Pierre Bensusan Signature

BigLicks67

Why is it that Bensusan gets signature guitars made and then ends up going back to his battered old one.

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AliGorie

u did notice that video was from Published on Apr 14, 2016
Wu Wei recorded live at The Silk Mill Recording Studio UK (http://www.thesilkmill.co.uk)

Maybe it was ‘on hand’ in this country for the studio session @ The Silk Mill Recording Studio ?.
Maybe he was getting ‘work done’ to the new guitar ?.
Maybe he just wanted to take The old Guitar out for a ’spin’.
the mind boggles - maybe he’s a time traveler - all very strange.

here hi is after May in the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, California.

here he is in China on the 8th of June more recent than the
I’ve played one along with other Lowdens and it doesn’t differ much at all from the typical Lowden feel, response or sound - it is a VERY good guitar.
u could ask him
http://www.pierrebensusan.com/contacts.asp

AliGorie

china tour
https://www.facebook.com/pierrebensusan/photos/a.299355223203.138526.51696263203/10153477810873204/?type=3

BigLicks67

He gets a great sound out of his old one which he says is cedar/mahogany and yet his new signature is spruce/rosewood.

He had another signature made by Kevin Ryan and that too was spruce/rosewood and didn't sound half as good as the old one.

AliGorie

seems your approaching this from an angle BL.
If you watched the Pegged Nation vid you would have heard PB say he has a new / different P/U system installed on the new guitar - used to use a Highlander (P1 ?).
The sound we hear from PB is (mainly) from his P/U and preamp it’s NOT the guitar, so invalidating any discussion about what tone woods his guitars are made from and how that affect the sound we hear.
Acoustically the new Adi Hon - R/wood sounds V good, here it is played acoustically - note the look on Doug's ace - say's it all.

BTW, I never liked his ‘piezo quack’ though I’m aware some folks think thats what acoustics sound like,
If u look at the ‘still’ of the vid above u’ll see - no white (bone) saddle ? why is that ?.
It’s one of these - split version -

http://www.barberatransducers.com/images/acoustic_guitar_pickupsw.jpg

earwighoney

PB's 'Old Lady' is a really special guitar.  I'm a big believer guitars need playing to reach their full potential and the Old Lady really fitted his sound.  

I'd really like to try the new signature reissue of the Old Lady, which is Cedar and Cuban.  I tried the Red Spruce/Honduran Rosewood which I didn't take to, 

digitalkettle

Pierre playing the Old Lady is the really special thing

Almost forty years of ownership and it's undergone some major surgery in that time!

AliGorie

EWH, interesting - u’r take on the two PS models.
I tried both PB models and preferred  the Spruce topped one - somehow I was left with the feeling that raw ‘Ol’ Lady’ was over ‘engineered’ / ‘crafted’ - if u get what I’m getting at.
Note * I am talking about new guitars I was trying, big difference to one that's played in.
The denser Cuban mahogany and tightness of a new instrument were noticeable - a ‘dry’ voice some might call ‘woody’.
What was wrong with a nice quartered piece of Honduras Mahogany - like the original.
Whereas the Adi spruce / r/wood was more ‘resonant’.
The best GL I’ve played in recent years was an Alpine spruce / Tasmanian Blackwood ‘F’ model - a superb sounding guitar - from new.

BigLicks67

What's an angle BL?

If you listen to Intuite that was recorded with microphones so tone woods are obviously important in that instance.

The point I was trying to make is if you were happy with a guitar enough to play it for donkeys years why not stick with at least a cedar top when designing a new signature model?

AliGorie

BigLicks67 said:

What's an angle BL?

If you listen to Intuite that was recorded with microphones so tone woods are obviously important in that instance.

The point I was trying to make is if you were happy with a guitar enough to play it for donkeys years why not stick with at least a cedar top when designing a new signature model?

do u mean this one BL ?
Joe’s pub NY -


if you listen to his Pegged Nation vid he tells you what his ‘live’ setup is and how important / integral it is to his stage sound, I see a shinny jack in the tail end in the first second or two.
The mic’s may be for unprocessed feed - an in house recording perhaps or local radio broadcast / podcast - who knows.
If u point to the relevant vid I/we can ask bout his setup / why the Mic's on his comments page to resolve the anomaly.
I played a cedar topped guitar for many years - still have it, but for playing live I replaced it twenty years ago with a spruce topped. It didn’t occur to me about the tone woods, I just liked it. PB will have tried GL’s spruce topped guitar, including Adi and obviously liked what GL was doing with that t/wood.
BTW, the (only) other Lowden I found didn’t work (for me) was the Paul Brady Sig (Bubinga), I played the Sitka spruce model but u can specify cedar.

BigLicks67

No, I was referring to recorded material - i.e. the Album "Intuite".

I read an interview at the time that said Steve Vai had persuaded him to recorded organically, purely with microphones, rather than a blend. The result was a great sounding record.