EveryAxeAGem
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2014
- Messages
- 57
Paul Reed Smith often uses the term 'magic guitar'. According to his TED talk some time ago, it's a guitar that gives out 5.9 parts of energy for every 6.0 parts you put in.
From my own experience, a magic guitar is one with the following traits:
- Individual notes resonate acoustically with the slightest touch. Very 'alive', as they say.
- The acoustic vibrations are stable, smooth, and sustain well, lending a feeling of harmony and stability to the player. This as opposed to guitars where the string vibration is unsteady, 'fuzzy', decay quickly.
- The acoustic tone has a special and appealing quality to it. It does not sound like just a metal string. It sounds like a metal sting blended with qualities from the guitar itself.
- When strummed, there is a acoustic chime and ring, and you can sense that the vibrations are harmonious, strong and stable.
- Plays well.
You might notice I define only the acoustic qualities, because that's all that matters for me in an electric guitar, cos Steve Perry sounds good no matter what microphone and speaker he uses. Or at least, he will always sound proportionally that much better than a poor singer, even if saddled with a poor mic.
The thing is, magic guitars are uncommon, even with private stock guitars. How many of your guitars are magic guitars? Did you land them by chance or by choice?
From my own experience, a magic guitar is one with the following traits:
- Individual notes resonate acoustically with the slightest touch. Very 'alive', as they say.
- The acoustic vibrations are stable, smooth, and sustain well, lending a feeling of harmony and stability to the player. This as opposed to guitars where the string vibration is unsteady, 'fuzzy', decay quickly.
- The acoustic tone has a special and appealing quality to it. It does not sound like just a metal string. It sounds like a metal sting blended with qualities from the guitar itself.
- When strummed, there is a acoustic chime and ring, and you can sense that the vibrations are harmonious, strong and stable.
- Plays well.
You might notice I define only the acoustic qualities, because that's all that matters for me in an electric guitar, cos Steve Perry sounds good no matter what microphone and speaker he uses. Or at least, he will always sound proportionally that much better than a poor singer, even if saddled with a poor mic.
The thing is, magic guitars are uncommon, even with private stock guitars. How many of your guitars are magic guitars? Did you land them by chance or by choice?