80 King Street · Route 2A · Littleton MA 01460 · (978) 486-0112 · I495 Exit 79 (Old Exit 30)

Quick Index To Our Guitar Recordings

Furch

Larrivée

Martin

Yamaha

Guitar Recordings

Photo of recording session

The sound character of an acoustic guitar is really impossible to convey with just words. The best way to appreciate a guitar is to hear it in person. We love to have our customers come into the shop to try guitars, but we realize that's sometimes impractical.

To help you decide whether it's worth the trip to try a guitar in person, we've made short recordings of some of our best instruments.

It's important to listen to these recordings through a good sound system. That's the only way you'll be able to distinguish the different tonal characteristics of these fine instruments. Enjoy!


Furch

Blue OM-MM 'VTC'

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.
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Blue D-MM

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Blue OM-MM

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.
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Blue Plus OMc-SW 'VTC'

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Yellow Deluxe Gc-CR

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Yellow Deluxe Gc-SR

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Green D-SM 'SB'

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Larrivée

D-40R

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.
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00-40R

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

L-03

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

OM-03R Custom

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.
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LV-09

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Note: This recording was made with our previous setup using a Yamaha PR7 handheld recorder.

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Martin

OOO-18

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

OOO-28

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

Yamaha

GC-32C Classical

Here is a recording of this guitar:

Click here for more photos and a full description of this guitar.

How We Record the Guitars

We are looking for clear, uncolored sound so you can appreciate the subtle differences in each guitar's tone. That means studio-quality equipment, a simple signal path, and absolutely no post-production tricks like EQ or reverb.

The Room

We record in one of our sound-proofed lesson studios. There are absorbent panels on the walls to kill reflections and reverberation. The result is a room that is acoustically dead. What you are hearing is the guitar, not the room.

The Microphone

AKG C214 microphone

Most of these recordings were done with an AKG C214 condenser microphone, pictured above. We chose the C214 because it has a well deserved reputation for accurate, uncolored sound.

The Analog-Digital Interface

The microphone produces an analog audio signal. To get it into the computer, we need an analog-to-digital interface. We use a Steinberg UR22 Mk II.

The UR22 is the baby brother of interfaces used in professional studios. It has the same microphone preamp circuitry and sampling logic as the larger units, but only two channels.

The UR22 takes 24-bit samples at a rate of 192,000 samples per second. This is about 4 times faster than CD-quality audio, with samples that are 256 times more detailed than CD-quality audio. The resulting high-resolution digital stream is sent to the computer via a USB interface.

The Digital Audio Workstation Software

The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software receives the digital stream from the interface and records it on the hard disk of our Microsoft Windows 10 laptop. Our DAW software is Steinberg Cubase 11, a professional-grade application that is used in many recording studios. (By the way, an entry-level version of this same software is included with each UR22 interface.)

Although the Cubase DAW has amazing post-production capabilities, we only use it to set correct levels as we write the recording to a lossless digital .WAV file. No EQ, no reverb, no compression, nothing - just the naked guitar as it was heard by the microphone.

Playback Notes

We take all this trouble so that we can give you recordings that honestly reflect the in-person sound of each guitar. To get the benefit of the recordings, you should listen on a sound system that can reproduce the nuances of each guitar. The easiest way to do this is with a pair of quality over-the-ear headphones plugged into your computer. If you'd prefer to hear the recordings at room volume, you'll have to get an appropriate cable to connect your computer to a good stereo system. (Please, no computer speakers!)

We Take Requests!

If you'd like to hear a recording of a guitar we haven't done yet, just let us know using our Ask Us page. We'll make the recording and post it here for everyone.