Brightness

[Br1ck]

These guitars, as well as the many brands built in mega factories to spec, are very much what they are, affordable for many to buy. Far better than their counterparts of three or four decades ago, they nonetheless all suffer from this bright and none too warm tone. They fill a large and valuable place in the market, but they are what they are. They do sound pretty good, and can be made to play as well as anything. Nice guitars to play while you wait to have the funds to buy better.

Strings for me have never drastically changed the character of a guitar.

 

[West R Lee]

I've got a little different take on strings. I personally think that sometimes a particular guitar sounds much better with a particular string, and I'll give an example.

For many years I've been a huge fan of John Pearse stings. I put them on everything. I never really liked the sound/tone of my then D30, which now resides with my son in law........new JP's, old, it didn't matter, it just never livened up. One day while experimenting with buying several brands and types of strings, I put a set of Thomastick Plectrums on the D30, and WOW! It sounded like a completely different guitar. So I put a set of the Plectrums on a couple of rosewood guitars, and YUCK, I couldn't stand the sound. For whatever reason, I think the Thomastick strings are a good match for maple, but not so great on rosewood, at least my rosewood.

Back to the JP's. One day I went sting shopping at the local music store, and no JP's, they were out. At the time I was buying for a Collings guitar, and with no JP's, I thought what the heck, Collings ships with D'Addario. Well they had a several sets of D'Addario XT's there, and I'd never tried them, and Lord how I'd always hated coated strings. Anyway, I played them for about a week before I realized they were indeed coated, and I love them.

So try different strings. Sometimes you find a fantastic match to a particular guitar. And sometimes you read all the negative about a particular string, and then discover you actually like them.

West

 

[Rayk]

Would the bright sound some mention be part the more modern tone some acoustics are designed for ?

I also think that changing out plastic pins to tusk or bone would add more brightness not dampen it though they could also balance out the note separation string to string which could be the issue ?

Another thought is it’s a maple’sqe guitar and we know maple lends itself to the louder and brighter side . Luke I am your , no nope ! Not gunna happen goth guy put your toy away !

 

[kitniyatran]

On your first point, I think you may be right that the "modern sound" is turning toward more bright, also they're new and haven't aged.. on the second point I think changing the pins may have some small effect but not nearly as much as changing the string type. Nut and saddle would probably make a bigger difference, too; if bone would be too bright, perhaps ebony or graphite would be better

 

[roadbiker]

Just purchased my first Guild…OM-150CE.
I like it very much but it’s a bit bright for my ear. At minimum I’m looking at replacing the plastic bridge pins and switching strings to get a more mellow sound. Thinking of the TUSQ pins and D’Addario steel and silk. Thoughts very welcome. (Not sure what the factory strings are that it came with.)

Try D'Addario Nickel Bronze strings.

 

[kitniyatran]

Also, flat wound strings might work for you; they would definitely lessen the brightness, and could feel a lot less firm under the fingers. And though they may be more expensive, they make up for it by lasting longer.

 

[Br1ck]

Brightness can certainly be engineered into a guitar, and people certainly like it. Look at all the Taylors out there, and Collings has done it too. I play them and can kinda sorta like them, but nothing can overcome the Taylor neck I dislike, and it takes thirty years of age to mellow out a Collings for me. Probably the most under rated trait is balance. My Guild D 35 excels at this. No one ever asks for a string for balance, probably because it doesn't exist.

 

[adorshki]

On your first point, I think you may be right that the "modern sound" is turning toward more bright, also they're new and haven't aged.. on the second point I think changing the pins may have some small effect but not nearly as much as changing the string type. Nut and saddle would probably make a bigger difference, too; if bone would be too bright, perhaps ebony or graphite would be better

The harder the material the brighter it's gonna sound, so in this case I suspect good ol' micarta would be better. Although, now that I think about it, the MIC guitars already have bone nuts/saddles, right? So maybe that's the real problem.

 

[adorshki]

Just purchased my first Guild…OM-150CE.
I like it very much but it’s a bit bright for my ear. At minimum I’m looking at replacing the plastic bridge pins and switching strings to get a more mellow sound. Thinking of the TUSQ pins and D’Addario steel and silk. Thoughts very welcome. (Not sure what the factory strings are that it came with.)

Nut and saddle are bone (see my post #28 above) and they came with D'Addario coated PB lights, EXP-16's:
https://guildguitars.com/g/om-150ce-natural/