Nice work! Yes, that's the one tell for me too - the slightly crisper high end of the Ibanez pickups which adds a little clarity in some settings. Overall they're so much closer than I had imagined, though.
Dude you’re talking a solid body instrument versus a semi-hollow. Of course the Ibanez will have more “definition and clarity” because the attack is more focused and has more treble than a semi-hollow body.
@@RichWordsMusicFun video, I like both. I am impressed that having a bigsby wasnt causing obvious detuning compared to a hardtail right Rich? I know you werent using the bigsby on the vintage.
Both guitars a really good. They sound good, but I prefer B, the Iceman, it has more definition in the tones. In the blind test I thought the vintage was B...maybe because this guitar looks really good... The Iceman is already on my list of guitars I have to try... That was an interesting comparison! When doing a blind test you don't get distracted by other things. That's a really good idea.
Thanks Robert! And yes, I think you really need to try an Iceman soon 😉 These new ones should be in stores now and they're just super fun... as well as being as versatile as the VSA500, of course! It's funny, but these blind tests really strip away some of the other factors - they're really useful for that. And because you can basically make most guitars sound extremely similar with some tweaking, it means that ultimately you can pick your own instruments based on the looks and feel you like best 👍 I think I will do some more of these blind tests soon. Cheers and rock on!
That wasn't too difficult. The hollowbody guitars usually have a more rounder sort of tone. More low, and less high. The Ibanez is more 'bitey.' But as you said, throw a bit of dirt at them and the differences dissolve. I absolutely do like comparisons like this, it makes it clear the choice of guitar should mainly be emotion, feel, play-ability and looks. The tone can be tinkered with in so many ways. With a simple EQ pedal it's easy to totally revamp the tonal characteristics of any guitar with similar pick-up hardware configurations, IMHO.
Yes, the Ibanez certainly has a bit more bite to my ears too... a crisper top end and a slightly clearer low end. The more drive though, and the less you notice it. I still need to get an EQ pedal in for some testing. I'm sure this is all you need to eliminate any tonal differences here... and then it is, like you say, a case of being able to pick a guitar which looks and feels better to you. Which one you connect with more! Because at the end of the day we can basically make them all sound the same 😉
@@RichWordsMusicin the context of a mix, any nuances you hear become irrelevant, so what really matters most is if you’re getting a clear signal and where the instrument sits in the mix.
Both guitars are excellent, I have to say that I would prefer to buy both, I have B in the form of a Gretsch guitar, so for me it is option A. Greetings Pavel CZ.👍👍👍
It's a really interesting thing to test guitars like this for sure! The Vintage was A, and the Ibanez was B... amazing how close you can make them sound for many styles of music. I think you need to test an Iceman soon for sure too Pavel! Cheers and rock on 😊
Thanks Hannes! Yes, that's the Ibanez, and that's the one main difference for my ears too: that little extra top end bite and clarity on the cleaner and lower gain drive sounds... with the higher gain stuff the differences become super minimal. Cheers for watching and enjoying!
Oh NO! I play hard-rockabilly jazz-metal! (Except for gigs with an older crowd where I play rock-hardabilly metal-jazz) How could I possibly choose between these two great guitars?? 🤔
Ha ha, well the beauty of it is you can pick either... because they both excel at hard-rockabilly metal-jazz and all hybrids thereof! The only thing there is... the VSA500 has the Bigsby for a couple of true rockabilly wobbles here and there 😉 But I say buy both and your crowd will love you either way!
@@kennethdarlington Yep, you got it! Nice work. The Wilkinson humbuckers on the Vintage are newer designed ones, and they really nail that PAF thing for me. Great pickups indeed, and they make for an extremely versatile guitar.
Did you get it right, timestamps team?:
00:00 Intro and what we’re doing today
01:50 Today’s rig and plan
02:38 Van Halen inspired rock riff (Amp Lead Channel, Bridge Pickup)
02:57 Ringing open indie pop chords (Amp Clean Channel, Both Pickups)
03:23 Garage rock riff (Amp Clean Channel, Greer Lightspeed, Bridge Pickup)
03:40 Heavy metal lead sound (Amp Clean Channel, Revv G3, Neck Pickup)
03:55 Classic rock riff (Amp Crunch Channel, Bridge Pickup)
04:09 80s rock riff (Amp Lead Channel, Bridge Pickup)
04:29 Melodic hard rock lead (Amp Lead Channel, Neck Pickup)
04:51 Grungey droning chords (Amp Clean Channel, Bridge Pickup)
05:07 Fat indie rock rhythm chords (Amp Clean Channel, Greer Lightspeed, Bridge Pickup)
05:37 Green Day inspired punk rock riff (Amp Lead Channel, Bridge Pickup)
05:50 Indie picked arpeggios (Amp Clean Channel, Neck Pickup)
06:10 AC/DC inspired riff (Amp Crunch Channel, Bridge Pickup)
06:28 Progressive rock riff (Amp Lead Channel, Bridge Pickup)
06:44 Funky rhythm chords (Amp Clean Channel, Both Pickups)
06:57 Metal chugging riff (Amp Clean Channel, Revv G3, Bridge Pickup)
07:14 Southern rock picked arpeggios (Amp Clean Channel, Greer Lightspeed, Both Pickups)
07:33 Quacky rock riff (Amp Crunch Channel, Both Pickups)
07:42 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang (Amp Clean Channel, Revv G3, Bridge Pickup)
07:55 Indie octave chords (Amp Clean Channel, Greer Lightspeed, Neck Pickup)
08:23 Hendrix inspired riff (Amp Crunch Channel, Neck Pickup)
08:40 Glam rock riff (Amp Lead Channel, Bridge Pickup)
09:02 The big reveal!
