The first attraction is how it looks, but I got to say.. how it feels to play is what leads me to keep them. Even the sound, I've been known to change the pickups to fix that on a great feeling guitar.
One of the overlooked factors in playability is stability of the build and materials over time. Some guitars leave the factory as real gems but don't hold up to the passage time and the effects of environmental variations.
I have a very reasonable PRS hollowbody that feels so beautiful to play.. it looks gorgeous.. it's so hard to resist just picking it up. Amd yes, it's a Hollowbody II Piezo ❤
First thing ...aesthetic. First thing once I pick it up o see if it's as good as it looks...vibrations/resonance. If the body & neck & tuning keys aren't noticeably vibrating with the string it's a letdown. Then it's acoustic volume louder = better, then back to aesthetics for fit & finish, then just see if it connects. If so it's passed all trials.
Far and away, the most important thing I look for in a guitar is that it looks cool and makes me want to pick it up. At my skill level, the main limiting factor in how it sounds is me, not the wood or the electronics. If I look over across the room and get excited to grab the guitar and play or practice, that's good enough for me.
I agree 100% about looks. If it looks nice (to me) then I'm picking it up. If it doesn't look nice (to me) then I won't pick it up no matter how good someone claims it to be. For me, I think red Fender style guitars are so ugly. I won't pick one up even if it's considered to be the best guitar ever. But a Fender style guitar in white or natural on the other hand, those look good for me and I glady try it.
OK, I’m going to wear my heart on my sleeve here. I actually wept when Chris played us out on the LP - I had an emotional connection that just hit me - Wham! Beautiful, beautiful expression and feel. One of the greatest guitarists out there. Hope to see you on tour.
this guy is so musical and articulate. it makes me cry on the inside to realize how i really haven’t found my lane yet, but damn is it inspiring to know what it sounds like that someone else has..
I could watch Chris play any guitar. That’s the thing, Chris Buck plays a Revstar, it sounds like Chris Buck, he plays a Squier Jazzmaster, it sounds like Chris Buck, he plays a 1950’s LesPaul, & guess what, sounds like Chris Buck. ‘Nuff said. I’ve had loads of guitars, none sound like Chris Buck 😂
I like to sometimes learn licks in a song note for note, but I find it a lot more fun to play in harmony or in a "call and response" style to the vocalist when playing with recordings or videos. I learn more too. I play for fun with no ambitions and only occasionally in front of an audience. If someone gets good enough with anything they almost by necessity and very naturally develop their own 'style', which maybe just comes from repetition and playing/doing the same thing many many times. I have my own 'style' of doing every song I cover that has developed as the song 'became mine' with repetition and experimentation, adding my own elements to the vocal or guitar parts. Thanks to Chris Buck I also play a Yamaha Revstar STD P90. Gets a lot more play than my much more sought after instruments. First time in my hands I felt like I had been playing it for many years. It has only gotten better. I pick up the Revstar and forget I have it in my hands, it becomes transparent to my playing. I have owned top USA made Strats, Gibson, Gretsch and Guild electrics. I play the Revstar more than I have played any of them combined since I got it 2 years ago. Close second is my Eastwood Rockerbox DLX LTD.
I think Chris is an amazing player - but I find what you're saying to be true of most guitarists at journeyman level and beyond - including myself. Give me any axe, and it's still gonna sound like me. The tone is, indeed, largely in the fingers...
So true - it’s like the famous Eddy Merckx quote about cycling kit: “Don’t buy updgrades - ride up grades!” As in it’s more about how much time you invest in training, not how much/how expensive your gear is…
@@TheRealDavidFarmer Just because you're a supercilious ass is no reason to deny the truth. And, age has nothing to do with it. It's the brain driving the muscles. So, of COURSE CB sounds like CB. You? You just sound like a massive ass with an inferiority complex so well-developed you attack strangers for no reason. So very glad I am not you and don't know you, whatever bloody generation you're from. Oh, and BTW: we boomers fought for civil rights, gay rights, reproductive rights, and against the war in Vietnam. WTF has your generation done? Oh, and get off my lawn!
When I went shopping for a Tele, I went round all the shops just strumming every Tele they had. Eventually I came across this one Fender American Professional (I didn’t want to spend kind of money) that just blew me away. I then plugged it in and it still sounded gorgeous, so I sucked it up and took that lady home.
I'm not a PRS guitar fan, but Paul Reed Smith is right. The body interacts with the string. Anyone who's placed their ear on the back of the electric guitar can tell that instantly. And if you have more than one electric guitar, and place an ear to the back of each one after hitting a note or a chord, you'll hear a difference. The pickup, being electronic in nature, doesn't pick up the acoustic properties per se, but being that the string is interacting with the body and the pickups are mounted to the vibrating body, it all comes into play somewhere. And, of course, much of it can be overcome by amp settings, dirt / OD / EQ boxes, etc. That goes without saying. But the construction of an electric, and its natural resonance does affect the tone. Good set up also helps. The better I set up my Ibby (which wasn't set up well when I got it from the guy who gave it to me) the more resonant it became unamplified, and it also sounded a LOT better amplified (more volume, better sustain, more body to the notes) -- so I think PRS is onto something. Of course, being a guitar builder and designer, why wouldn't he?
Hey man, just wanted to say thanks for having such a passion for the guitar. There’s a lot of us who do, but not many with the sounding board that you have - or indeed the talent. We have to keep it alive for a long time to come, and seeing great bands like Cardinal Black is cool because it means it’ll keep going for generations to come
I’ve been playing for 50 years and the $200 second hand Ibanez SG copy I own now is by far the best sounding and most enjoyable to play guitar I’ve ever had. I put in Seymour Duncan pickups ($225) and replaced the guts with reproduction vintage Gibson SG electronics ($70). It’s my all time favorite; it sounds exactly like a classic SG and it writes songs for me every time I play it. I think it’s actually comparable to my 1980s PRS. The salesman at Wurlitzer Music in Boston who gave me a great deal on that PRS was Reeves Gabrels.
Thank you Chris for the continuous output of superb videos. I hope that, with your career as a performing artist taking up more time, you still find the time for us. 🙏🏻
All great points (and great playing as usual). PRS is right, the acoustic sound is everything. G.E. Smith, a man who has done some high profile gigs (Dylan, Hall & Oates, SNL) and dealt in vintage guitars himself, once came into Rudy's Music Stop when i was working there. He asked to see a Rickenbacker 12-string that was hanging behind the counter. He strummed two cowboy chords on it acoustically and said, "I'll take it." Bill Connors (Return to Forever) used to buy parts from Rudy's to build guitars for his students. He would come in and tap on the bodies and necks before purchasing to check their resonance. One thing that is rarely discussed is how that resonance affects tuning. Over 50 years of buying, selling, recording, and playing guitars, as well as interviewing professional guitarists, It has become obvious that some guitars sound in tune and some never will. The difference seems to be how the overtones are reproduced by the wood and the construction. I have had the finest set-ups and intonation jobs in the world, even a Buzzy Feiten job on one guitar and some instruments still never sounded quite in tune, whereas my Strat, where only the body and neck are still original 1965, always sounds in tune regardless of the different hardware and pickups it has sported over the years. The overtones are just gloriously in tune. I'll shut up now ;-) Thanks for the videos.
