Same scale, same action - why is one guitar easier to play..

Buco

Bones, you're right, I just use the term loosely and as it's the case incorrectly.
Just to say neck angle and the angle over the bridge is another thing that contributes to how a guitar might appear to the player.

Jazzaferri

When there are changes in humidity, the relief curve in the neck (if there is one) can change as well as the top can sag a bit when it gets drier.

Those changes can affect the playability feel to a degree. The neck relief curve can be changed if there is a tensioner. Some of the necks with a carbon fibre strengthener appear to be pretty stable in my limited experience with them.

bluetrain

Buco wrote: »

Actually it was sort of the other way around. With the new adjustable bridge, the guitar completely changed it's voice and you could say it opened up. I'm going to do a thread about it. It's a little bit heavier, weighs in at about 14-15 grams and I believe the old all solid wood was about 12, but I'll have to double-check that.

With the old bridge, and any other bridge I tried, the guitar was kinda Selmer-ish in it's voice. Now it's all Favino. Tons of mids, lost some bassiness but the bass tightened up considerably. I feel it projects a lot more. I'm going to test that tonight hopefully, at the local jam. I'm going to ask some people to try to listen and tell me if they noticed a difference without telling why. Although the thumbwheels are a dead giveaway.
This bridge is made specifically for a GJ guitar, by a friend luthier who plays this kind of music. His experience is the same on the other guitars he fitted with this type of bridge, it opened up the sound.
It's about 15 grams like mentioned but there's space to get it lighter.
And it takes less effort to pick.
But this change in feel and stiffness, I'm at a loss with that. I'm going to go back and forth between the two, maybe it's the change in tone that makes me think it feels different. But past few days I've played it, I keep feeling like my fingers need to press down harder.

That's interesting. Are you sure the old bridge had good contact with the top of the guitar? All the GJ guitars I've tried with adjustable bridge has sounded quite dead to me compared to lighter solid wood bridges. Or maybe it's just a matter of taste. Some like more honky Favino sound and some boomy Cigano sound.

Buco wrote: »

Now, what I think you might refer to regarding needing to dig in with some of these guitars is when they're made with very dry sound in mind. At least that was my experience, the drier the sound, the guitar would give less to me as a player but would project very well. To the audience it would be very loud.
I as a player still prefer to get some back from the guitar even at a cost of some loss of projection. Although with some exceptional guitars you get the best of both worlds.

Same here. Luckily I play with only expensional guitars right now One friend has a guitar that is really dry sounding. It sounds really nice in front of the guitar but as a player it feels like the guitar is dead. It's not nice to play that kind of guitar. You want to feel the resonance and the power of your picking hand!

Buco

I know it's hard to believe. Yeah the old bridge was fitted well, I'm kinda obsessed with tinkering with what I got in absence of being able to buy more and more expensive guitars.
Last night at the jam I could tell that this change, whether it's simply a difference in tone or increased volume or both, resulted in much better projection.
But I asked the guy sitting next to me "did you notice anything different about my guitar?" and he said "yeah it's louder, what did you do to it?".

pickitjohn

@Buco

Never saw a GJ Guitar with an adjustable bridge, I kind of remember a post about a Favino with one.

Who built the bridge is it different from a Archtop Bridge?

Please post a Picture, I've been toying with the idea of trying one of my GJ Bridges on one of My 4 1940's Epiphone Archtops.

Buco

@pickitjohn look for the thread I just posted.