Post by Greg Ballantyne on Jun 9, 2017 9:40:33 GMT -5
Since I got my 514ce-LTD in January, I've been wondering what happened to my 418e. Getting a new guitar usually results in spending most of my playing time with the new one, and when I went back to my 418e something wasn't right. I was fumbling notes with my pick hand, not hitting strings cleanly, and the sound I loved in that guitar had changed, not in a good way. The lowest two strings were not ringing out, as if I wasn't fretting them cleanly.
I was thinking this was due to the different depth of the guitar bodies (4 5/8" vs. 5"). My reasoning seemed to be born out by experimentation - I could get used to the 418e if I spent an hour or so playing it, but when switching directly to it after playing the GA body guitar for a while, the 418e wasn't right again.
So I began to think about trading the 418e for another GA body guitar, or perhaps a GS body guitar - same depth as the GA body. But I was afraid that another ovangkol guitar with a smaller body might not have the overtone rich, complex sound that made me go for the 418e to start with, so I determined to keep it.
Last week, my buddy Dave came by for some guitar playing. He brought a Jim Dunlop 0.88 nylon pick that he wanted me to try. For the last 20 years or more, I've used nylon picks pretty much exclusively, first the old Match Picks (came in a folder like paper matches) and now Brain picks. I don't recall the thickness of the old match picks, but I've used 0.73 Brain picks for years. I had only brought my 514 out onto the deck that evening, leaving the 418 in the house. I tried the 0.88 pick, and it was OK, but I went back to my 0.73 fairly quickly.
Yesterday evening I got back home from Virginia, and ended up playing a little guitar. When I opened up my book on the music stand, the grey Jim Dunlop pick was on the stand tray. After playing a few tunes on my 514, I picked up the 418 and the 0.88 pick to try them together. The rich, lush sound of my 418 was back! The big GO was once again a real cannon! No missed notes or strings with the pick hand! I switched back and forth between the GA and the GO for an hour or more, amazed at how simply switching from a 0.73 to a 0.88 pick made such a difference. Now I've got to buy some more of those picks - we all know how only having one pick turns out.
I still haven't figured our how that simple change made the difference, but I'm going to stop trying to analyze it and just go with it. My 418 is going to regain some of the market share it was losing to the 514......all because of a chance encounter with a pick.
I was thinking this was due to the different depth of the guitar bodies (4 5/8" vs. 5"). My reasoning seemed to be born out by experimentation - I could get used to the 418e if I spent an hour or so playing it, but when switching directly to it after playing the GA body guitar for a while, the 418e wasn't right again.
So I began to think about trading the 418e for another GA body guitar, or perhaps a GS body guitar - same depth as the GA body. But I was afraid that another ovangkol guitar with a smaller body might not have the overtone rich, complex sound that made me go for the 418e to start with, so I determined to keep it.
Last week, my buddy Dave came by for some guitar playing. He brought a Jim Dunlop 0.88 nylon pick that he wanted me to try. For the last 20 years or more, I've used nylon picks pretty much exclusively, first the old Match Picks (came in a folder like paper matches) and now Brain picks. I don't recall the thickness of the old match picks, but I've used 0.73 Brain picks for years. I had only brought my 514 out onto the deck that evening, leaving the 418 in the house. I tried the 0.88 pick, and it was OK, but I went back to my 0.73 fairly quickly.
Yesterday evening I got back home from Virginia, and ended up playing a little guitar. When I opened up my book on the music stand, the grey Jim Dunlop pick was on the stand tray. After playing a few tunes on my 514, I picked up the 418 and the 0.88 pick to try them together. The rich, lush sound of my 418 was back! The big GO was once again a real cannon! No missed notes or strings with the pick hand! I switched back and forth between the GA and the GO for an hour or more, amazed at how simply switching from a 0.73 to a 0.88 pick made such a difference. Now I've got to buy some more of those picks - we all know how only having one pick turns out.
I still haven't figured our how that simple change made the difference, but I'm going to stop trying to analyze it and just go with it. My 418 is going to regain some of the market share it was losing to the 514......all because of a chance encounter with a pick.
LOL.