I'm glad that you had Paul's commentary on the physics of resonance and damping. The "wood doesn't make a difference" crew seem to have this modular idea of how sound works that ignores that an instrument is an entire system and not a disparate collection of individual, isolated parts. Physics is physics. Nothing is separate from anything else, truly.
Nothing is separate from anything else, yes, but are you physically able to hear the differences when it comes to wood, fretboard, etc, probably not and some blind studies showed it very well.
@@flocecotti4993 Am _I_ physically able? Absolutely. Pick up a mahogany dreadnought and then a rosewood dreadnought that has the same construction/bracing. Nothing could sound more different. Now, if you add a pickup to those guitars and _then_ can't hear a difference in the recording, what you're describing isn't the tone woods not making a difference. You're describing the pickup system colouring its sound all over the guitars themselves. The whole studies, woods don't make a difference crowd are just flat wrong. If you change _the same guitar's_ fretboard from rosewood to ebony, that ebony has a different damping profile than rosewood. That will affect the decay, harmonics and even the fundamental of the guitar. Some guitars will be more similar than others and so I can see how it could muddy the waters, but a similar overall sound is a function of the system -- its combined parts. Similar sounding guitars are not proof that woods don't make a difference.
Paul didn't actually comment on physics at all, and what he did say made no sense. When a guitar's body is resonant it will steal some of the strings vibrations (at particular frequencies) making for a shorter "ringing" guitar.
@@TraneFrancks Seeing as you *think* you're a science person, here's a reference to research that backs up my claim: Fleischer, H. und Zwicker, T., Mechanical vibrations of electric guitars
I absolutely love hearing Chris 's perspective on all of his gear and his tones. I quit playing for 20 years because I had children and coming back to it. I'm trying to figure everything out and his perspective is informing my buying decision.
@@BaronsDuju something has to give whether it be losing half an hour of sleep or something. You'll have to give something up to gain that back. That's what I learned
@@Mark_B585 appreciated :) a big problem - for me at least - is finding the creative energy to WANT to play/learn when I get those rare few minutes. You might be onto something - taking a break might help with that.
I’m back to playing after 30 years of “life” in between. I didn’t think I’d ever come back but here we are, two years since I’ve rediscovered the old love and the joy of holding the instrument and making music. If you don’t feel inspired to play don’t. Give it a pause and allow your senses to rest and reinvent themselves. If and when you start craving it again, then you’ll know it’s time and you’ll be returning for the right reasons and with fresh ideas, hopefully.
Having built several partscasters, you get a sense of how construction affects resonance. Don't cut corners on bodies and necks (or anything, really - but especially bodies and necks). Spend a little more and get something with quality wood and decent, thin finish. I've tried out a few cheap bodies and every one of them sounded dead. Usually heavy and with thick poly finishes. They also can be inconsistent in terms of routing and drilling, which makes a difference on things that you wouldn't expect, particularly in the neck pocket. If the neck doesn't fit good and snug where you have to work it into place, it's not going to sound good (in my experience), and it will fight you on setup. My best guitars are my two MJTs where everything fit in place perfectly and they both sing unplugged and plugged in. I also have a one-piece swamp ash Warmoth Esquire that is fantastically responsive and resonant. Two of them have Musikraft necks and one, my Strat, has a 50s Mexican Fender neck that is shockingly good. All of them fit the bodies perfectly. In short, I've found that a guitar that is built with care using quality components down to the smallest detail is usually going to sound great. At least in terms of bolt-on Fender-type guitars.
Yep whenever I suggest to someone they should start a business doing X and they "But I don't know anything about X", I show them a clip of Paul talking BS. Pickups are microphones now, apparently. Any idiot can create a business.
@@michael1 don’t get me wrong, I think Paul is a complete blowhard, but he is right - pickups absolutely act as a microphone. Take a guitar with a set of unpotted pickups and tap the body. You will hear a response through the amp because the pickups are picking up the vibration through the body. You can even yell into the pickups and with enough gain your voice will come through the amp. The first song on Kings of Leon’s fourth record has this. There is a whale sound, and that’s the lead guitarist screaming into the pickups on his vintage Gibson hollow body. See 42 seconds into this video. ruclips.net/video/hYECLfqjdnw/видео.htmlfeature=shared Unpotted pickups are literally described as microphonic.
@@mattmarrs129 No one is buying and playing a guitar with broken pickups. It's bullshit from a guy who ironically isn't intelligent enough to see that the truth won't hurt his business anyway - but he's scared it will. What do I look for in a guitar? Well, if the owner of the brand is on the internet then "don't be a buffoon" would be my number 1 piece of advice. In most cases the product is a better thing to promote rather than the owner. It's like Ford, maybe the owners of Ford are complete buffoons, but, unlike Tesla they aren't online saying dumb stuff making it obvious. So, logically or not, I'd never buy a tesla because Elon Musk's idiocy rubs off on the image of the car. Similarly, no matter how well PRS make guitars I can't get out of my head what a complete idiot Paul is and Paul seems determined to make sure we never forget by turning up on every guitar channel he can just as you sort of forgot he pops up and says something that's BS and he says it in a way that clearly shows behind it he has an anger and contempt for his potential customers - which is the most stupid thing he could possibly do - because, make no mistake Paul, lots of people buying PRS know that tone wood is a crock of shit, but going around calling them idiots is eventually going to hurt your business. Think about it. Spend more time with your family. Get off the internet. -He should have just STFU and made guitars. Once his ego had him turning up on every guitar channel he devalued the brand. Mostly he makes guitars that people don't play - even Chris says how great his PRS is but he doesn't play it. 99% of them are sold to people who can't play. Paul has a guitar called 'Paul's guitar' but he can't play. I mean it's becoming something of a joke the guitarists that get signature guitars these days - I mean Chapman started it perhaps giving their buddies guitars and they can't even play. Rabea was perhaps the best of that bunch but a £4k+ guitar? It's more expensive than Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan and many others oft considered the best guitarists in the world. Rabea is not that. But Paul? He can't play a note and he has a signature guitar? It's ludicrous. Like Nike giving Boris Johnson signature running shoes. As someone who wants a guitar to play PRS is not a brand I'd ever look at because I've never seen anyone with high skill playing one. As for the playability it's really nothing more than the same reason Chris likes his revstar - a shorter scale length. Given that most guitars are 25.5" and they're sold with far too fat strings based on some unwritten industry standard that makes no sense (and more bs and myths) anyone picking up a short scale length guitar is going to note the feel difference. That it's better. There's nothing mysterious about it. Particular with people who overplay (i.e use far more effort than necessary) - which I'm Chris would accept he does having gone as far as damaging one of his fingers to the point where he has to hold his pick in it to stop him using it. Nor is there really any sense where one guitar off the production line is magically better - it's mostly just set up differences. So sure, if you buy guitars in the traditional way of going to a brick store and picking them off the shelf - one or two are going to be more playable than the others. The rest is psychobabble - chris sounds pretty much the same on all the guitars he plays, and that's self evident in the clips he shows on these videos. You know it's like the famous thing where Jimmy Page is playing a telecaster on the recording but sold a lot of gibson les pauls because he had one in every photo. Undoubtedly Page fooled himself that a different track needed a different guitar too and imagined that he was getting a different tone - but his sloppy drug-addled playing sounded pretty much the same.
They vary so wildly because when each of your components in your signal chain have a + or - 10% variance, it can change the sound dramatically. Although the biggest thing that changes your sound is the speaker.
