If they can't tell the difference, you probably can't either...

[Dark Horse]

Interestingly, the experts are worse at distinguishing differences than lay persons.

In one experiment, wine experts were given 2 wines - a red and a white. None of the 57 experts realised that the two wines were the same wine - a white, one with red food colouring. They described the red in classical "red wine terms" (crushed red berries etc.)

I linked the movie/documentary (The Trouble With Experts) that talks about this on the previous page.

 

[rr5025]

I wish someone would do this with ampegs and Hartkes and GKs and so on. Or have they?

I feel like that's a different ball game. Different circuits and all.

 

[Killerfridge]

I linked the movie/documentary (The Trouble With Experts) that talks about this on the previous page.

Ah really? Damn, I should've checked!

 

[Killerfridge]

I feel vindicated by this. I have always suspected that the real difference between an expensive guitar and a good budget one was merely the price tag. I picked up my Squier VMJ from a room of basses one of which was a Geddy Lee Jazz. I A/B'd the basses and honestly could not tell the difference in sound or feel between them, and decided for $600 less I'd take the Squier. It is still a beast of a bass and I probably am more comfortable playing it than my Rickenbacker 4001 or my Spector. Good manufacture is good manufacture, and good enough is most of the time . . . just as good as it needs to be.

I think the difference between good affordable instruments and higher-priced instruments is often entirely in the treatments and frilly add-ons, and not really in the quality of the instrument itself. I restrict that evaluation to "good instruments, not just any cheap ol' thing.

I have a tutor who has a vintage Fender Jazz, and a Squier VM Jazz - both the same colours!

I genuinely can't tell which one he is without looking at the headstock. Sometimes he'll be playing with a band and I'll hear it and go "Ah, of course, that sounds like the Squier" only to get a bit closer, and see the Fender logo

 

[JimmyM]

I like Kenny G. Anyone that would give you crap is the same person that would jump at the chance to trot the globe playing for Kenny G.

Word.

 

[Bromosapian]

Correct me if im wrong, but violin construction is much more standard. A violin neck is a violin neck. the difference is in the quality of materials and the skill used in putting the pieces together and shaping them.

 

[JimmyM]

Correct me if im wrong, but violin construction is much more standard. A violin neck is a violin neck. the difference is in the quality of materials and the skill used in putting the pieces together and shaping them.

You don't think there are little touches you can add to them to make them sound or play one way or another? Wider necks? Thinner necks? Not to mention body depths and sizes. No, I think there are as many ways to build a violin as there are basses and guitars. And pianos. And trumpets. And saxes. And contra-bassoons. And....

 

[stratovani]

I would add to the last sentence "Openly mock any expert who tells you what you should or shouldn't like based upon their own set of unwavering assumptions or personal preferences, and work to minimize the role of these biases in your own thinking and purchasing decisions."

In a former life I knew a guy who taught wine tasting courses on cruise ships. Before the class began, he'd pour different wines into identical, unmarked glasses. The people you might describe as "posh" would sometimes refuse to form or articulate an opinion as to which wine they liked best until they knew enough information to infer the price tag. Being awesome, he would completely lie, and trick them into admitting to a love of Charles Shaw Merlot and disdain for some sunken-ship wine from the top-shelves. Then after "correcting" his mistake he'd sit back and watch the cognitive dissonance in action.

But the REAL wine aficionados (in his opinion) didn't care. If they liked Carlo Rossi the best, they'd drink that and pocket the difference, not caring what any supposed expert thought of them. If you can get the same pleasure from an SX bass as a Sadowsky then BONUS! Extra beer money!

Reminds me of the Penn and Teller Bull$hit episode they did on bottled water. Hilarious! Rather than go into details, here's the YouTube video:

The Truth About Bottled Water - YouTube

 

[sadowskyguy]

Weren't all the old pre cbs fender's pickups hand-wound too? That and better craftsmanship could make the old ones sound better...never played one myself though.

 

[JimmyM]

Leo Fender was practically deaf by the time any of the Fenders got old. He also had a financial interest in selling new instruments, not used ones.

He wasn't selling Fenders. What did he have to gain by saying nice stuff about them at that point?

 

[king_biscuit]

He wasn't selling Fenders. What did he have to gain by saying nice stuff about them at that point?

I don't know what he said exactly, do you? Someone produce the article!

 

[GodinFan]

The study didn't even discuss how well the Strad sits in the mix...

Did they decide which violin is best for metal??

 

[BrandonBass]

I can definitely tell the diff between a jazz,pbass and stingray. While some rays sound really similar, I can tell the difference between my rays blind folded.

 

[Craig_S]

I have to say I liked the Stradivarius better. It has a bit smoother sound to it, to my ear, with my Sennheiser phones and coming through my sound card. But they both sound very much like violins.

 

[Porkbun]

This is the fourth or fifth blind soundtest that Ive guessed correctly. Im starting to think its luck, but for some reason the second sounded smoother and older and the first cheaper. I can never explain my "logic" and Ive always had good ears but guessing correctly this many times is making me wonder

 

[keiththebassist]

Interestingly, the experts are worse at distinguishing differences than lay persons.

In one experiment, wine experts were given 2 wines - a red and a white. None of the 57 experts realised that the two wines were the same wine - a white, one with red food colouring. They described the red in classical "red wine terms" (crushed red berries etc.)

I work in the wine industry in Cali and I can tell you that there have been tons of these type of experiments. Seasoned pro's can usually tell the difference, many consumers can not. But as for the food coloring experiment, that is a biased experiment because it is predicated on a lie (that it's 2 different wines). It's cool to see different subjects being brought into play here, thanks for sharing.

 

[bass12]

This plays out every day with people who install a new bridge, or pickups, or whatever, and are sure it will improve the sound. Miraculously, it usually does.

Even if no one else can hear a difference.

Posts are full of this phenomenon on TB every day.

Sure, but the same thing happens in, for instance, the studio. A musician says to the engineer, "hey, can you roll off a little in the highs". The engineer hasn't even gotten around to actually twisting a knob and the musician says, "okay, thanks - that's much better". Such a phenomenon doesn't negate the fact that some changes actually do produce an audible difference!

 

[bass12]

I just "took the test" and got it right. Both violins sounded good to me but the second one did sound "older" to my ears. Of course, that could just be a fluke. A more interesting test might be to compare ten different Stradivari.

 

[bongomania]

Seasoned pro's can usually tell the difference, many consumers can not.

Actually, every single one of these tests that I've seen was testing "seasoned pros", because that is the only way such a test would be worth considering. Nobody imagines that average "consumers" have the subtlety of palette that a self-proclaimed expert does--so nobody would waste their time on such a test.

But as for the food coloring experiment, that is a biased experiment because it is predicated on a lie (that it's 2 different wines).

What that describes is exactly the point of the test--it validates the test.

 

[Lucky Strike]

The video the "Trouble with Experts" made me think of all sports talk television, and Joe Rogan.