Electronic Instrument Measurements

[Wasteecity]

For quite a while now I've been looking into Electric guitars. People are raving about what guitar model is better, which manufacturer is better and so on. That makes me wonder, are there people who objectively measure guitars or guitar parts f.ex like pickups? I've named this thread electronic instrument measurement since someone else might find this thread who is into other Electronic instruments but not specifically Electric guitars. Therefore I would be happy if you guys were to give some resources for me (and other people) to look into.
Thanks

 

[DVDdoug]

There are no real "standards" or "specs" for instruments.

But you'll probably find this interesting.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

For quite a while now I've been looking into Electric guitars. People are raving about what guitar model is better, which manufacturer is better and so on. That makes me wonder, are there people who objectively measure guitars or guitar parts f.ex like pickups? I've named this thread electronic instrument measurement since someone else might find this thread who is into other Electronic instruments but not specifically Electric guitars. Therefore I would be happy if you guys were to give some resources for me (and other people) to look into.
Thanks

Instruments are a very personal and subjective matter. Every player swears by his / her instrument for a million of reasons and that is absolutely fine.

However, I would differentiate between

a) Electrical Instruments: e.g. E Guitar, where either a single coil or hum-bucker pickup is used to convert the strings vibration into a signal. The hum-bucker exhibits less noise / hum, therefore the name. If this is relevant to you, only you can decide, because if you run your E Guitar through a ton of effects and out of a speaker cabinet, it wont matter much any more, what pick-up you choose. Plus in many guitars you can have both built-in and switch between the pickups. Meaning it all depends on your artistic intention.

and

b) Electronic Instruments: Here either Synths or Samplers are used. Nowadays, one can have those in the pure digital domain with up the 192khz/32bit fidelity. So way beyond what you can hear. Usually 48kHz/24 bit is a perfect and "safe" recording format, which doesnt take up too much CPU/disk space but still gives you even some headroom for subsequent mastering.

 

[Brian Hall]

Guitars and basses are intentionally made to sound different from one another. Fender makes both the Stratocaster and the Telecaster. They look, feel and sound different. I prefer the strat. It feels and sounds better to me. Others swear by the Telecaster. I don't see any point in measuring and adjusting them to sound like the other. The same goes for bass guitars. Fender makes regular basses, jazz basses, and 5 string basses. I have a jazz bass and one of their 5 string basses. Very different feel and sound. I have played quite a few different basses. I still prefer the feel and sound of the jazz bass I've had since 1983.

The same goes for guitar and bass amps. They all have their own sound and that is also intentional. I prefer the sound of Fender guitar amps over Marshall. I prefer the sound of Hartke bass amps over any others I've tried. No need to measure the sounds. It is obvious just by listening. A much different world than the amplifiers and dacs discussed here.

If you already know how to play, go to a decent guitar shop and try several out. If you're just wanting to learn to play, don't buy the most expensive guitar. A really cheap electric guitar is harder to play and keep in tune that a slightly better one. An acoustic guitar is a little harder to play than a comparably priced electric guitar. I would highly recommend against starting on a 12 string acoustic. (It seemed like a good idea before I knew what I was doing).

Don't let someone sell you a big guitar amp to start on. They are way too loud for learning and practicing. I have a Fender guitar amp that I can't turn up past 3 in my house. I use a practice amp that is 1/4 the size of the big one and it will still get more than loud enough.

Tube vs. solid state amps? Most of the solid state guitar and bass amps can emulate the distortion/coloring of tube amps with lower cost and maintenance.