Very wise advice. I'm going to get the live Cardinal black album. I love your playing. You only play fast when it's best, and the passion in your phrasing, bends, and sustain , is outstanding. I'd love to hear a jam between you and Joe bonamassa...pure heaven.
I only have cursory knowledge of what to look out for in electric guitars and this video helped me understand more. The part about resonance made me go "Ah, oh yes of course." I was transfixed by the melody of the final jam. Your playing is really in a league of its own.
I'm not a great fan of lead guitar playing... despite being a guitarist myself, but that snippet at the start did manage to send a few shivers down me... very nice, sir.
On pot values. The production tolerances on commonly found pots are of the order of plus or minus 20 to 40 percent, if you real want to know the value, measure it.
I certainly agree about resonance: my own Squier Strat is good, but the one I set up recently is really resonant, and without doubt the best one I've ever played. I made a few videos with it, using clickbait titles, and consequently got many more views than my usual vids!
That's interesting. I always listen to Paul's every word, and respect his opinions. I've been playing these things since 1968, and I've played, and owned quite a few. Even a '58 burst, when it was 12 years old. LOL The only reason I sold it is I got a new Fender Thinline Tele, and enough $$ for 4 months rent. That's important when your 2 behind and your GF keeps asking if you paid the rent yet? I have 50 things I think are important on the guitar. The basic's, the body and associated things, and the neck. I like big beefy necks, they are hanging on to the other end of the string! These days I like building my own guitars. I drive around with an electric chain saw in the back of my truck. I've brought home some very interesting wood to make bodies from. My wife thinks I'm nuts. LOL One of my best finds was a mahogany sound board from a piano made in the 1880's. Left for the junk pickup, I did chainsaw surgery on it and removed the sound board. I've found other bits of furniture with valuable (to me) wood also. A Brazilian rosewood door was a good find too! These days, I use Warmoth for necks. They can build them better than I will now. They make me nice thick/fat ones too! LOL With anything else I want. Yeow, sorry for running on. Peace, --gary
What a great idea getting sound boards out of old pianos. My stepdad was a piano tech. I saw dozens of pianos with amazing old wood in them. I bet they would make some incredible guitar bodies.
@@ThodEssmann 3 out of 4 w/outstanding results! 1 was too nice, I tarped it, and went back and got it w/small trailer. It got restored and donated. Started with battery powered circular saw. When electric chain saws came out, it made it safer and faster on the road side!! I keep it very sharp, be very careful!! 8)
One experience I had that has changed some of my thought on this was on an old MIK Epiphone I have. I always liked, but never loved it. But, when changing the strings a year or so ago, the plastic nut fell apart. So, I put a bone nut on it, and it completely changed the way the guitar rings and sustains. Suddenly, it sounds punchy and more lively. This has me eyeing better (and properly cut) nuts on more of my cheaper guitars.
I has a Gibson ES335, mid 70s that acoustically plunked like a banjo, but when I stood with it in front of a 4x12 really sang. It was only resonant when plugged in. As for Squier, my Classic Vibe Jazzmaster sings too. A year older than your anniversary.
Yeah, maybe it was that deadness that kept it from going feedback crazy? Chambered, but not that resonant until major sound hit it? I want a chambered guitar so bad for that tone.
I play pretty much only Fenders. Not for any brand loyalty reasons, they just suit my bands music. Having played EVERY range of Fender over the years, I can say that the Classic Vibe Squiers have been really up there in terms of playability. My other favourite "cheap" guitar was a Yamaha Pacifica PAC 611, unbelievably easy to play and I regret selling it.
Great, concise, thoughtful overview! All the components come together to define the sound but IMHO it all goes back to the wood - the construction (which may involve the weight relief as it affects resonance). I bought my first electric 50 years ago when our band launched in NZ - 3rd hand Gibson LP Custom. It's all I played for 10 years and after finessing the height and fine tuning of the strings it was magic (still is!). The next one, my main studio guitar of the last 32 years, is my Sadowsky NYC S Style HSH. I bought it on a whim when I ordered Roger's Electric Nylon (exquisite!) and it just had the magic. I don't like the word 'mojo' as a couple of YT reviewers seem to think the whole 'relic' thing is essential to an instrument having 'mojo' (whether thru natural ageing or being 'Murphyised'),which I don't buy at all, but I am happy to live with the mystery of why one guitar might speak to me above others that are, ostensibly, identical. So it goes, I guess. Really enjoyed your demos backing up the 3 comments - that Revstar is special, I wonder how much the chambered approach Yamaha took is responsible - it seems they really went all out in sculpting the 'right' weight relief . . .
I totally agree with how the guitar responds and sounds when unplugged certainly carries over to the amplified sound. And please play something on that stunning PRS for an upcoming FFWs ❤
I know people think PRS is crazy, but I agree with him. The wood and parts that touch the strings are going to change the tone. It’s not just the way the pickups are wound and the amp/PA. If you build two identical guitars and change just one variable like the type of wood, the wood’s mass, the bridge/saddles material, nut material, or even the tuning pegs (let alone multiple changes), it just makes sense that it will create tonal variations. Will it be to the extent as an acoustic guitar? Probably not. However, that does mean that the wood and other materials in an electric guitar don’t count. While I respect what Jim Lill tried to do with that experiment, it was not done using a scientific method and in a controlled environment that would truly test his theory accurately. I’m in Paul’s camp on this one. Honestly, we need a scientist who specializes in musical instrument theory to conclusively test a scientific hypothesis (or several if need be) to come up with conclusive answers and theories on this subject of whether tone wood and/or other materials touching the strings affect the tonal properties of an electric guitar vs. a pickup and/or amp’s design.
I own many different brands of guitars. I have two PRSs, a Wood Library DGT and an Experience 2012 CU24. Both are phenomenal and I'm going to trust what Paul says because the man has put in the work.
I recently had to replace the bridge on my 74 Harmony Meteor, went from a "tunematic" style bridge to an intonated ebony bridge, it's never sounded so good unplugged or plugged. So definitely it influences the overall sound of the instrument instrument.
That PRS hollow body is genuinely absolutely stunning, just proper beautiful. I’ve got a HB2 that is a sensational player but for some reason I don’t play it as much as my LP’s either.
Yes. Thats true. One verry importent thing for me, ist that the guitar speeks with it look to me. If it´s hanging on the wall and it catches my eye, and in me comes up the wish: Oh my beauty I need to play you!
A great guitar has a loud resonant ring while unplugged. And soon as you get the neck in your hands, it sits right where you want it to, and fits like a glove.
I'll have to watch this episode again. Because it's nothing most of us don't already know? But have somehow been lulled into believing it doesn't matter enough to even bother with. Being a modder and hot rodder of most guitars. I generally don't buy guitars for the pickups specifically. I look at the guitar from a structural and construction standpoint first. Then I tune it and strum it acousticly. If it's got old crusty strings, change them, give it a quick set up. Get to know the instrument a little bit. My experience has shown, that putting a little TLC into almost any decent guitar. Will generally result in an overall better playing experience. Look at it this way. Many of the best out of the box stock, playing guitars. Get snatched up with the quickness, before anyone farther down the line ever sees a perfect one outta the box. That means if us mere paupers expect to have perfectly dialed examples. We have to figure out how to get them there ourselves. My advice is to look at the guitar as a sum of its parts. ANY, crappy pieces can make an otherwise sweet playing and sounding guitar suck. Rattling/buzzing bridge screws are my current struggle. It's always something it seems. Get in there and sort the shit. It's the only way a poor man can expect perfection out of a guitar. I know I can't afford to have someone else do it for me? Get a good hunk of wood, and build on it. It's not rocket science. PEACE!
