Paul Reed Smith's "wood tap test"

[thinskin57]

Right on..Thats why I use EXL115w's...More string more sound...more metal more magnetism...but the guitar still has to resonate...

my guitars don't ring like the one in the video when you tap them, however- they resonate enough that i can really feel them vibrating against my body when i strike a chord.

 

[biazzaz]

To the OP I have a question about what you are using to judge. I understand that you said you have had many PRS guitars etc and that the scheter and fender supposedly sustain just as well..... but did you really A/B it?

I only ask because in the past my memory has reallllllly played tricks on me when I have feelings like these. In the last 3 years I have gone through 8 different Mesa Amps, 2 Orange amps, 1 marshall, 1 line 6, 2 Kranks, 7 PRS guitars, 14 Ibanez, 3 Fender, 1 J5 squier tele, 1 Gibson Standard LP, 1 Gibson SG with EMG's, and I wont even get into gear...I've moved a lot of junk in a mad search for "the" sound lol. (also seems like a lot of work when I type it out)

First I've never seen a Fender sustain the way a custom PRS does. Duration? hmmm maybe, but they do not hold notes the same in my opinion. Not that either one is bad sounding, but its just different.

So are you looking for duration? are you just holding a note to see? are we bending the heck outta it? are we plugged in? do we have a lot of gain? I guess in the end the difference is pretty small so we just grab what sounds good and is important to us?

Sorry for all the questions, but I think as someone else did mention there is a ton of variables once you plug in nailing it down is very hard to do. I've been trying to retire my main PRS for some time. All those PRS's came in this last year....I have yet to find one that sounds the same. I often wonder if it is just the wood.

 

[thinskin57]

To the OP I have a question about what you are using to judge. I understand that you said you have had many PRS guitars etc and that the scheter and fender supposedly sustain just as well..... but did you really A/B it?

I only ask because in the past my memory has reallllllly played tricks on me when I have feelings like these. In the last 3 years I have gone through 8 different Mesa Amps, 2 Orange amps, 1 marshall, 1 line 6, 2 Kranks, 7 PRS guitars, 14 Ibanez, 3 Fender, 1 J5 squier tele, 1 Gibson Standard LP, 1 Gibson SG with EMG's, and I wont even get into gear...I've moved a lot of junk in a mad search for "the" sound lol. (also seems like a lot of work when I type it out)

First I've never seen a Fender sustain the way a custom PRS does. Duration? hmmm maybe, but they do not hold notes the same in my opinion. Not that either one is bad sounding, but its just different.

So are you looking for duration? are you just holding a note to see? are we bending the heck outta it? are we plugged in? do we have a lot of gain? I guess in the end the difference is pretty small so we just grab what sounds good and is important to us?

Sorry for all the questions, but I think as someone else did mention there is a ton of variables once you plug in nailing it down is very hard to do. I've been trying to retire my main PRS for some time. All those PRS's came in this last year....I have yet to find one that sounds the same. I often wonder if it is just the wood.

what i'm using to "judge" is how long an open G string will sustain. a few years back there was a shootout in guitar player magazine between the prs sc245 and one of those $6K NVOS gibson les pauls. the reviewer raved about how when he plucked the G string with moderate force, that it sustained for 16 seconds through a clean amp that wasn't turned up very loud. well, my guitars do that too. maybe more around the 14 to 15 second mark though. so i find it interesting/strange that although my guitars ring like bricks when i knock on them, that they can hang with these high end guitars in the sustain department. i'm probably obsessing over nothing. the lack of ring when i knock on my guitars is probably due to all the base coats and layers of finish on these instruments. i like what i hear out of my amp, so i'm over it already.

 

[volatileNoise]

that is the dumbest **** I have ever heard a guitar player mag have done as a "test" :roll:

who cares???????

Quality of tonal properties goes in this order - Gibson > PRS > whatever > Fender, and that is all that matters! :lol:

 

[thinskin57]

that is the dumbest sh!t I have ever heard a guitar player mag have done as a "test" :roll:

who cares???????

Quality of tonal properties goes in this order - Gibson > PRS > whatever > Fender, and that is all that matters! :lol:

while i'm not defending Guitar Player, in fairness i should mention that they mentioned the length of the decaying G string only in passing. it wasn't used as a basis for their shootout.

but to call something the "dumbest sh!t" and then go on to say, "Quality of tonal properties goes in this order - Gibson > PRS > whatever > Fender, and that is all that matters!" ...well, i hope you're joking because it is not that cut and dried. now THAT would be some "dumb ****" to say if you're serious. i'm sure you're not though. nobody could be that ignorant unless they're a gear rookie.

 

[volatileNoise]

whatever man, and yes Gibson and PRS are where it is at, but whatever what would all the current and previous killer bands out there that use Mesa's in a rock setting know??

I am not talking about toneless metal either, or soft rock/blues, talking modern heavy rock.

