitar identities (there were only 5 who took a chance and voted for each of the 8 guitars by name):
First, here is the list in the correct order of the guitars I played on the test:
1. 1981 Adamas I 1687-7
2. 1985 Adamas 1187-247 RI #87
3. Ovation 1987-5 Collectors
4. 1990 Ovation 1868-6p Elite SSB
5. 1989 Ovation TS-01-5 Thunderbolt Snakeskin
6. 1948 Martin D-28
7. 1988 Taylor 615-CE Brazilian RW
8. Ovation 1982-8 Collectors
AND THE WINNER IS: LANAKI (RANDY) WITH 3 OUT OF 8 CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED: #'s 4, 6. and 7.
Congrats to all who played (only one other had any correct (1)) and to all those who voted for the best sounding guitar (in the blind).
I think you will be surprised at several things: but for me I was glad to see the number of those who voted for Ovations, and the number who voted for the Thunderbolt SSB...Of course the number who included the Taylor in the top three was nearly across the board...
So, it's done and hope you all had fun...
Randy, your banner is on the way by Friday!
Thanks everyone and now: carry on!
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Location: Sydney, Australia | I kind figured that the #47 was number 2 but was totally clueless about the rest (which is why I didn't make a formal guess). Then again, I don't think I've ever heard any of those guitars in the flesh (yes I've led a very sheltered existence).
I'm surprised by how much better the #47 sounds than the Adamas I. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | I learned a lot about recording these guitars and about mastering the final recordings...I tried to to the best I could at the time and probably next time they would sound much better... |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | le'see... I picked as the best three:
The Brazilian Taylor, The '48 Martin and the 47RI....
I can live with that... |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Nice Guesses Jeff...Thanks! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Well, I think I said something like this ...
#2 is the best and all the others tie for second. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Now I know I'm tired:
I posted: 2. 1985 Adamas 1187-247 RI #87
OF Course its actually my 2005 1187-247 #87
I'm going to bed now I think...
:D ;) |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I picked the same as Jeff, but different order. |
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Location: Tychy, Poland | I'm amazed that #1 sounds so empty. i excpected much more. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I'm going to quit guessing on these contests. I have the ears of a blowfish. |
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| So my faves were the Taylor, the Martin & the 82C. Guess it's hard to beat Braz. |
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Location: Denmark | Feeling not so bad about having only one right. Thanks a lot for making the contest, it was fun to participate. |
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| Funny, I own and have owned several adamas 1's odd that the collectors #8 sounded better than #1 I know for a fact that "in person" there is no comparison. The #1 (the adamas 1, my favorite guitar) sounded horrible to me in that recording. But, here in my music room or on stage, against my friends $4500 Taylors it holds its own quite well? The difference between the two Ovation adamas's the #1 and #2 choice was like Night and Day. There should be a difference but not that much. It almost sounded like there were effects on the slothead in comparison with the 1687. it was that different.
No comment needed and don't get me wrong, this test was interesting and fun but knowing how good an early Adamas sounds it just seems inacurate somehow. |
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Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I picked # 8 as the best one, and as it had that deep rich bass, I thought it was the Martin. OOPS! But I think Northcountry's comment only goes to prove that there is such a difference from guitar to guitar, even though they are the same model, that it's silly to proclaim ANY guitar model or brand better than another. Depends on the wood, how much glue was used, what the humidity was where it was built, and where you are now. I have seen and played three different Martin HD28's that had consecutive serial numbers, and they all sounded TOTALLY different. I have two Morgan Monroe Creeksides in the shop. Both sound good, but one is almost twice as loud as the other. I guess we all have different taste, so it's a good thing. |
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| Edited............ Never mind, Fun test, lots of effort here, don't want to start a debate. |
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Location: big island | i had a difficult time distinguishing the different ovations but i knew immediately the martin and taylor sounds as heard through my computer speaker setup. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Funny, I own and have owned several adamas 1's odd that the collectors #8 sounded better than #1 I know for a fact that "in person" there is no comparison. The #1 (the adamas 1, my favorite guitar) sounded horrible to me in that recording. But, here in my music room or on stage, against my friends $4500 Taylors it holds its own quite well? The difference between the two Ovation adamas's the #1 and #2 choice was like Night and Day. There should be a difference but not that much. It almost sounded like there were effects on the slothead in comparison with the 1687. it was that different.
No comment needed and don't get me wrong, this test was interesting and fun but knowing how good an early Adamas sounds it just seems inaccurate somehow. I was surprised myself: this Adamas I is one of, if not the best sounding acoustics I own. So, what happened? Truthfully I don't know...I can say honestly that there were no guitars favored and none were recorded differently or with effects or different mic's...in fact I changed mic's after the first two recordings because they were dull sounding and went to the Rode...as far as the Adamas guitars go, it may have been the close proximity to the mic with the treble epi side...In the future I will record these guitars back a bit and give both the treble side and the bass side time and distance to merge and be heard more fully...
This same Adamas I was used at Amelia by many of the performers at the Jam nite concerts and by Matt Smith in his concert on Saturday night: it sounded fantastic, and sounds the same here in person...
The sound of the '87C also surprised me recorded: I think the fact of having new strings that may not have been stretched is the culprit in this case...again it's not representative of that guitar's sound. Most of the others are very close to true sound: even the SSB's sounded rich and full (with the Snake sounding huge and wonderful...a fact that I knew but doubted many others would suspect...as they did not guess which it was but recognized it as something else than what it was. Plugged in, these guitars replicate most everything else in the Ovation piezo arsenal.
I do appreciate those who participated and took a shot: admittedly, it was difficult. Now that I know how to get the mixed sound signal stronger and along with the use of a better microphone, I am confident should a next time arise, the sound of each will be breathtaking. |
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Location: Tychy, Poland | hmm.
where did you put microphone? i'm recording with mic about 20 cm close to 12th fret of guitar i'm recording. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Originally posted by g8r:
So my faves were the Taylor, the Martin & the 82C. Guess it's hard to beat Braz. Mine were the exact opposite; 82C, Martin, Taylor. It's weird, but I had a feeling I had picked one Ovation and two woodboxes, but I'm glad (in a defensive biased kind of way) the "O" came out at the top. I'm also relieved that my ears are not tonally tunnel-visioned to one brand as I love the looks of many traditional guitars.
I couldn't really participate in part 2 of the contest as I've never been around 6 of the 8 guitars used. Maybe one day I'll be able to offer a more informed opinion. :p :rolleyes: :cool:
You know what else would be fun? Try this with a specific subset of Ovations. Test the Collector's series, or Adamas, or Legends, etc. |
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| Nice job Mike. Well worth the effort for sure. Being a huge fan of the early Adamas 1's and having so many sessions on stage with my partner who is a taylor fan I know first hand how good these early ovations sound in comparison. I was very surprised to hear an example of that guitar sound so bad in comparison to the rest and more surprised at the huge difference in the two Adamas's. The difference between those first two recordings is truely spectaular. Look forward to another test.
Randy |
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Location: Texas | so, which guitar won as the best sounding of the blind test? |
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Location: big island | the 47 RI won. |
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Guitar Sound Test Pool: Final Results!