In regards to tonewood, I have 5 strats, one of which is a Fender Squier series, MIK with a plywood or laminate body. It is the most resonant, loudest of the five when played unplugged.
You showed part of Jim Lill's video at the beginning. The amount of testing he went through is incredible, and I dont think you can write him off as being in the "the wood makes no difference" crowd. He showed where the differences are small or great, but more importantly how all the small differences add up.
Values for guitars: 1. Tuning stability. Absolutely #1 for gigs. NOBODY in the WORLD likes watching a guitarist tune. 2. Weight. I'm only 25, but my back already hurts from years of gigs. Under 7 lbs ideally. 3. Versatility (as many pickup combinations/tones possible. Leads me towards strats even though I think I naturally play gibson-style instruments better). Everything else I can work out, including tone. I generally like bright guitars, but dark guitars have their place.
Everything! First the looks to get me to pickup the guitar. Then I play before buy every time even if it has to be through a headphone amp in a coffee shop. It has to sound and feel good so I know I'll bond with it. Case in point, my used walnut 2018 Gibson SG Special (reissue of a '74 but with Gibson dual rail minis, not pole peice minis) bought off Craigslist came with a slightly twisted neck yet it's my favourite player for a year and a half now, totally bonded with it, resonates beautifully and fits like a glove. Intellectually a neck twist would mean not accepting it, but playing it tells a different story.
I will add that the goldfoils that I got are quite microphonic as well. I also got a set of PAF style unpotted pickups (Seymour Duncan antiquities, unpotted version), Installed on a cheap firefly 335 clone, Which they also transformed). Microphonic pickups present problems, but they also produce a unique sound that cannot be replicated in potted single coil, and humbucking pups! They're more unruly, but more alive, is how I'd characterize them - and also more complex-sounding in the PAFs I've compared. Some people like me absolutely love them. And in the PAF world especially, there's an entire class of cork-sniffers who will ONLY put unpotted PAFs in their LPs.
The fretwork is what makes a great guitar for me. And neck feel. Don't really care about the other stuff. In terms of body wood, I prefer which ever is the lightest. Right now that would be my Paulownia wood builds. Like a 4pound tele. In terms of unplugged sound I think the nut and bridge saddle and bridge type play a big part in that. Like a strat trem will have the bridge cavity and springs etc. tele has the barrel brass saddles. Etc
I always like Paul’s demeanor and way of being no-nonsense. You’ll never have to guess what he’s actually saying when he speaks. 😄 Is it the type of wood or just the build quality? I don’t care really, because his strongest point is that any (bass)guitar has to ring and speak. So you have yourself, the guitar, pickups, electronics, hardware, amp(s), pedals, pedals, pedals, pedals, cables, favorite strap and boots... But, there’s one less expensive factor that just might have a huge influence... Strings. I think that people should really take some time to find the set of strings that suits both their playing and the guitar. When you play multiple guitars, every single guitar can sometimes achive quite different results from the others when it comes to strings. Sometimes they’re the same. So, find the set of strings that fits your playing on a particular guitar. Brands, types, gauges: find them yourself. Don’t just go for the stuff your ‘heroes’ are using... I play bassguitar. But I think that the string thing is at least as valuable for my instrument. We play flats and rounds and tapewounds... 😉
Playability and sound go hand & hand as far as I'm concerned. If a guitar doesn't check those boxes right away, it goes back. Looks are an individual preference thing. Chris, your playing amazes me and inspires me. I rank you up there with my favorite player....Mr. Joe Bonamassa. There many more, but I'll keep it short.
This Outro Jam is AMAZING! Great sound and great play - you can really feel the inspiration that comes from the guitar! Any hint what backing track is used? Greetings from Germany 👋😎🎸
When I was young, before the internet, my first band mate had a 70s les Paul. It weighed a ton. I played a teisco which weighed like an ounce. I then bought a nos 50s les Paul , non chambered with staple pick ups , that weighed about a ton. To me heavy = good tone. That les Paul hurt my back so I bought an 70s telecaster. It weighed a ton…. You see the pattern? I now play so many expensive custom shops that weigh NOTHING. And, due to my youth, my posture is like Quasimodo
Some great points made here. I've played 2k guitars that to me don't play as well as my 300 quid classic vibe Tele. I think a large part is the player and what they feel in an instrument. Different strokes for different folks. I'm in the school of thought that the wood doesn't make a massive difference to the tone though!
I have the strangest feeling / vaguely optimistic, that some of these jams that play us out week in and week out might be some sort of heads up or possible snippet of new upcoming Cardinal Black tunes. 🤞🏻
I always check the neck feels before i buy it, thats why if i will buy a second hand guitar or brand new guitar i wanted to test it to feel the comfort of the neck.
I always appreciate hearing his perspective on his gear and his guitars. It's informed my buying decision. I started playing guitar again out of a season of grief and it's the best thing I ever did.
So, what’s the first thing you look for in a guitar? 🎸
Just holdin out for that CB Signature
The first attraction is how it looks, but I got to say.. how it feels to play is what leads me to keep them. Even the sound, I've been known to change the pickups to fix that on a great feeling guitar.
One of the overlooked factors in playability is stability of the build and materials over time. Some guitars leave the factory as real gems but don't hold up to the passage time and the effects of environmental variations.
I have a very reasonable PRS hollowbody that feels so beautiful to play.. it looks gorgeous.. it's so hard to resist just picking it up. Amd yes, it's a Hollowbody II Piezo ❤
First thing ...aesthetic. First thing once I pick it up o see if it's as good as it looks...vibrations/resonance. If the body & neck & tuning keys aren't noticeably vibrating with the string it's a letdown. Then it's acoustic volume louder = better, then back to aesthetics for fit & finish, then just see if it connects. If so it's passed all trials.
Far and away, the most important thing I look for in a guitar is that it looks cool and makes me want to pick it up. At my skill level, the main limiting factor in how it sounds is me, not the wood or the electronics. If I look over across the room and get excited to grab the guitar and play or practice, that's good enough for me.
This is the truth! I could make the most esteemed 50’s vintage rarity sound like a sub-$200 budget guitar at my skill(less) level😅.
I agree 100% about looks. If it looks nice (to me) then I'm picking it up. If it doesn't look nice (to me) then I won't pick it up no matter how good someone claims it to be. For me, I think red Fender style guitars are so ugly. I won't pick one up even if it's considered to be the best guitar ever. But a Fender style guitar in white or natural on the other hand, those look good for me and I glady try it.
Listen to that tonewood as i bend a note 10% sharp, ooh baby.
OK, I’m going to wear my heart on my sleeve here. I actually wept when Chris played us out on the LP - I had an emotional connection that just hit me - Wham! Beautiful, beautiful expression and feel. One of the greatest guitarists out there. Hope to see you on tour.
Love and respect the fact you stand up for Squier. You da man Buck!
this guy is so musical and articulate. it makes me cry on the inside to realize how i really haven’t found my lane yet, but damn is it inspiring to know what it sounds like that someone else has..
