Hi all. Very new to the guitar but have a good background in sound engineering and the techy side of things. I have a Tanglewood guitar (I believe it is solid top and laminate sides) and find that the top end seems to lack any real presence. It's their but quite soft. I am not sure if it is an age thing, but I now prefer a sound that is brighter. I have changed to some non phosphor bronze strings, but I still find it muted. There seems to be a fair amount on warmer sounding guitars but I was wondering is their a known manufacturer who produces brighter sounding guitars without sounding clinical or cold.
Comments
In addition to Lewy's advice try 80/20 strings which are a little brighter. Also, do you rest your arm across the guitar top when playing? That can mute the response, particularly if you are wearing a jumper or jacket. Bear in mind also that the sound in front of the guitar is different to what you hear in the playing position so get a friend to play it while you listen from the front to see if the sound is better to your ears.
Also - are the frets tarnished or corroded? That can make a surprisingly large difference - if they are, polish them with some mildly abrasive metal polish, with the fingerboard protected with masking tape.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The Tanglewood model is an STK but only know it has a solid top.
(Discounting ones like the brass type with a different string path, those do make a difference.)
Of course, some of them look nice which is a good reason to change them .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein