Playing techniques to help make your dreadnaught guitar sound brighter and balanced?
- Thread starter Wayne27
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LLL
New member
I have a Martin 000-15M Burst (lefty)... I call "Sexual Chocolate".
It's all-Mahoghany body and rosewood fretboard.
So it's missing the typical bright spruce top etc..
What I do to brighten it is use Optima Gold strings.
They're a little brighter than typical, and they last forever (keep their brightness).
EDIT: They are a lighter gauge (11s I believe) - lighter gauge strings provide a sort of natural hi-pass to the tone
It's all-Mahoghany body and rosewood fretboard.
So it's missing the typical bright spruce top etc..
What I do to brighten it is use Optima Gold strings.
They're a little brighter than typical, and they last forever (keep their brightness).
EDIT: They are a lighter gauge (11s I believe) - lighter gauge strings provide a sort of natural hi-pass to the tone
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beaubrummels
Well-known member
For me, thinner pick and/or strum closer to the bridge
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
The pick you use makes a big difference. With acoustic, I usually keep 5-10 different picks in the case and pull out different ones depending on how I want stuff to sound. It's weird how material and thickness work together to make the guitar sound different. My brightest picks are narrow .73 Dunlop nylon picks seem to generate less bass and the very heavy 205 jazztones generate a lot of click on the strings that can brighten things up. The way that you hold the pick and the angle of it will make a difference too (gripping harder and picking flat on the strings seems brighter to me than gripping lightly and angling the pick).
Where you pick is a really big thing too. I played a standard dreadnought for years, and ended up doing a lot of my picking behind the soundhole towards the bridge to brighten up the sound. When I got my Taylor and was finding it super bright and tinny . . . which forced me to move to picking over the sound hold for a fuller tone.
If you have something like a plastic saddle, that will usually mellow out the strings a lot in comparison to bone or Tusq. Same thing if you have a plastic nut. Allegedly plastic bridge pins may do the same, but I've never heard this . . . and if you're changing out bridge pins for tonal changes you're probably getting pretty desperate. : P
Also, certain acoustics are voiced very dark. Mahogany top guitars often sound pretty dark and thuddy to me. Spruce with maple sides will usually sound brightest. Bigger guitars tend to produce more bass frequencies than smaller guitars too.
One last thing that I thought about, you want to keep your arm off the top of the guitar. Sounds stupid, but I had a friend who would make every acoustic he played sound dead. Then I'd play the same guitar and it would sound normal. Eventually we figured out it was because he was laying part of his palm/thumb on the top of the guitar near the sound hole and this was robbing a surprising amount of brightness from the guitar.
Where you pick is a really big thing too. I played a standard dreadnought for years, and ended up doing a lot of my picking behind the soundhole towards the bridge to brighten up the sound. When I got my Taylor and was finding it super bright and tinny . . . which forced me to move to picking over the sound hold for a fuller tone.
If you have something like a plastic saddle, that will usually mellow out the strings a lot in comparison to bone or Tusq. Same thing if you have a plastic nut. Allegedly plastic bridge pins may do the same, but I've never heard this . . . and if you're changing out bridge pins for tonal changes you're probably getting pretty desperate. : P
Also, certain acoustics are voiced very dark. Mahogany top guitars often sound pretty dark and thuddy to me. Spruce with maple sides will usually sound brightest. Bigger guitars tend to produce more bass frequencies than smaller guitars too.
One last thing that I thought about, you want to keep your arm off the top of the guitar. Sounds stupid, but I had a friend who would make every acoustic he played sound dead. Then I'd play the same guitar and it would sound normal. Eventually we figured out it was because he was laying part of his palm/thumb on the top of the guitar near the sound hole and this was robbing a surprising amount of brightness from the guitar.
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NegativeEase
New member
The closer you get the bridge, the more even it will get BUT also more brighter. -SO the 2 goals can be mildly opposed to each other.
Also, go with more mellow strings -however once again -Phosphor Bronze is mellower and more balanced, and 80/20 is less even and brighter...
Bigger strings will be slightly warmer and higher tension.
So one way is maybe go with a softer mellow pick with a softer touch closer to the bridge with bigger (13 or 14s) Phosphor Bronze strings to negate the brightness as you approach the bridge and the higher tension will also add evenness to make playing away from the bridge more even too...
Also, go with more mellow strings -however once again -Phosphor Bronze is mellower and more balanced, and 80/20 is less even and brighter...
Bigger strings will be slightly warmer and higher tension.
So one way is maybe go with a softer mellow pick with a softer touch closer to the bridge with bigger (13 or 14s) Phosphor Bronze strings to negate the brightness as you approach the bridge and the higher tension will also add evenness to make playing away from the bridge more even too...
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You mean just playing the strings lightly?
I mean if you are recording or performing, you can try light compression to even out the response.
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
I find that when playing such a guitar, that plugging it into a Boss CS3 Monte Allums modded compressor and tweaking the tone up, then a Zoom A2 Acoustic pedal with a Martin D28 setting, setting the EQ just so, and running it into an Aphex Acoustic Exciter really does the trick...
Or you worry about all that other stuff everyone else is mentioning.
Or you worry about all that other stuff everyone else is mentioning.
Erlend_G
New member
I exclusively use WOODEN picks! 
I discovered them a couple of years ago (Timber Tones), and I'm never going back,.
Different wooden species give different tones;
-also how you hold the pick/technique, will greatly alter your sound.,
(if playing with a pick)
-Try holding the pick slightly loose, for a brighter sound..
EDIT: Also some compression is awesome for recording/amplifying a dreadnaught.
-Erlend
♪
I discovered them a couple of years ago (Timber Tones), and I'm never going back,.
Different wooden species give different tones;
-also how you hold the pick/technique, will greatly alter your sound.,
(if playing with a pick)
-Try holding the pick slightly loose, for a brighter sound..
EDIT: Also some compression is awesome for recording/amplifying a dreadnaught.
-Erlend
♪
Erlend_G
New member
14's?!
My friend broke the headstock off his guitar, trying to string it with 013's...
No hard feelings bro
..(I use 011's myself).
\m/
NegativeEase
New member
14's?!
My friend broke the headstock off his guitar, trying to string it with 013's...
No hard feelings bro
(I use 011's myself).
\m/
On an Acoustic Guitar?? that's tiny
Acoustic guitar need tension and size to resonate the body at their best.
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It's funny- the last acoustic I bought with no concern about how it sounded in the room- it had to sound great through a PA. I ended up with a Godin Multiac. String size or technique doesn't matter a ton because the signal is blended with a Fishman model of a well-recorded acoustic guitar.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
While it's a pretty cool guitar, a Multiac isn't an acoustic. It's an electric guitar that doesn't use magnetic pickups.
While it's a pretty cool guitar, a Multiac isn't an acoustic. It's an electric guitar that doesn't use magnetic pickups.
True, but it sounds like well-recorded acoustic through a PA, which is why I got it. In a room not plugged in, it sounds like a banjo.
Erlend_G
New member
My Farida dreadnaught came with 011's,
and I've been putting 011's on it ever since I got it, 15 years ago \m/
.It seems to be happy with it;- so do I.
NegativeEase
New member
My Farida dreadnaught came with 011's,
and I've been putting 011's on it ever since I got it, 15 years ago \m/
It seems to be happy with it;- so do I.
Cool, Must be an atypical acoustic.