I could watch Chris play any guitar. That’s the thing, Chris Buck plays a Revstar, it sounds like Chris Buck, he plays a Squier Jazzmaster, it sounds like Chris Buck, he plays a 1950’s LesPaul, & guess what, sounds like Chris Buck. ‘Nuff said. I’ve had loads of guitars, none sound like Chris Buck 😂
That’s the point. We all some like ourselves, it’s all in the fingers.
I like to sometimes learn licks in a song note for note, but I find it a lot more fun to play in harmony or in a "call and response" style to the vocalist when playing with recordings or videos. I learn more too. I play for fun with no ambitions and only occasionally in front of an audience. If someone gets good enough with anything they almost by necessity and very naturally develop their own 'style', which maybe just comes from repetition and playing/doing the same thing many many times. I have my own 'style' of doing every song I cover that has developed as the song 'became mine' with repetition and experimentation, adding my own elements to the vocal or guitar parts.
Thanks to Chris Buck I also play a Yamaha Revstar STD P90. Gets a lot more play than my much more sought after instruments. First time in my hands I felt like I had been playing it for many years. It has only gotten better. I pick up the Revstar and forget I have it in my hands, it becomes transparent to my playing. I have owned top USA made Strats, Gibson, Gretsch and Guild electrics. I play the Revstar more than I have played any of them combined since I got it 2 years ago. Close second is my Eastwood Rockerbox DLX LTD.
I think Chris is an amazing player - but I find what you're saying to be true of most guitarists at journeyman level and beyond - including myself. Give me any axe, and it's still gonna sound like me. The tone is, indeed, largely in the fingers...
So true - it’s like the famous Eddy Merckx quote about cycling kit: “Don’t buy updgrades - ride up grades!” As in it’s more about how much time you invest in training, not how much/how expensive your gear is…
@@TheRealDavidFarmer Just because you're a supercilious ass is no reason to deny the truth. And, age has nothing to do with it. It's the brain driving the muscles. So, of COURSE CB sounds like CB. You? You just sound like a massive ass with an inferiority complex so well-developed you attack strangers for no reason. So very glad I am not you and don't know you, whatever bloody generation you're from. Oh, and BTW: we boomers fought for civil rights, gay rights, reproductive rights, and against the war in Vietnam. WTF has your generation done? Oh, and get off my lawn!
That outro was so sweet. These videos provide a great showcase for the broad range of your talent.
That live solo on the squire jazzmaster was so good!
When I went shopping for a Tele, I went round all the shops just strumming every Tele they had. Eventually I came across this one Fender American Professional (I didn’t want to spend kind of money) that just blew me away. I then plugged it in and it still sounded gorgeous, so I sucked it up and took that lady home.
"...presumably that it's too busy playing itself." I lol'ed out loud!
I'm not a PRS guitar fan, but Paul Reed Smith is right. The body interacts with the string. Anyone who's placed their ear on the back of the electric guitar can tell that instantly. And if you have more than one electric guitar, and place an ear to the back of each one after hitting a note or a chord, you'll hear a difference. The pickup, being electronic in nature, doesn't pick up the acoustic properties per se, but being that the string is interacting with the body and the pickups are mounted to the vibrating body, it all comes into play somewhere. And, of course, much of it can be overcome by amp settings, dirt / OD / EQ boxes, etc. That goes without saying. But the construction of an electric, and its natural resonance does affect the tone. Good set up also helps. The better I set up my Ibby (which wasn't set up well when I got it from the guy who gave it to me) the more resonant it became unamplified, and it also sounded a LOT better amplified (more volume, better sustain, more body to the notes) -- so I think PRS is onto something. Of course, being a guitar builder and designer, why wouldn't he?
Hey man, just wanted to say thanks for having such a passion for the guitar. There’s a lot of us who do, but not many with the sounding board that you have - or indeed the talent. We have to keep it alive for a long time to come, and seeing great bands like Cardinal Black is cool because it means it’ll keep going for generations to come
That ending was brilliant
Chris, the solo at the end of this video is so moving, so melodic, so touching. One of the very best I've heard in my life. Thank you for that.
Hot damn, that outro was TASTY!!!!! 😋
I had to switch from laptop speakers to headphones when I heard that last jam. That creamy crunchy thing is too perfect
A great quote by Chet Atkins when told his guitar sounded great. He sat it on the stand, and said “well how does it sound now?”
Words to live by.
I’ve been playing for 50 years and the $200 second hand Ibanez SG copy I own now is by far the best sounding and most enjoyable to play guitar I’ve ever had. I put in Seymour Duncan pickups ($225) and replaced the guts with reproduction vintage Gibson SG electronics ($70). It’s my all time favorite; it sounds exactly like a classic SG and it writes songs for me every time I play it. I think it’s actually comparable to my 1980s PRS. The salesman at Wurlitzer Music in Boston who gave me a great deal on that PRS was Reeves Gabrels.
Thank you Chris for the continuous output of superb videos.
I hope that, with your career as a performing artist taking up more time, you still find the time for us. 🙏🏻
Dam Nice playout Chris... well done!
That solo at the end⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beautiful playing 😊
All great points (and great playing as usual). PRS is right, the acoustic sound is everything. G.E. Smith, a man who has done some high profile gigs (Dylan, Hall & Oates, SNL) and dealt in vintage guitars himself, once came into Rudy's Music Stop when i was working there. He asked to see a Rickenbacker 12-string that was hanging behind the counter. He strummed two cowboy chords on it acoustically and said, "I'll take it." Bill Connors (Return to Forever) used to buy parts from Rudy's to build guitars for his students. He would come in and tap on the bodies and necks before purchasing to check their resonance. One thing that is rarely discussed is how that resonance affects tuning. Over 50 years of buying, selling, recording, and playing guitars, as well as interviewing professional guitarists, It has become obvious that some guitars sound in tune and some never will. The difference seems to be how the overtones are reproduced by the wood and the construction. I have had the finest set-ups and intonation jobs in the world, even a Buzzy Feiten job on one guitar and some instruments still never sounded quite in tune, whereas my Strat, where only the body and neck are still original 1965, always sounds in tune regardless of the different hardware and pickups it has sported over the years. The overtones are just gloriously in tune. I'll shut up now ;-) Thanks for the videos.
Chris, you are far and away one of my favorite guitarists of all time. So unique. Love the channel and keep the videos coming!
Last piece was amazing Chris!!
I'm glad that you had Paul's commentary on the physics of resonance and damping. The "wood doesn't make a difference" crew seem to have this modular idea of how sound works that ignores that an instrument is an entire system and not a disparate collection of individual, isolated parts. Physics is physics. Nothing is separate from anything else, truly.
Nothing is separate from anything else, yes, but are you physically able to hear the differences when it comes to wood, fretboard, etc, probably not and some blind studies showed it very well.
@@flocecotti4993 Am _I_ physically able? Absolutely. Pick up a mahogany dreadnought and then a rosewood dreadnought that has the same construction/bracing. Nothing could sound more different. Now, if you add a pickup to those guitars and _then_ can't hear a difference in the recording, what you're describing isn't the tone woods not making a difference. You're describing the pickup system colouring its sound all over the guitars themselves.
The whole studies, woods don't make a difference crowd are just flat wrong. If you change _the same guitar's_ fretboard from rosewood to ebony, that ebony has a different damping profile than rosewood. That will affect the decay, harmonics and even the fundamental of the guitar. Some guitars will be more similar than others and so I can see how it could muddy the waters, but a similar overall sound is a function of the system -- its combined parts. Similar sounding guitars are not proof that woods don't make a difference.
