Can you tell the difference between a $200 and a $200,000 guitar?


Can you tell the difference between a $200, $2,000, $20,000, and $200,000 classical guitar? Direct comparison starts at 27:39.

 

Linky

noromance

Showing 2 responses by kijanki

Presence - how responsive/resonant sound is in normal playing
Projection - how much louder it gets when played hard
Sustain - how long the note decays
Separation - chord clarity, individual notes vs sound blob
Tone - related to tone woods used

Sound of guitar is subjective, but you wouldn’t pick poor sustain guitar, unless you play Flamenco (for this projection would be the most important).

Inexpensive guitars built with plywood top, back and sides sound OK, but they won’t improve over time.  Solid wood guitars open up and get louder with playing time.  Vibration is causing some changes in solid wood.  Solid top is the most important since it produces 80% of sound.  Top in classical guitars is likely Cedar or Spruce (two materials with the highest strength to weight ratio), while back and sides in expensive classical guitars are most often solid Rosewood.  Even material for the fretboard or the neck affects the sound.  Harder fretboards made with Ebony make sound crispier (higher harmonics) than one made with Rosewood.  As for the “action”, they mentioned in the video, it is the gap between 12th fret and the bottom of the string.  In classical guitar it is almost always 4mm on the bass and 3mm on the treble end.  Reducing it makes playing easier, but it kills the sound.  Some classical guitarists set it even higher at 5mm.  Truss Rod to adjust relief in this $200 guitar is very unusual.  Pretty much all acoustic guitars have it, but it is very rare in classical guitars.