I can never get any. The local shop has always sold out of my size.
Had for many years a Martin Nightingale c1900 - a very small guitar which had more voice than any other that I have heard. It would carry through a large room full of babble whilst totally unamplified. Amazing instrument. Got stolen 20 years ago.
Today we can get very well made cartridges. But there are only a few brands bringing good quality.
But who makes what.
There are not so many companies able to make good stylus and polish.
Generator coil assemblies can be bought on the market.
Many manufacturers are not able to drill holes into the cantilevers, so they glue in front of it, thu there is more mass, the glue ist not as stiff as the cantilevers and there is a chance that the stylus fly away with a scratch in the record.
Looking under the microscope, you will see, many expensive cartridges are not well assembled, wrong stylus angles, wrong VTA and so on.
Someguys remove the pole shoes from the magnets and pray it sounds better thus, but in truth the need very heavy coils to generate enough level or must make very short cantilevers, thus they create more distorsions.
They make *special shapes styli*, also creating different kind of distorsions, called better sound. ....
Some idiots removed the bor wire, whitch is holding the cantilever, and the say their cartridge tracks better. No way , it has just more space to move, more distorsions and works only with high damped superduperultralightwightblibgblingfuzzy tonearms.
They use *secret space material*, sounding better...
marketing Hype ist still a problem.
Also there is a problem to get good test records.
The Lions Head Is Cooler Than Strads...
Below is same as my mother's violin - different sound to more modern violins, but beautifully sweet and harmonically pleasant, and surprisingly LOUD.
I agree that recordings don't do justice to the live sound of this level of instrument.
Smorgasbord, a snapps or two and my mum was the life of many dinner parties in my youth.
It is a pity that the MP3 generation will never get to enjoy the thrill of real live music.
Below is same as my mother's violin - different sound to more modern violins, but beautifully sweet and harmonically pleasant, and surprisingly LOUD.
I agree that recordings don't do justice to the live sound of this level of instrument.
Smorgasbord, a snapps or two and my mum was the life of many dinner parties in my youth.
It is a pity that the MP3 generation will never get to enjoy the thrill of real live music.
In relative terms, Strads have a reputation for a smaller sweeter sound than the more powerful Guarnaris. The Strads therefore are usually better choices for solo performances in recital halls and chamber music while the Guarnaris the better choice for large concertos where they have to play with and sometimes compete to be heard against an entire symphony orchestra. Kind of like the comparison between Chateau Laffitte Rothchild and Chateau Latour
The Strads may also be better choices for making recordings where they are close miked.An excellent violin maker in our area we used tried to make a copy of the reknowned 1741 ex Kochanski whose sale I linked to earlier. We played it and listened to it. The A, D, and E strings were loud enough but rather raw. This could come around in time with playing. We've noticed remarkable changes in the tone of violins that are new or have been in disuse for a long time, changes that are obvious sometimes in as little as half an hour of playing. But the G string seemed to us a hopeless cause, weak to the point of being a defect. It will probaby never come around. The defect was inherent in the violin itself. If it hadn't been so, we might have bought it.
Instruments of this type must be played on to remain the great performers that they are. This is why wealthy collectors who invest in them usually insure them and then lend them out to world famous performing artists to remain in use in constant practice and in concerts. We get the opportunity to hear them, the violin remains at the top of its performing capabilities. Unfortunately, according to this violin maker many of them have been restored at one time or another by less than the best skilled people. Worse yet, many are coming to the end of their useful lives. 300 years of playing is a long life for a musical instrument in constant use.
Excellent and very informative. Thank you.
From the way simon7000 used the name, I guess a unit of sound absorbtion was named after him?
Cheers, John
OK show and tell - this is the best acoustic guitar I own (or ever have).
Hand built by a guy called Milton Thorne. I had never seen one before I
bought this and actually haven't seen another one since.
Blackwood back & sides, spanish heel, french polished and a -very- lightly
braced top. The sound - magical. Incredible guitar.
T
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I still found the second link (with the spectral plots) interesting in that the measurable differences in the radiation patterns of the instruments were huge, sometimes >10dB. One would expect them to sound very different. The degrees of freedom on this problem make it virtually intractable.
SY is referring to the fact that Takamine (of Japan) copied the Martin to such a degree that they were sued (and lost, I believe).
I also have one of those guitars, as well as a real Martin. The Takamine is barely adequate for casual playing. The Martin is a gift from heaven. One can play a single open chord and the sound will transport you.
I also have one of those guitars, as well as a real Martin. The Takamine is barely adequate for casual playing. The Martin is a gift from heaven. One can play a single open chord and the sound will transport you.
I'm a barely adequate player. I have to admit that the guitar sounded MUCH better when a friend of mine (who is an actual real guitarist) played a few tunes on it. He liked it quite a bit, but it's no Martin. Then again, it only cost $400 new. I'm amazed at how many superb guitarists here in Austin play cheap, shoddy instruments and make them sing.
Actually, the Martin thing never got to court- Tak changed their headstock style voluntarily and Martin backed off.
I have to admit that the guitar sounded MUCH better when a friend of mine (who is an actual real guitarist) played a few tunes on it. He liked it quite a bit, but it's no Martin. Then again, it only cost $400 new. I'm amazed at how many superb guitarists here in Austin play cheap, shoddy instruments and make them sing.Actually, the Martin thing never got to court- Tak changed their headstock style voluntarily and Martin backed off.