Paul didn't actually comment on physics at all, and what he did say made no sense. When a guitar's body is resonant it will steal some of the strings vibrations (at particular frequencies) making for a shorter "ringing" guitar.
@@JaggedDyldo Tell me you don't understand physics without telling me you don't understand physics. LOOOOL
@@TraneFrancks Seeing as you *think* you're a science person, here's a reference to research that backs up my claim: Fleischer, H. und Zwicker, T., Mechanical vibrations of electric guitars
Thanks Chris
I absolutely love hearing Chris 's perspective on all of his gear and his tones. I quit playing for 20 years because I had children and coming back to it. I'm trying to figure everything out and his perspective is informing my buying decision.
I’m at the beginning of that journey with a 3 year old. Even when I can get time to play, I’m tired without creative energy. :/ Any tips?
@@BaronsDuju something has to give whether it be losing half an hour of sleep or something. You'll have to give something up to gain that back. That's what I learned
@@BaronsDuju You know I had more time to think on your question. I'd also recommend taking a break. Maybe even for a month or two.
@@Mark_B585 appreciated :) a big problem - for me at least - is finding the creative energy to WANT to play/learn when I get those rare few minutes. You might be onto something - taking a break might help with that.
I’m back to playing after 30 years of “life” in between. I didn’t think I’d ever come back but here we are, two years since I’ve rediscovered the old love and the joy of holding the instrument and making music. If you don’t feel inspired to play don’t. Give it a pause and allow your senses to rest and reinvent themselves. If and when you start craving it again, then you’ll know it’s time and you’ll be returning for the right reasons and with fresh ideas, hopefully.
Unplugged resonance for me. Your playing is beautifully articulate as is your spoken verbal communication. Impressive.
Great video - but the last solo... simply stunning!
Having built several partscasters, you get a sense of how construction affects resonance. Don't cut corners on bodies and necks (or anything, really - but especially bodies and necks). Spend a little more and get something with quality wood and decent, thin finish. I've tried out a few cheap bodies and every one of them sounded dead. Usually heavy and with thick poly finishes. They also can be inconsistent in terms of routing and drilling, which makes a difference on things that you wouldn't expect, particularly in the neck pocket. If the neck doesn't fit good and snug where you have to work it into place, it's not going to sound good (in my experience), and it will fight you on setup. My best guitars are my two MJTs where everything fit in place perfectly and they both sing unplugged and plugged in. I also have a one-piece swamp ash Warmoth Esquire that is fantastically responsive and resonant. Two of them have Musikraft necks and one, my Strat, has a 50s Mexican Fender neck that is shockingly good. All of them fit the bodies perfectly. In short, I've found that a guitar that is built with care using quality components down to the smallest detail is usually going to sound great. At least in terms of bolt-on Fender-type guitars.
And such a sweet ending Buckmaster..bravo
Great video and I definitely feel the same about resonance. I love playing guitars that ring like a bell.
Killer outro.
I get Gary Moore vibes when I see Chris play. Feels like the sounds come direct from the spirit world.
I really liked Paul Smith’s response. Based on testing and reality rather than “opinion”. Keep’em coming CB!
Yep whenever I suggest to someone they should start a business doing X and they "But I don't know anything about X", I show them a clip of Paul talking BS. Pickups are microphones now, apparently. Any idiot can create a business.
@@michael1 don’t get me wrong, I think Paul is a complete blowhard, but he is right - pickups absolutely act as a microphone. Take a guitar with a set of unpotted pickups and tap the body. You will hear a response through the amp because the pickups are picking up the vibration through the body.
You can even yell into the pickups and with enough gain your voice will come through the amp. The first song on Kings of Leon’s fourth record has this. There is a whale sound, and that’s the lead guitarist screaming into the pickups on his vintage Gibson hollow body. See 42 seconds into this video. ruclips.net/video/hYECLfqjdnw/видео.htmlfeature=shared
Unpotted pickups are literally described as microphonic.
@@michael1 that idiot built a 'big three' guitar company from nothing
@@mattmarrs129 No one is buying and playing a guitar with broken pickups. It's bullshit from a guy who ironically isn't intelligent enough to see that the truth won't hurt his business anyway - but he's scared it will.
What do I look for in a guitar? Well, if the owner of the brand is on the internet then "don't be a buffoon" would be my number 1 piece of advice. In most cases the product is a better thing to promote rather than the owner.
It's like Ford, maybe the owners of Ford are complete buffoons, but, unlike Tesla they aren't online saying dumb stuff making it obvious. So, logically or not, I'd never buy a tesla because Elon Musk's idiocy rubs off on the image of the car.
Similarly, no matter how well PRS make guitars I can't get out of my head what a complete idiot Paul is and Paul seems determined to make sure we never forget by turning up on every guitar channel he can just as you sort of forgot he pops up and says something that's BS and he says it in a way that clearly shows behind it he has an anger and contempt for his potential customers - which is the most stupid thing he could possibly do - because, make no mistake Paul, lots of people buying PRS know that tone wood is a crock of shit, but going around calling them idiots is eventually going to hurt your business. Think about it. Spend more time with your family. Get off the internet.
-He should have just STFU and made guitars.
Once his ego had him turning up on every guitar channel he devalued the brand.
Mostly he makes guitars that people don't play - even Chris says how great his PRS is but he doesn't play it. 99% of them are sold to people who can't play. Paul has a guitar called 'Paul's guitar' but he can't play. I mean it's becoming something of a joke the guitarists that get signature guitars these days - I mean Chapman started it perhaps giving their buddies guitars and they can't even play.
Rabea was perhaps the best of that bunch but a £4k+ guitar? It's more expensive than Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan and many others oft considered the best guitarists in the world. Rabea is not that.
But Paul? He can't play a note and he has a signature guitar? It's ludicrous. Like Nike giving Boris Johnson signature running shoes.
As someone who wants a guitar to play PRS is not a brand I'd ever look at because I've never seen anyone with high skill playing one. As for the playability it's really nothing more than the same reason Chris likes his revstar - a shorter scale length. Given that most guitars are 25.5" and they're sold with far too fat strings based on some unwritten industry standard that makes no sense (and more bs and myths) anyone picking up a short scale length guitar is going to note the feel difference. That it's better. There's nothing mysterious about it. Particular with people who overplay (i.e use far more effort than necessary) - which I'm Chris would accept he does having gone as far as damaging one of his fingers to the point where he has to hold his pick in it to stop him using it.
Nor is there really any sense where one guitar off the production line is magically better - it's mostly just set up differences. So sure, if you buy guitars in the traditional way of going to a brick store and picking them off the shelf - one or two are going to be more playable than the others.
The rest is psychobabble - chris sounds pretty much the same on all the guitars he plays, and that's self evident in the clips he shows on these videos. You know it's like the famous thing where Jimmy Page is playing a telecaster on the recording but sold a lot of gibson les pauls because he had one in every photo. Undoubtedly Page fooled himself that a different track needed a different guitar too and imagined that he was getting a different tone - but his sloppy drug-addled playing sounded pretty much the same.
I’ve been building for 18 years and completely agree with Paul. On this topic anyway 😅
They vary so wildly because when each of your components in your signal chain have a + or - 10% variance, it can change the sound dramatically.
Although the biggest thing that changes your sound is the speaker.
💯
Lot of great advice here, thanks 👍🏽
Great episode, Chris. And I loved that improv that you used to “play us out!” It was dreamy and slightly fierce all at the same time.