*your reply to this is true, and yeah I got one of those 1 in a 1000 sorts, so I am pretty stoked! :twisted:

 

[thinskin57]

whatever man, and yes Gibson and PRS are where it is at, but whatever what would all the current and previous killer bands out there that use Mesa's in a rock setting know??

I am not talking about toneless metal either, or soft rock/blues, talking modern heavy rock.

not saying gibson or prs are bad. seriously overpriced, maybe...but that's for another thread. both companies have a lot to be proud of AND ashamed of. prs to a much lesser degree though. either way, i've had both in my collection, and i can't say that either brand won't find their way back into my collection again in the future. all i meant was that just because name "xyz" is on the headstock doesn't automatically make it a great guitar. i've played guitars from both makers that are to die for, and some that were just average or complete turds. at the end of the day, they're made of wood, which is organic. until guitar companies can find a way to clone that "one in a thousand" piece of wood, it will always be a crap shoot as to what you'll get tone wise. think about. better yet, go to GC and play as many of the same model guitar as you can of ANY brand and listen to the differences. proof.

as far as the bands that use gibson or prs? remember- a lot of them, being rock stars, get the hand-picked cream of the crop from the factories. not to mention endorsements, which equal free guitars. big companies can do this. in a way, the average joes are paying for the rock stars' guitars that they get for free if you think about it. there are many small operations that build guitars every bit as good, but they're in a position where they actually need MONEY for the guitars that they build. that's why you don't see a lot of so-called rock stars with guitars that aren't from the big three. also, just because they're "rock stars" doesn't mean they're any less impressionable than the average joe. how many of these guys picked up a les paul just because they thought it was cool because page had one? why did page have one? well, what else was available in his time? this behavior just perpetuates over time, good or bad. it all comes down to perception. hell, look at peavey before and after van halen. they never got the credibility they deserved until eddie let them build his gear. i could go on and on, but who would care. wasn't trying to ruffle feathers, it just bothers me to see people brainwashed by that logo on a headstock. o.k., i'm done with this thread.

 

[YellowJacket]

I tried the 'tap test' and my Gibson Les Paul rings like a *****!!

Still, one has to wonder if there is truth to this test or if it is simply yet more hype and mysticism for Guitarists to believe.

 

[Rkorn]

PRS are beautiful guitars, the ones more expensive are just really great guitars.
The ones that are cheapest I think are probably some of the worst guitars I've ever played, they are good looking, but a 700€ schecter, ibanez, fender, epiphone, esp/ltd, are a lot better than a PRS of the same price...

My 50 cents...

 

[gonzo]

tap test:
doesn't really work after you've already slapped and glued everything together.

it is something you do with the individual pieces BEFORE you put it together.
that's my experience, anyway.

i'm sure, PRS wasn't the first to come up with this idea of wood and tone.

probably goes back to Stadivarius, and beyond.

LOL

 

[Rkorn]

Just checked, my schecter hellraiser rings.... the sustain of the guitar is not that great, nor is the tone. I think probably the greatest handicap of that guitar are the EMGs...
maybe some schaller will change that...

 

[stephen sawall]

tap test:
doesn't really work after you've already slapped and glued everything together.

it is something you do with the individual pieces BEFORE you put it together.
that's my experience, anyway.

i'm sure, PRS wasn't the first to come up with this idea of wood and tone.

probably goes back to Stadivarius, and beyond.

LOL

You can do it with the individual pieces or all put together .... it still well show some of the resonate property of the instrument either way.

 

[gonzo]

ultimately, it ALL has to work together, for the end result.

my point was more to illustrate that it is much easier to test the individual pieces PRE build.

there are certain necks, that would marry better with certain bodies, or bridge setups, or fingerboards, all that.


that's why a lot of guitarists just stick with the standard lineup (strats, pauls, teles) because they're already proven builds...
but others, like me, enjoy the experiment, and are looking for something different.

 

[lyman]

ultimately, it ALL has to work together, for the end result.

+1. imagine a les paul with a wonderfully resonant piece of mahogany for the body, but a neck with dead spots up and down it. that's no good. so sure, you can tap on the body of an assembled guitar all you like but it's not the best predictor of how the guitar is gonna sound.

 

[94Tremoverb]

Here's how I tell if a guitar is going to sound good plugged in...

I plug it in, and play it.

Everything else is largely irrelevant, including how it sounds unplugged, and certainly the 'tap test'. Ever tried the tap test on a 335? Clunk. They mostly sound thin and clacky played acoustically too - but plugged in they can sound like magic.

Sure, for a solid body guitar you can get some idea of the tone by tapping it, or playing it unplugged, and I often do (and I often practice unplugged). But if you use that as your only judgement you'll miss out on some great and interesting-sounding guitars that fail hopelessly at that, and you'll also find guitars that sound good unplugged and sustain well but just don't have any character amplified... including many PRSs I've played.

For what it's worth I own two, so don't think I'm a PRS hater. I did change the pickups, use heavy strings and set them up quite differently from the factory, and they're very different-sounding (much better) as a result of that. But I'm sure the 'tap test' hasn't changed since they're still the same pieces of wood.