parker_knoll
Senior Member
I set up a spectrum analyser plug-in in Logic to test the effect of different vibratos on the sound (see here) and I thought I might as well use it to look at some of my other Guilds, so I plugged in the following:
2001 Starfire III-90
2000 M65 Custom Shop
1989 X160
Guitars are recorded completely clean and direct into Logic - no attempt to flatter the sound
I'm not comparing like for like, I'm just interested in what we see visually in the spectrum analysis and how it matches what our ears tell us.
Here are the results:
1. Guild Starfire III-90
2001
Ernie Ball Rock'n'roll Pure Nickel 10-46, about a month old
Seymour Duncan Antiquities
Aluminium Bigsby bridge on aluminium base
Sound sample
2. Guild M70 Custom Shop
2000
GHS Brite Flats 10-46, new
DeArmond 2K, 1990s
Schaller ATM Bridge
Sound sample
3. Guild X160
1989
DR Tite Fit 10-46
Guild HB1
Aluminium Bigsby bridge on rosewood base
Sound sample
Here's the three guitars overlaid:
Discussion
The main takeaway for me here is that it confirms what my ears told me, namely that the M70 has a lot of what is sometimes called 'sparkle' or 'air' or similar, namely activity in the 5k to 8k range, and by contrast the X160 has literally none, and the SF III-90 is in the middle. Although it looks relatively small, these high frequency sounds don't need much level to be perceived. Some people don't like high frequencies. Personally I do, and I also know they are hard to reproduce, easily lost, and impossible to replace when lost. Incidentally, a change to a roller bridge on the M70 sucked all those high frequencies right away.
The X160 is an all maple guitar with an aluminium bridge. It's possible the HB1 pickups are just not capable of picking up frequencies in that range; the Guild M55 I tested previously was actually quite strong in that area. If someone else wants to test an HB1 equipped guitar it would be interesting to see the results. In this case, when the guitar is not picking up anything in this frequency range there is no way to put them back in there - there's no signal to boost.
Interesting to me is that the X160 and the M70 both have a mid-range scoop between 1k and 2k, although much more pronounced in the M70 (makes it sound Fender-y). This is a very significant EQ region for guitars and I'm sure is part of the HB1s distinctive sound, different from most mid-heavy humbuckers.
Next string change I'll test the M70 with normal roundwound strings to see if we get even more HF content, since the semi-flat GHS Brite Flats are supposed to be 'mellow', by which we usually mean reduced HF content.
2001 Starfire III-90
2000 M65 Custom Shop
1989 X160
Guitars are recorded completely clean and direct into Logic - no attempt to flatter the sound
I'm not comparing like for like, I'm just interested in what we see visually in the spectrum analysis and how it matches what our ears tell us.
Here are the results:
1. Guild Starfire III-90
2001
Ernie Ball Rock'n'roll Pure Nickel 10-46, about a month old
Seymour Duncan Antiquities
Aluminium Bigsby bridge on aluminium base
Sound sample
2. Guild M70 Custom Shop
2000
GHS Brite Flats 10-46, new
DeArmond 2K, 1990s
Schaller ATM Bridge
Sound sample
3. Guild X160
1989
DR Tite Fit 10-46
Guild HB1
Aluminium Bigsby bridge on rosewood base
Sound sample
Here's the three guitars overlaid:
Discussion
The main takeaway for me here is that it confirms what my ears told me, namely that the M70 has a lot of what is sometimes called 'sparkle' or 'air' or similar, namely activity in the 5k to 8k range, and by contrast the X160 has literally none, and the SF III-90 is in the middle. Although it looks relatively small, these high frequency sounds don't need much level to be perceived. Some people don't like high frequencies. Personally I do, and I also know they are hard to reproduce, easily lost, and impossible to replace when lost. Incidentally, a change to a roller bridge on the M70 sucked all those high frequencies right away.
The X160 is an all maple guitar with an aluminium bridge. It's possible the HB1 pickups are just not capable of picking up frequencies in that range; the Guild M55 I tested previously was actually quite strong in that area. If someone else wants to test an HB1 equipped guitar it would be interesting to see the results. In this case, when the guitar is not picking up anything in this frequency range there is no way to put them back in there - there's no signal to boost.
Interesting to me is that the X160 and the M70 both have a mid-range scoop between 1k and 2k, although much more pronounced in the M70 (makes it sound Fender-y). This is a very significant EQ region for guitars and I'm sure is part of the HB1s distinctive sound, different from most mid-heavy humbuckers.
Next string change I'll test the M70 with normal roundwound strings to see if we get even more HF content, since the semi-flat GHS Brite Flats are supposed to be 'mellow', by which we usually mean reduced HF content.
Last edited:
