What You Choose; Can You?
My Gospel song, "What *You* Choose! IS What Matters", has become a kind of evaluation basis for a variety of different guitars, picking techniques–with steel pick or with no pick–and amp sounds, using the Fender Acoustic 100 1x12 tube amp and the Vox Cambridge 50 1x12 Celestion NuTube amp models, primarily of the AC30. There's also a version using the Fender Strat Ultra through a downloaded Spark 40 amp patch.
Yeah, if you listen closely you'll notice that the lyrics evolve over time, hopefully getting better as time unwinds! All part of developing something in a process of continual improvement.
My favorite sounds come from the circa 2000 DeArmond Starfire semi-hollow body through the clean Fender amp, the 2023 Strat Ultra through the Spark 40, and the PRS w/Piezo pickups using dual-output through both the Fender and the Vox amps, and the Taylor 814CE through the Fender, and the Gibson Les Paul through the AC30 model, and the PRS CE Semi-hollow through the AC30 model, and the Yamaha Revstar through the Fender, and the...
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PRS Custom-24 with Piezo through the Vox Brit 800 heavy overdrive model, with the Piezo pickups through the Fender Acoustic 100. The most versatile sound, the amount of overdrive distortion is sensitively dependent on how hard the strings are plucked, this rig emphasizing clean piezo sounds under soft dynamics, and more overdriven magnetic sounds from the dual humbuckers as the loudness increases.
Yamaha Revstar through the Fender Acoustic 100. The Revstar is called a "chambered body" electric guitar, similar to a standard semi-hollow body electric but without the "F" holes to open it up. To me, you open up an acoustic guitar or a violin or cello to let some of the internal air vibrations out to reach the audience/players ears more loudly. But, with an electric guitar that's just wasting the vibrations by letting them escape! This design sustains like nothing I've ever played, and is more hollow body sounding, to me, without the holes letting the air escape so all the vibrations remain internal to be captured by the pickups. It sounds wonderful to me through the clean rig.
Guild DeArmond Starfire through the Fender Acoustic 100. This true semi-hollow body also sounds amazing straight through the Fender acoustic amp, which doesn't even have a gain control! The tonal contrast of the lead lines by the different finger techniques is startling at times, in the best possible way.
Fender Stratocaster Ultra Luxe with S1 switches set for all 3 clean single coils, through a custom patch of the Positive Grid Spark 40 practice amp. I say the Strat Ultra has "Mellow Power", and this version illustrates why. This Strat is an amazing guitar, with a huge range of voices given the net 7 switch settings, and ability to use any single or combination or all of the clean single coils together.
https://youtu.be/Ci4kADRvG7k?si=-8Cz4PNHNf4vIt_a
Gibson Les Paul through the Vox AC30 model. I used a pick and a Vox AC30 standard electric guitar amp model so the Les Paul Studio could show off its sound on the lead, while not quite getting the chords too ragged, so it lacks a little of the clean expressiveness of the Fender Acoustic tone in exchange for a little more overdriven bite on the lead. But, this model Gibson Les Paul Studio has a chambered body, so it is very lightweight compared to the older models, and the extra resonance of the chambered body rings through.
I think the Les Paul overdrive sound is the standard by which all other guitar sounds are judged. The classic P90 humbuckers among the most well known in all electric guitar music.
https://youtu.be/IzfZpP8EaQ8?si=4vJpVXtwoGq7_XS4
1984 Peavey T60 through the Fender Acoustic 100. This is to contrast a normal solid body dual-humbucker guitar through the acoustic amp against the chambered body of the Yamaha Revstar dual-humbuckers. The Peavey's hot pickups sound better through a traditional electric guitar amp, but it was challenging to tame the chords to a mellow level.. and I felt like playing, not fiddling with amp settings!
https://youtu.be/wWV_1hSoJhg?si=fGshUvXvReRhEFQu
Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster through the Vox Brit 1959 model. The Acoustasonic Tele has a huge range of voices. I chose a setting for the middle acoustic guitar size range and blended in about half the Tele pickup. It felt like I had to play hard to get its voice out, and there were no easy mellow tones like on other versions because of the hotter Brit 1959 model. Some of the hollow-sounding Tele lead parts really have a beautiful voice.
Taylor 814CE acoustic through the Fender Acoustic 100 amp. Well, this morning I grabbed my acoustic guitar, which I rarely do, and recorded that same song using it, as a comparison to the electric guitar versions I've made. I really like the shimmering nature of this guitar. To me, it holds its own with the electrics, but of course its very nature is distinct.
https://youtu.be/eSueFzZ3YgE?si=yqlzdiJJeCXEHR-w
Here's the beautiful looking and sounding Paul Reed Smith American PRS CE semi-hollow body guitar I call Zin, both because of the color, and that you use the same adjectives to describe it as an old vine Red Zinfandel wine--so the guitar sounds like red Zinfandel wine tastes--through the Vox AC30 model to a 16's drum beat of my Zoom guitar pedal.
My favorite sounding guitar, the deep red PRS CE Semi-hollow body I call Zin, with a guitar-pedal drum patch for 16's, this might be my favorite sounding version! But, then I listen to others and can't decide. The drums help, I think, make it sound a little more complete.
https://youtu.be/4Shfdt9Yd34?si=U_VfMXd8_sR3Lb3O
I can't pick my favorite kid.
Which one do You choose?