Snake oil?

Tannin · March 2023

I make no comment, have no opinion as yet.

(They yammer a lot, Fast forward as needed.)

BillDL · March 2023

I don't think I am imagining it when I say that I THINK he is picking with more velocity or a firmer pick grip when it switches to "with toneGuard fitted". Now, that COULD be to do with an improvement in the feel of the instrument as it's vibrating, leading to a change in picking. i have no idea what the muted strums were supposed to demonstrate. I could not hear any difference in the guitar, but i am not wearing expensive headphones. I am not discrediting the device though, because I can hear a small difference on some of my acoustics when I purposefully move the back away from my abdomen.

Mellish · March 2023

Hmm...muted strums so you can hear the percussion? Not watched the clip so not really able to add much else.

drofluf · March 2023

There was a lot of discussion about these on a mandolin forum a few years back. Think it will end up like the bridge pin material debate; some people will hear a difference others won't.

But it probably also depends on the design of the guitar and will perhaps be more noticeable with a lighter/more resonant back than a stiffer/more reflective one.

sev112 · March 2023

In principle I always thought this phenomenon was / would be a thing. If you feel the vibration against your belly then the more corpulent of us are definitely damping that movement.

but it’s like my comment on bridge pins, it probably does make a difference but it’s a second order effect.

$150 though !?

Once you’ve put it on your Mandalorian presumably you aren’t supposed to take it off ?

guitarjack66 · March 2023

SSSSS! You get my drift?

Mellish · March 2023

Just watched the clip.

I wouldn't buy one. It may make a difference but, even if it did, I wouldn't want it attached to the back of my guitar. YMMV

hollywoodrox · March 2023

The emperors new. Clothes

sev112 · March 2023

Very old clothes it would seem, they don’t appear to be new. The concept appears to back hundred years plus

Soupman · March 2023

Awful video. Not convinced. I think I could find better ways of spending $150. (+VAT + import duty).

Tannin · March 2023

They are very shouty, aren't they @sev112. I actually came across the video because I'd just watched, with great interest, two of their other videos where they had a guitar with a "sycamore" top. ("Sycamore" in Ameri-speak isn't sycamore at all, it's a plane - in the rest of the English-speaking world, a sycamore is a particular type of maple.)

Anyway, they do a really interesting blind test of two otherwise identical guitars, one with an American Plane top (they call it "sycamore") the other with Sitka Spruce. I really liked the sound of the plane top - and of course, it has looks to die for.

Now the thing is, this ought to be directly relevant to us here (be that Oz or the UK) because both countries grow quite a lot of London Plane, which is a long-ago (centuries old) hybrid between American Plane and Asian Plane. (London Plane, confusingly is called "lacewood" by the UK timber trade, which makes no sense at all as there are so-called "lacewoods" all over the world, none of them related to any of the others) In terms of its measurements, London Plane is very similar to American Plane, just slightly harder (i.e., probably even better as a tonewood).And - did I say this already? - it looks fantastic!

Tannin · March 2023

Sorry - that was a reply to @Soupman (I am easily confused.)

Soupman · March 2023

Lol. @Tannin I'm also at an age where birthdays are more of an achievement than a celebration!

sev112 · March 2023

Soupman said:

Awful video. Not convinced. I think I could find better ways of spending $150. (+VAT + import duty).

You know what if they had been avail in the Uk at say £30 I would probably get one. I’ve read somewhere that Spanish guitar makers have experimented with false backs even !

Tannin · March 2023

Interesting @sev112 I didn't know that.

I did a (very) little experiment today. I sat in my normal posture, holding a guitar in my normal way, and looked down to take note of where the body of the instrument rests against me. In short, it doesn't. One corner where the back meets the side rests against my ribcage, the lower side sits on my knee. That's in. I'm not a big man - always used to be skinny as a rake - but although I'm getting a bit tubby these days, the back of the guitar is as free to vibrate as it ever was.

Playing standing up would be a different matter, but I never do that. (Actually, I don't own a strap. Maybe I'll buy one one day.)

Mellish · March 2023

Sort of same here. The back of the guitar never touches me when I'm playing, and I keep my forearm off the top.

p90fool · March 2023

Tannin said:

Interesting @sev112 I didn't know that.

I did a (very) little experiment today. I sat in my normal posture, holding a guitar in my normal way, and looked down to take note of where the body of the instrument rests against me. In short, it doesn't. One corner where the back meets the side rests against my ribcage, the lower side sits on my knee. That's in. I'm not a big man - always used to be skinny as a rake - but although I'm getting a bit tubby these days, the back of the guitar is as free to vibrate as it ever was.

Playing standing up would be a different matter, but I never do that. (Actually, I don't own a strap. Maybe I'll buy one one day.)

This is also my experience, and it was highlighted a while back when I was recording an acoustic guitarist who liked to stand up while playing, but couldn't figure out why it didn't sound as good.

He'd assumed that it only sounded different because his ears were in a different place in relation to the sound hole, but it sounded duller to the listener too.

It's not necessarily a problem, sometimes it's easier to record a drier, more controlled sound and add ambience later.

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Snake oil?

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