What musical instrument makes your favorite sound?

[msc545]

I like the guitar in it's many forms, especially the electric 6 string, the acoustic 12 string, and the lap and pedal steel incarnations, the latter being the most beautiful, rich sound I have ever heard:

[Staximus]

My brother just bought a petal steel and has 2 more vintage ones from the 60's. He also has about 4 lap steels and 2 more steel guitars without petals

[msc545]

I really love that sound!

[UnwantedScorpio]

Very cool I I love hard rock I love music

[msc545]

@UnwantedScorpio I had this idea lately that I would learn to play a pedal steel --- but then I came to my senses. I don't have the skill for that, sadly. But I DO love to listen to it.

[Staximus]

@msc545 my brother is pretty good on the lap steel but the pedal steel is a whole new animal. It's frustrating the shit out of him. Different tuning and all the pedals, 2 oddball small strings that you basically only use by themselves, 4 pedals, 4 knee levers, and the volume pedal. It's crazy. He has one for sale if you're interested but it's like $4000 haha, a late 60's or early 70's Sho-Bud Lloyd Green model. The best thing is to start with a little 6 string lap steel he says. An old one in good condition always sounds better than the new ones.

[msc545]

I just looked at one of these things after listening to somebody playing and considered all that you've mentioned and realized that there was no way I was ever going to learn to play something like this. I guess some people are just naturally talented at this sort of thing, but it certainly wasn't going to be me. My sympathies to your brother. I hope he learns to play it and gets a lot of satisfaction out of it. I'm sure other people listening will get a ton of satisfaction out of his playing eventually.

[msc545]

@staximus I have noticed it with many string instruments. The older they are, the better they sound. I don't exactly know why this is, but given that you mentioned it I thought I would ask what do you think the cause of this is? I am puzzled by it and I've thought it over for quite a while now. Any information or thoughts that you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Staximus]

There's a lot of factors that go into that, my brother and I have repaired quite a few vintage instruments. Better materials were available, especially the wood. Also the wood has time to age, season, whatever you want to call it. The resins that are naturally present in the wood will harden more over time and become more brittle, which makes the wood become more resonant (conduct or transmit vibrations through itself more more efficiently or whatever you want to call it). So that applies to acoustic and electric instruments, plus the magnets in old guitar pickups and old speakers were made out of more expensive and more rare magnetic material, or just different material. Also in vintage electrical instruments and amplifiers, certain electronic components were made out of materials that are no longer available or illegal to use for environmental reasons. This can also drastically affect the sound of an electrical instrument.

[Staximus]

When you break it down, there is a lot that goes into that old sound and if you take one element out such as the old magnets and the pickups or speakers the old electronic parts inside the guitars are the amplifiers or the old wood that's had time to age, it can fuck up that whole sound

[Staximus]

You can get an old lap still for a couple hundred bucks and it will never depreciate in value, start on that. Just a little 6 string, it's actually easier than playing guitar until you start getting into the advanced techniques

[Staximus]

And on electric guitars to pick ups as a whole another enchilada. The magnets, how they are mounted, how much vibration they pick up from the body, how microphonic they are, all can have a serious effect on your mojo

[Staximus]

This goddamn phone, I meant "on electric guitars, the pickups are a whole other enchilada"

[Staximus]

She has to have the old guitar with the old wood with the old electronics with the old pickups with the old amplifier with the old electronics with the old speaker and it's got to be a tube amp

[Staximus]

If you want to capture the whole old sound

[msc545]

Thank you - that is a very informative and concise response to my question! I hear what you say about pickups... I am very ambivalent about Humbuckers still...

[Staximus]

Humbuckers are great if you live in a house that has electrical grounding issues. There's some custom pickup makers that make some really good sounding humbuckers. My brother is the same as you he's very suspicious of hamburgers

[Staximus]

Humbuckers haha

[Staximus]

But his new pedal steel has a humbucker that sounds like a old single coil and sounds amazing. I can't remember who makes the pickup, but it was made for the guy who built the steel guitar which was Carter

[Staximus]

I want to say the pickup was made by Bill Lawrence but don't quote me on that

[Staximus]

If you have a guitar that has a humbucker and you want to get rid of that humbucker because you don't like the sound of it, a good well known humbucker is called Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, which is supposed to sound like a 59 Les Paul

[msc545]

Thanks - ! I think the one I am using now is trucating the high end of whatever I play - OR - my hearing is going bad?

Anyway Amazon has a bunch of these to pick from and I am just gonna try a few and see how they sound.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

Acoustic guitar, both 6 string and 12 string but for different things.

[dustybiker2]

Cello. I do love a lot of instruments though. The cello just has that deep sound which subtly demands attention with emotion.

[exitseven]

I always like the pedal steel guitar.

[goaded]

Piano.

[Pterodon]

Bass