Very wise advice. I'm going to get the live Cardinal black album. I love your playing. You only play fast when it's best, and the passion in your phrasing, bends, and sustain , is outstanding. I'd love to hear a jam between you and Joe bonamassa...pure heaven.
I only have cursory knowledge of what to look out for in electric guitars and this video helped me understand more. The part about resonance made me go "Ah, oh yes of course." I was transfixed by the melody of the final jam. Your playing is really in a league of its own.
Well done Chris 👏
Very sweet guitar work 😋 🎸
I'm not a great fan of lead guitar playing... despite being a guitarist myself, but that snippet at the start did manage to send a few shivers down me... very nice, sir.
On pot values.
The production tolerances on commonly found pots are of the order of plus or minus 20 to 40 percent, if you real want to know the value, measure it.
Wow Chris. Only you have a legend name but mate your playing is second to none .
I certainly agree about resonance: my own Squier Strat is good, but the one I set up recently is really resonant, and without doubt the best one I've ever played. I made a few videos with it, using clickbait titles, and consequently got many more views than my usual vids!
That's interesting. I always listen to Paul's every word, and respect his opinions. I've been playing these things since 1968, and I've played, and owned quite a few. Even a '58 burst, when it was 12 years old. LOL The only reason I sold it is I got a new Fender Thinline Tele, and enough $$ for 4 months rent. That's important when your 2 behind and your GF keeps asking if you paid the rent yet? I have 50 things I think are important on the guitar. The basic's, the body and associated things, and the neck. I like big beefy necks, they are hanging on to the other end of the string! These days I like building my own guitars. I drive around with an electric chain saw in the back of my truck. I've brought home some very interesting wood to make bodies from. My wife thinks I'm nuts. LOL One of my best finds was a mahogany sound board from a piano made in the 1880's. Left for the junk pickup, I did chainsaw surgery on it and removed the sound board. I've found other bits of furniture with valuable (to me) wood also. A Brazilian rosewood door was a good find too! These days, I use Warmoth for necks. They can build them better than I will now. They make me nice thick/fat ones too! LOL With anything else I want. Yeow, sorry for running on. Peace, --gary
What a great idea getting sound boards out of old pianos. My stepdad was a piano tech. I saw dozens of pianos with amazing old wood in them. I bet they would make some incredible guitar bodies.
@@ThodEssmann 3 out of 4 w/outstanding results! 1 was too nice, I tarped it, and went back and got it w/small trailer. It got restored and donated. Started with battery powered circular saw. When electric chain saws came out, it made it safer and faster on the road side!! I keep it very sharp, be very careful!! 8)
Nice to hear some juicy Gilmoresq lines. Look forward seeing you live one day!
One experience I had that has changed some of my thought on this was on an old MIK Epiphone I have. I always liked, but never loved it. But, when changing the strings a year or so ago, the plastic nut fell apart. So, I put a bone nut on it, and it completely changed the way the guitar rings and sustains. Suddenly, it sounds punchy and more lively. This has me eyeing better (and properly cut) nuts on more of my cheaper guitars.
I has a Gibson ES335, mid 70s that acoustically plunked like a banjo, but when I stood with it in front of a 4x12 really sang. It was only resonant when plugged in.
As for Squier, my Classic Vibe Jazzmaster sings too. A year older than your anniversary.
Yeah, maybe it was that deadness that kept it from going feedback crazy? Chambered, but not that resonant until major sound hit it? I want a chambered guitar so bad for that tone.
Love this video!
I play pretty much only Fenders. Not for any brand loyalty reasons, they just suit my bands music. Having played EVERY range of Fender over the years, I can say that the Classic Vibe Squiers have been really up there in terms of playability. My other favourite "cheap" guitar was a Yamaha Pacifica PAC 611, unbelievably easy to play and I regret selling it.
That end jam is the prettiest thing yet! Needs to be a Cardinal Black tune 🤘
Great, concise, thoughtful overview! All the components come together to define the sound but IMHO it all goes back to the wood - the construction (which may involve the weight relief as it affects resonance). I bought my first electric 50 years ago when our band launched in NZ - 3rd hand Gibson LP Custom. It's all I played for 10 years and after finessing the height and fine tuning of the strings it was magic (still is!). The next one, my main studio guitar of the last 32 years, is my Sadowsky NYC S Style HSH. I bought it on a whim when I ordered Roger's Electric Nylon (exquisite!) and it just had the magic. I don't like the word 'mojo' as a couple of YT reviewers seem to think the whole 'relic' thing is essential to an instrument having 'mojo' (whether thru natural ageing or being 'Murphyised'),which I don't buy at all, but I am happy to live with the mystery of why one guitar might speak to me above others that are, ostensibly, identical. So it goes, I guess. Really enjoyed your demos backing up the 3 comments - that Revstar is special, I wonder how much the chambered approach Yamaha took is responsible - it seems they really went all out in sculpting the 'right' weight relief . . .
I totally agree with how the guitar responds and sounds when unplugged certainly carries over to the amplified sound. And please play something on that stunning PRS for an upcoming FFWs ❤
I know people think PRS is crazy, but I agree with him. The wood and parts that touch the strings are going to change the tone. It’s not just the way the pickups are wound and the amp/PA. If you build two identical guitars and change just one variable like the type of wood, the wood’s mass, the bridge/saddles material, nut material, or even the tuning pegs (let alone multiple changes), it just makes sense that it will create tonal variations. Will it be to the extent as an acoustic guitar? Probably not. However, that does mean that the wood and other materials in an electric guitar don’t count.
While I respect what Jim Lill tried to do with that experiment, it was not done using a scientific method and in a controlled environment that would truly test his theory accurately.
I’m in Paul’s camp on this one. Honestly, we need a scientist who specializes in musical instrument theory to conclusively test a scientific hypothesis (or several if need be) to come up with conclusive answers and theories on this subject of whether tone wood and/or other materials touching the strings affect the tonal properties of an electric guitar vs. a pickup and/or amp’s design.
I own many different brands of guitars. I have two PRSs, a Wood Library DGT and an Experience 2012 CU24. Both are phenomenal and I'm going to trust what Paul says because the man has put in the work.
That 55 is so nice.
I recently had to replace the bridge on my 74 Harmony Meteor, went from a "tunematic" style bridge to an intonated ebony bridge, it's never sounded so good unplugged or plugged. So definitely it influences the overall sound of the instrument instrument.
Brooo that last solo 🤤
That PRS hollow body is genuinely absolutely stunning, just proper beautiful. I’ve got a HB2 that is a sensational player but for some reason I don’t play it as much as my LP’s either.
The tone as always is in the balls
Great episode Chris,now can you please do one hardware,you the man🇮🇪🎸
I saw Jim Lil in your clip. He performed a lot of testing over a number of videos in search of “tone”. Thank you for videos.
Pauls answers are really great. No bullshit from someone who’s put in the work to understand why. Another goodin Chris! Thanks and cheers 🍻
Yes. Thats true. One verry importent thing for me, ist that the guitar speeks with it look to me. If it´s hanging on the wall and it catches my eye, and in me comes up the wish: Oh my beauty I need to play you!
Great bass playing
A great guitar has a loud resonant ring while unplugged. And soon as you get the neck in your hands, it sits right where you want it to, and fits like a glove.
