I'm Just Keeping my Savoy
I had the chance to get to GC and play the Capri over the weekend. I was pretty disappointed.
Now, some disclaimers: I'm not an electric guy. Fiddling with 2 pickups and 2 tone knobs, and a pickup switcher is a little daunting. Also, I have no idea how well the CE100D was set-up. Nor how old the strings were. So all of that may have influenced my experience.
But what I was hoping for was "Savoy plus" from the Capri. In other words, I wanted to be able to dial in a tone that was pretty darn close to the Savoy (because over all I really like it) but still have other places I could go for other songs.
What I found was a guitar with a lot of adjustments, but none that brought me a sound I was happy with. Forget matching the sound of the Savoy. I couldn't find anything I liked!
Of the amps I had to choose from (somewhat limited because other people were there, as well, playing and trying out guitars) I took the Fender Super Reverb 4x10 Tube Guitar Combo Amp. I started out with all effects off and all settings straight up the middle.
Impressions of the guitar: Felt a lot like the Savoy. If it's bigger in the bout, I couldn't tell (But I was playing seated). Strings didn't feel new. But they felt looser than the Savoy. That's not a bad thing, but I suspect that the Bigsby had something to do with the string feel. I played with the Bigsby some and hated the sound. I guess it has its place, but somehow I thought I would get something more like when I do a string bend on the fret. The sound I got instead was very rockabilly and different. I didn't like it for any kind of music that I do, so I just swung it out of the way and forgot it.
Other than the feel of the strings and the Bigsby, it was very similar in feel to the Savoy.
It's the sound that I couldn't get right. Simple finger pick and I heard the B-string twanging loud and proud, really messing up the sound. Hated it. It was like the quack I hate from a Piezo pickup -- except louder than all of the other strings. Weird. The high E sounded normal. But man the B string just stuck out -- in a bad way.
No problem, I thought. I can dial that twang away. And I fiddled for a long time trying just to get the strings to sound even when I picked or strummed, and it was no go. Oh, I could get the twang and forewardness resolved -- but then the B just disappeared.
The one thing I love about Guild is that even tone. But I could not get that no matter what I did. I was there for the better part of an hour. I changed the pickup setting -- tried the neck pickup, then the bridge pickup, then both. I tweaked the tone. I even went to the Amp and tried to EQ it there. Nothing really worked for me. Finally, I just gave up. I mean, it's not like I hate my Savoy. I kind of dig the Rhythm Chief sound. I liked it the first time I heard it. The Capri...? Not so much. I'm sure someone who really knew what they were doing could fix it. Maybe it just needs new strings and a setup. But I am not motivated enough to try any of that right now.
So for me, no sale.
I texted my friend as it was going on, and when I left and told him I was keeping the Savoy, he said: "Now you need to buy your Savoy some ice cream and make it up to her for almost trading her..."
Ummm. No. But I will put some new strings on it now!