09:34 My thoughts
10:26 Thanks for watching and goodbye
I guessed correctly. The clarity of the Ibanez pickups was what differentiated them for me. They were just a bit more defined than the Vintage ones.
Nice work! Yes, that's the one tell for me too - the slightly crisper high end of the Ibanez pickups which adds a little clarity in some settings. Overall they're so much closer than I had imagined, though.
Dude you’re talking a solid body instrument versus a semi-hollow. Of course the Ibanez will have more “definition and clarity” because the attack is more focused and has more treble than a semi-hollow body.
@@RichWordsMusicFun video, I like both. I am impressed that having a bigsby wasnt causing obvious detuning compared to a hardtail right Rich? I know you werent using the bigsby on the vintage.
The SOLID body makes a difference to the attack too!
Both guitars a really good. They sound good, but I prefer B, the Iceman, it has more definition in the tones. In the blind test I thought the vintage was B...maybe because this guitar looks really good...
The Iceman is already on my list of guitars I have to try... That was an interesting comparison! When doing a blind test you don't get distracted by other things. That's a really good idea.
Thanks Robert! And yes, I think you really need to try an Iceman soon 😉 These new ones should be in stores now and they're just super fun... as well as being as versatile as the VSA500, of course! It's funny, but these blind tests really strip away some of the other factors - they're really useful for that. And because you can basically make most guitars sound extremely similar with some tweaking, it means that ultimately you can pick your own instruments based on the looks and feel you like best 👍 I think I will do some more of these blind tests soon. Cheers and rock on!
Amazing how close some of the tones are
Agreed! That's why I love these blind tests... really evens things out.
I got it. It was the difference in ATTACK that clued me in!
Nice work! Although I'd expect a tone hound like you to get this! They are surprisingly similar a lot of the time, though.
@@RichWordsMusic Yes true!
That wasn't too difficult. The hollowbody guitars usually have a more rounder sort of tone. More low, and less high. The Ibanez is more 'bitey.' But as you said, throw a bit of dirt at them and the differences dissolve.
I absolutely do like comparisons like this, it makes it clear the choice of guitar should mainly be emotion, feel, play-ability and looks. The tone can be tinkered with in so many ways. With a simple EQ pedal it's easy to totally revamp the tonal characteristics of any guitar with similar pick-up hardware configurations, IMHO.
Yes, the Ibanez certainly has a bit more bite to my ears too... a crisper top end and a slightly clearer low end. The more drive though, and the less you notice it.
I still need to get an EQ pedal in for some testing. I'm sure this is all you need to eliminate any tonal differences here... and then it is, like you say, a case of being able to pick a guitar which looks and feels better to you. Which one you connect with more! Because at the end of the day we can basically make them all sound the same 😉
@@RichWordsMusicin the context of a mix, any nuances you hear become irrelevant, so what really matters most is if you’re getting a clear signal and where the instrument sits in the mix.
Both guitars are excellent, I have to say that I would prefer to buy both, I have B in the form of a Gretsch guitar, so for me it is option A. Greetings Pavel CZ.👍👍👍
It's a really interesting thing to test guitars like this for sure! The Vintage was A, and the Ibanez was B... amazing how close you can make them sound for many styles of music. I think you need to test an Iceman soon for sure too Pavel! Cheers and rock on 😊
Great test! They sound realy close, but I liked guitar B more: the bridge pickup had more clarity and was more tight, the neck pickup was smoother!
Thanks Hannes! Yes, that's the Ibanez, and that's the one main difference for my ears too: that little extra top end bite and clarity on the cleaner and lower gain drive sounds... with the higher gain stuff the differences become super minimal. Cheers for watching and enjoying!
I’m going with B because Ibanez is my jam. I’ll leave it at that.
I thought you would!
Oh NO! I play hard-rockabilly jazz-metal!
(Except for gigs with an older crowd where I play rock-hardabilly metal-jazz)
How could I possibly choose between these two great guitars?? 🤔
Ha ha, well the beauty of it is you can pick either... because they both excel at hard-rockabilly metal-jazz and all hybrids thereof! The only thing there is... the VSA500 has the Bigsby for a couple of true rockabilly wobbles here and there 😉 But I say buy both and your crowd will love you either way!
I feel that B is the Ibanez, but I've liked A more.
Oh, I was right) B had more gain and probably sounded better on high gain. But everything else was stolen by A.)
@@kennethdarlington Yep, you got it! Nice work. The Wilkinson humbuckers on the Vintage are newer designed ones, and they really nail that PAF thing for me. Great pickups indeed, and they make for an extremely versatile guitar.
@@RichWordsMusic do you know if they making guitars in the Les Paul shape with those pickups?
@@kennethdarlington Yes, most of their newer V100 models should have them - it's the WOCHB model. I believe Wilkinson sell them separately too.
👍🏻👍🏻
Cheers as usual my friend!