8:11 pleased to hear some Stephane Wrembel;)
I'll have to watch this episode again. Because it's nothing most of us don't already know? But have somehow been lulled into believing it doesn't matter enough to even bother with.
Being a modder and hot rodder of most guitars. I generally don't buy guitars for the pickups specifically. I look at the guitar from a structural and construction standpoint first. Then I tune it and strum it acousticly. If it's got old crusty strings, change them, give it a quick set up. Get to know the instrument a little bit.
My experience has shown, that putting a little TLC into almost any decent guitar. Will generally result in an overall better playing experience.
Look at it this way. Many of the best out of the box stock, playing guitars. Get snatched up with the quickness, before anyone farther down the line ever sees a perfect one outta the box. That means if us mere paupers expect to have perfectly dialed examples. We have to figure out how to get them there ourselves. My advice is to look at the guitar as a sum of its parts. ANY, crappy pieces can make an otherwise sweet playing and sounding guitar suck. Rattling/buzzing bridge screws are my current struggle. It's always something it seems. Get in there and sort the shit. It's the only way a poor man can expect perfection out of a guitar. I know I can't afford to have someone else do it for me? Get a good hunk of wood, and build on it. It's not rocket science. PEACE!
In regards to tonewood, I have 5 strats, one of which is a Fender Squier series, MIK with a plywood or laminate body. It is the most resonant, loudest of the five when played unplugged.
You showed part of Jim Lill's video at the beginning. The amount of testing he went through is incredible, and I dont think you can write him off as being in the "the wood makes no difference" crowd. He showed where the differences are small or great, but more importantly how all the small differences add up.
Values for guitars: 1. Tuning stability. Absolutely #1 for gigs. NOBODY in the WORLD likes watching a guitarist tune. 2. Weight. I'm only 25, but my back already hurts from years of gigs. Under 7 lbs ideally. 3. Versatility (as many pickup combinations/tones possible. Leads me towards strats even though I think I naturally play gibson-style instruments better).
Everything else I can work out, including tone. I generally like bright guitars, but dark guitars have their place.
The mystery Buckmaster, the mystery. Sound and feel. Some have the magic in them. Others not.
Everything! First the looks to get me to pickup the guitar. Then I play before buy every time even if it has to be through a headphone amp in a coffee shop. It has to sound and feel good so I know I'll bond with it. Case in point, my used walnut 2018 Gibson SG Special (reissue of a '74 but with Gibson dual rail minis, not pole peice minis) bought off Craigslist came with a slightly twisted neck yet it's my favourite player for a year and a half now, totally bonded with it, resonates beautifully and fits like a glove. Intellectually a neck twist would mean not accepting it, but playing it tells a different story.
A neck that fits my hands and is smooth not sticky
This young man is as articulate with his speech as his guitar playing. He's a immortal Illuminate, sleeps in the day.
I will add that the goldfoils that I got are quite microphonic as well. I also got a set of PAF style unpotted pickups (Seymour Duncan antiquities, unpotted version), Installed on a cheap firefly 335 clone, Which they also transformed).
Microphonic pickups present problems, but they also produce a unique sound that cannot be replicated in potted single coil, and humbucking pups! They're more unruly, but more alive, is how I'd characterize them - and also more complex-sounding in the PAFs I've compared. Some people like me absolutely love them. And in the PAF world especially, there's an entire class of cork-sniffers who will ONLY put unpotted PAFs in their LPs.
The fretwork is what makes a great guitar for me. And neck feel. Don't really care about the other stuff. In terms of body wood, I prefer which ever is the lightest. Right now that would be my Paulownia wood builds. Like a 4pound tele.
In terms of unplugged sound I think the nut and bridge saddle and bridge type play a big part in that. Like a strat trem will have the bridge cavity and springs etc. tele has the barrel brass saddles. Etc
I always like Paul’s demeanor and way of being no-nonsense. You’ll never have to guess what he’s actually saying when he speaks. 😄
Is it the type of wood or just the build quality? I don’t care really, because his strongest point is that any (bass)guitar has to ring and speak.
So you have yourself, the guitar, pickups, electronics, hardware, amp(s), pedals, pedals, pedals, pedals, cables, favorite strap and boots...
But, there’s one less expensive factor that just might have a huge influence...
Strings.
I think that people should really take some time to find the set of strings that suits both their playing and the guitar.
When you play multiple guitars, every single guitar can sometimes achive quite different results from the others when it comes to strings. Sometimes they’re the same.
So, find the set of strings that fits your playing on a particular guitar.
Brands, types, gauges: find them yourself. Don’t just go for the stuff your ‘heroes’ are using...
I play bassguitar. But I think that the string thing is at least as valuable for my instrument. We play flats and rounds and tapewounds... 😉
Playability and sound go hand & hand as far as I'm concerned. If a guitar doesn't check those boxes right away, it goes back. Looks are an individual preference thing.
Chris, your playing amazes me and inspires me. I rank you up there with my favorite player....Mr. Joe Bonamassa. There many more, but I'll keep it short.
This Outro Jam is AMAZING! Great sound and great play - you can really feel the inspiration that comes from the guitar!
Any hint what backing track is used?
Greetings from Germany 👋😎🎸
Lightweight and resonant… that’s what I always look for.
If it doesn’t sound good unplugged - it won’t sound good amplified.
That outro piece is one of the best things I’ve heard in a while. Is it part of a released song? Would love to hear more..
What a solo! B R A V O
The first thing I look for is it's a lefty...and then curse why I can't find any...
A million upvotes... I've lusted after so many guitars that I can't play because... You know why
When I was young, before the internet, my first band mate had a 70s les Paul. It weighed a ton. I played a teisco which weighed like an ounce. I then bought a nos 50s les Paul , non chambered with staple pick ups , that weighed about a ton. To me heavy = good tone. That les Paul hurt my back so I bought an 70s telecaster. It weighed a ton…. You see the pattern?
I now play so many expensive custom shops that weigh NOTHING.
And, due to my youth, my posture is like Quasimodo
Some great points made here. I've played 2k guitars that to me don't play as well as my 300 quid classic vibe Tele. I think a large part is the player and what they feel in an instrument. Different strokes for different folks. I'm in the school of thought that the wood doesn't make a massive difference to the tone though!
Fourth thing that makes a Guitar good is: A good Guitarist
I have the strangest feeling / vaguely optimistic, that some of these jams that play us out week in and week out might be some sort of heads up or possible snippet of new upcoming Cardinal Black tunes. 🤞🏻
bistro fada, nice
Strings!
100% strings fret edges and neck are a massive part of the "feel"
“What really makes for a great guitar?” A great player….."like you.😁
Hi Chris. Come back to California please!
Now I need a Jazzmaster, too! 😅
You should do an episode showing off your entire guitar collection chronologically
ВСЕГДА ЗАСЛУШИВАЮСЬ ТВОИМИ СОЛО , ТЫ ГЕНИЙ ГИТАРЫ !
I always check the neck feels before i buy it, thats why if i will buy a second hand guitar or brand new guitar i wanted to test it to feel the comfort of the neck.
Love this content ❤
I always appreciate hearing his perspective on his gear and his guitars. It's informed my buying decision. I started playing guitar again out of a season of grief and it's the best thing I ever did.
If everyone did their vibrato like Chris Buck the world would be a better place. Slow to medium speed vibrato that is.
A Strat body made of maple with P90s, LP short scale neck with the shape of a Hamer USA Special (Gibson LP DC junior) dimensions