The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Given the debate going on in the Help and How To forum about high end versus low end instruments, I thought this poll might be interesting from the perspective that we could see who's playing what and then listen to their posted songs and see what kind of difference it makes.

As a side note, my Squier Strat will be making it's debut in this weeks "Clouds..." fight. My last song used a ancient Yamaha keyboard I got for free and actually requires duct tape to keep the power cable in. My other two songs use a Korean-made Fender DG10CE Acoustic/Electric.

Les Paul Studio. And a Fender Jazz bass (as relates to the thread in question.) FWIW, I'm not sure either have anything to do with recording quality.

(Hey, KMS, do you get a prize at work for the most internet message board posts a day? )

kill_me_sarah wrote:Given the debate going on in the Help and How To forum about high end versus low end instruments, I thought this poll might be interesting from the perspective that we could see who's playing what and then listen to their posted songs and see what kind of difference it makes.

Surely, the recording gear is going to make a difference, too.

My main instrument is a 1984 Lowden acoustic guitar. My recordings don't do it justice.

deshead wrote: (Hey, KMS, do you get a prize at work for the most internet message board posts a day? )

I work at home. And yes, I give myself a cookie for each good post.

erik wrote:Surely, the recording gear is going to make a difference, too.

Naturually, as will a million other factors. But if someone sounds consistently awesome with cheap or moderately cheap instruments and higher-end recording gear, then isn't that a stronger argument pro high-end recording gear and con high-end instruments?

The poll will be interesting, but in my experience, it's universally been the operator not the equipment. If Bob Ludwig and I traded equipment for a day, my stuff would still sound like crap in comparison.

Hah, when I first read the poll I thought you were talking frequency, not level of "buy in."

I have a Sigma that I bought for about 200 bucks when I was in high school. (Almost 20 years ago! Yipe!)

It's a wee little guitar, so it's very high-endy in the tone. Also, the neck has warped a little over the years, so the frets up the neck are not exactly in tune relative to the open strings...

So, I voted "low end" although I love my little guitar dearly and wouldn't want to exchange it for a better one.

I also have collection of "low end" toy instruments, pots and pans, and, of course, the saw.

I find a mustard seed canister makes a good shaker.

--Em

peavey acoustic guitar that i've had for about 5 or 6 years. it's one of those guitars that you get when you start out and you don't know if you're going to keep it up, so it's a cheap starter guitar. it has cracks on its backside. i put mid range because it's not like it's a wal-mart or thrift store guitar or anything.

Ovation/Casio.

kill_me_sarah wrote:Naturually, as will a million other factors. But if someone sounds consistently awesome with cheap or moderately cheap instruments and higher-end recording gear, then isn't that a stronger argument pro high-end recording gear and con high-end instruments?

Sure, but all you asked people about was their instruments. Without knowing *how* they record, your data won't be able to suggest much at all.

Guitar bigot!
My main instrument is a synth.
-bill

Special Miller Lite promotional Squire.

Clavinova digital piano.

roymond wrote:My main instrument is a 1984 Lowden acoustic guitar.

Jelousy and envy. Bad things to feel. You lucky man you.

HeuristicsInc wrote:Guitar bigot!
My main instrument is a synth.
-bill

Although the poll is instrumentally biased, you can still play Bill. What kind of synth do you have?

HeuristicsInc wrote:Guitar bigot!
My main instrument is a synth.
-bill

Yeah really! I use a computer program and the occasional tinker-instrument (lapharp, harmonica, egg shaker, jaw harp, desk/teeth/etc.).

Dan-O from Five-O wrote: Although the poll is instrumentally biased, you can still play Bill. What kind of synth do you have?

access virus b, roland juno 106, sequential 6trak.
i do have an electric guitar but i don't know where it would fit in that selection.
-bill

this poll's options are all screwy. i would not consider fender to be "high end", squier to be "midrange" or anything purchased at wal-mart to be "an instrument".

[edit] seeing how this poll is loosely based on a thread discussing basses, i guess it's worth mentioning my primary instrument is a bass. considering the spectrum of instruments available, i'd probably call anything beneath the bare-bones fender (not squier) p-bass "low end"; "midrange" would probably cover something like the $400-$1000 department (with very fuzzy upper and lower limits of course) and put "high end" approximately beyond that. so using these guidelines, mine would fall somewhere near the middle of the middle range. [/edit]

fodroy wrote:it has cracks on its backside.

Don't we all?

erik wrote: Sure, but all you asked people about was their instruments. Without knowing *how* they record, your data won't be able to suggest much at all.

I find this surprising from someone that was very pro higher end instruments. If you're going to tell me that without knowing the entire set-up, background and everything else about a persons' recording I can't make an opinion one way or another about the type of instrument they're playing, then what's the point of having a high end instrument? My point in making this poll is simply that I want to see if the range of sounds coming from the range of instruments. I'm not going to deduce that one instrument is better than another simply based on whether I like a song more or not, but I do think it will be interesting to see if a lot of people w/ Squiers and Epiphones and Peaveys are making songs of exceptional quality (from a sonic standpoint, not from a song writing standpoint).

HeuristicsInc wrote:
Guitar bigot!

Not at all! I purposely used the term "instrument" in this thread instead of guitar/bass. The examples are simply because I don't have enough knowledge of other instruments.

anti-m wrote: I find a mustard seed canister makes a good shaker.

Really? What do you fill it with? Or do you mean a canister full of mustard seed?

kill_me_sarah wrote:

anti-m wrote: I find a mustard seed canister makes a good shaker.

Really? What do you fill it with? Or do you mean a canister full of mustard seed?

Oh, the latter!

As in, whilst recording "Too Far Away" I thought -- "I need a shaker!" and went to my spice cabinet. I also tried cumin seed, coriander, and ibuprofen. The metal container of mustard seed sounded best.

kill_me_sarah wrote:

fodroy wrote:it has cracks on its backside.

Don't we all?

erik wrote: Sure, but all you asked people about was their instruments. Without knowing *how* they record, your data won't be able to suggest much at all.

I find this surprising from someone that was very pro higher end instruments. If you're going to tell me that without knowing the entire set-up, background and everything else about a persons' recording I can't make an opinion one way or another about the type of instrument they're playing, then what's the point of having a high end instrument? My point in making this poll is simply that I want to see if the range of sounds coming from the range of instruments. I'm not going to deduce that one instrument is better than another simply based on whether I like a song more or not, but I do think it will be interesting to see if a lot of people w/ Squiers and Epiphones and Peaveys are making songs of exceptional quality (from a sonic standpoint, not from a song writing standpoint).

Seriously, what I said before was a goof on the old "Cheap, fast, good: pick two" chestnut. It really was a joke, like I said before.

An Ovation Celebrity is my main acoustic guitar. It is sparkley black, and has a sparkley pink strap, and it is wonderful. Mr Sparkles is Love. But he's pretty midrange, kinda nice, but not super nice.

My first and only guitar is a Godin, and I voted it as midrange, for the price, but I think it's a wicked guitar. It's silver.