Let us separate musical instrumental quality from musicianship. A real musician can make MUSIC on just about anything. At the same time, a real musician can disassemble information from a small radio playing an orchestra that would amaze the rest of us. This is MUSICIANSHIP, not AUDIO REPRODUCTION or the quality of the musical instrument.
Charles Hansen said it best. It also happened when Yamaha tried to make a classical guitar, as well. It just did NOT have it, and it did NOT have it, BIGTIME!
This happens with phono cartridges and an experienced ear, and why I am so happy to NOW have a phono pickup similar to the one I lost, from the same maker, years ago. The difference between phono cartridges can be much the same as differences between guitars. This can increase the cost differences, dearly as well, due to refinement and craftsmanship.
And as well, this is MORE IMPORTANT to some people, and less important to others, who might enjoy the musician play, much more than the subtle aspects of his voice or instrument. It is like, some people focus on the words and style, others on the sound quality.
Charles Hansen said it best. It also happened when Yamaha tried to make a classical guitar, as well. It just did NOT have it, and it did NOT have it, BIGTIME!
This happens with phono cartridges and an experienced ear, and why I am so happy to NOW have a phono pickup similar to the one I lost, from the same maker, years ago. The difference between phono cartridges can be much the same as differences between guitars. This can increase the cost differences, dearly as well, due to refinement and craftsmanship.
And as well, this is MORE IMPORTANT to some people, and less important to others, who might enjoy the musician play, much more than the subtle aspects of his voice or instrument. It is like, some people focus on the words and style, others on the sound quality.
well, I also smell snobbery
its a fact that a Strad will be completely worn out when played professionally hard for a number of years
alone because of that such should be forbidden by law
but theres also a commercial element of playing a Strad
Im no expert, but I have built a violin trying to use stricktly original Stradivarius methods and tools
well, in reality I like all kinds of musical instruments
its a fact that a Strad will be completely worn out when played professionally hard for a number of years
alone because of that such should be forbidden by law
but theres also a commercial element of playing a Strad
Im no expert, but I have built a violin trying to use stricktly original Stradivarius methods and tools
well, in reality I like all kinds of musical instruments
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I see that you are on a cycling forum also eh Steve.
HA!
I'm also in a series on Comedy Central, but I can't post that one here. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to see it.
se
Yeah. And beautiful work as well.
A luthier friend of mine built several guitars that started with his cutting down the trees he used for making them.
se
Most of those old fiddles have been modified and repaired (with parts replaced) so much that Stradivarius would hardly recognize one of his own, soundwise as well as appearance.
John
According to Dr. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC, there is a demonstrated connection between music and the human brain. In his book Musicophilia, he documents many medical observations of people with all kinds of disorders in the way their minds and bodies react to music.
Musicophilia | Oliver Sacks, M.D., Physician, Author, Neurologist
He says that every human society dating back 50,000 years has had one form of music or another.
The liturgical and secular music that evolved into what we call classical music and the music that was the evolution of the American jazz idiom are considered to be fine arts, the highest value examples of their type. The best minds that ever considered how musical tones and rhythms could be combined to create music invented it. Those who have spent a lifetime mastering a musical instrument or training their voices and understanding and interpreting the intent of the composers of great music bring us an unparalleled enriching experience. It is even further enhanced when the instruments they perform on have been created by the greatest craftsmen such as those violin makers in Cremona Italy centuries ago and when performed in venues which by nature of their construction further enhance the experience.
It was a legitimate and worthy goal of engineers and scientists to try to capture and recreate these sounds so that they could be fully enjoyed at will by many more people than have access to that experience live or at times when it is not available live to anyone. That they have not nearly succeeded in recreating these experiences is disappointing and it strkes me that they had given up and lost interest in the problem sometime around the late 1970s to 1980s. It isn't clear to me what the current goal of the industry that produces what is supposed to be high end electronic sound reproducing equipment is. If it is to legitimize the substitution of one experience for another, IMO it is a very poor substitute it has provided so far, a pale and far less than satisfactory facsimile of the real thing. This is why I am so derisive about its efforts. For all the good its practicioners do, they might just as well argue over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Saying it only gets them angry and it is clear why that is so.
You have a good point, Soundminded, but that is not what I concentrate on, in making quality audio. You might be VERY surprised what I have heard and have worked on in audio reproduction, that MIGHT make what you want more viable, but it is not MY area of expertise. The difference between you and my associates who DO work on recreating the entire acoustic ambience, is that they also INSIST on the best electronic reproduction possible, as well. However, like many classical musicians, you might be more easily able to 'forgive' some audio reproduction irregularities, so long as another part of the acoustic reproduction is preserved. Apparently, in your situation, the acoustic space, but correct me, if I am wrong.
I love the lawsuit era Japanese instruments. I've owned many, mainly solidbody electrics over the years and they have more them once been preferred by die hard Reckenbacker and Gibson users, with my Greco Les Paul being used on a friend's albums even though he is sponsored by Gibson. Another friend has a no name Japanese made acoustic guitar that has an incredible tone, but I think it might be a freak. Personally I prefer carbon fibre for my basses, especially some made by a guy named Ned, and just to keep it slightly to subject and related a bit to John, I recently sold my last Alembic.I've got a Lawsuit Takamine.
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