Can you Guess an Acoustic Guitar by the Sound!? - Blindfold Challenge

[@trevorreniger5670]

How you can stop yourself from playing "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right." shows incredible strength.

[@professor_prte]

"Here I am stuck in the middle with [Lee]!" No one can beat his great Majesty Robert Chappersman's ears...! (and smell)

[@thomaskrueger1728]

That's awesome, that won the internet today!! Well played indeed.

[@B-kn8yb]

There’s a strategy from Pete, just throw down two guesses every time lmfao

[@mylogify]

:D:D:D:D:D:D

[@brianpateman2666]

For the money - Alvarez. For the sound - Alvarez! Wish I could play sighted as well as Ben blindfold.

[@tdc_2021]

I thought it was comfortably the worst sounding 🤷🏼‍♂️ to each his own.

[@salbiase2117]

​@tdc_2021 no way I thought it was best, the epiphone was not great

[@tdc_2021]

@@salbiase2117 Epiphone sounded great 😀

[@salbiase2117]

@@tdc_2021 how dare you have a difference in taste

[@hunterbrown4585]

Through the computer, the Martin and Alvarez are the definite winners in terms of sound. Crazy value from the Alvarez

[@_uncredited]

"I don't know" is the real winner here.

[@rowbags3017]

So cool to see the Alvarez end up as both Pete and Ben's favourite. I've got a MD70BG and it blows me away how good it is! 😎

[@nharry9763]

I’ve got the md60bg and I like it just as much, if not more than my Yamaha fg5!

[@rowbags3017]

@@nharry9763 I loved it when I took my Alvarez to a rehearsal for the first time - the bass-played came out with the immortal line "The only problem with it is that it makes everything else sound like sh*t!". 🤣

[@Holtenstein]

The best-sounding acoustic guitars I've ever heard were the Martin Authentic and Golden Era series! They literally give you chills.

[@SomeDudeDan]

Nothing beats the D18 and J45 for me, I love to play these acoustic guitars.

[@hoodrooster224]

This was way more hilarious than I thought it was going to be. 😄

[@DeltaJazzUK]

The Captain wants to know why the D18 was much louder than the Hummingbird. The sound comes mainly from the top, and if you damp it with a socking great pickguard it's going to be much quieter.

[@ILuvJazzNJava]

Agreed, never loved those huge scratch plates from a sonic perspective.

[@chrisb8193]

Would love to see Andertons start stocking and showcasing some Seagull acoustics. Canadian guitars all built in Quebec that give Martins and Gibsons a run for their money for a way lower price point.

[@gidsnicapoo]

"coming into you Mr Pete"-- "come into me" haha amazing!

[@thefilmandmusic]

Should have been a Taylor in there ..

[@olivermueller1979]

There was one! He kept handing them the guitars.

[@garymillward2890]

This person is correct

[@flaelna]

Taylor makes primarily cutaway guitars. These are all full size dreadnought guitars.

[@mrredritehand]

​@@flaelna Taylor definitely makes great guitars and their 110 is a big seller

[@DeltaJazzUK]

Last time they had a Taylor in a blind shootout it lost to a cheapo guitar. I guess Taylor objected because the video mysteriously disappeared.

[@I.M.Guitar-Nerd]

Bindfoold acoutic, I love it! Next, can you tell a dread from an auditorium, from a OOO, from OO, and so on. . .

[@SlimeyGuitarStrings]

If you have spent some time around guitars, that should be obvious. A square shouldered dreadnought is the most powerful and present. OM is the most balanced. A Jumbo is big and round sounding. A Grand auditorium is sort of like a less present dreadnought with that weird taylor mid/high eq thing. The 000 is a little more trebly than an OM. The 00 is admittedly similar to the 000. The Parlor is going to be really trebly and cool for finger style.

[@I.M.Guitar-Nerd]

@@SlimeyGuitarStrings Yeah, it's just a goofy and maybe fun idea for a video. We're not trying to split atoms here or anything. . .

[@hakankillberg6043]

I pick the Hummingbird all day long. Just love the even mellow sound.

[@fransenmusic]

I'm loving these. So fun!

[@TheStratpicker]

Blimey - been a while since I saw the prices of acoustics. Nearly fell over!

[@sordel5866]

You can get fantastic acoustic guitars cheap and it's a lot easier to pick a good one in a shop than it is with electric guitars.

[@TheStratpicker]

@@sordel5866 Hi. Yes, I just didn't realise it was such a premium range of guitars and I threw in the "fell" pun, which may have been a little too, er... subtle! As we speak, my Fender Strat is locked away in its case while I enjoy playing the incredibly cheap Jet JS400 I took an internet punt on a while back - struck it lucky with this one.

[@dasninjastix]

A Martin is almost always immediately identifiable. This is a really cool challenge, great to see and hear Lee strum some stuff.

[@billymorrison23]

Alvarez kicking ass love Alvarez

[@ILuvJazzNJava]

Proves again that the Gibson J-45 is one of the most recognizable guitars by sound.

[@andybradshaw5971]

I have an Alvarez 12 String with LR Baggs pickups - it's a fantastic sounding guitar, so I am not entirely surprised the Alvarez sounded so good.

[@LGuitarB]

The Alvarez and D18 were definitely my favourites.

[@logan5437]

Y’all will have to roll in a white board next time haha 😂. Fun video. We will need part two soon!

[@takemebacktothen]

Holy moly amazing playing from Ben!

[@joibjalla]

Love the Alvarez stuff. I have the MD70BG and it's very nice. As a huge Yamaha fan it would have been awesome to see the guys react to hearing and playing an FG5 or FG9. Just get'em in stock 😊. Great video 🤘

[@salbiase2117]

What a great ad for Alverez one of my fav guitar brands

[@waynecristaudo7220]

Blindfolded Pete making hand gesture to describe sound to blindfolded Ben as both are getting it wrong - 😂

[@TarenLeitzke]

My guess was D18, Chris Stapleton, J45, Alvarez, Hummingbird. I don't even own an acoustic and rarely play them or listen to demos of them, so I'm pretty much completely clueless about them. I'm much more familiar with the electric side of guitars. The only one I'm a bit familiar with is the J45, which I think is a larger Epiphone acoustic unless I'm thinking of a different guitar, so I think that should make it darker and 3) sounded the darkest. Definitely seems like it must have a distinctive sound since Pete and Ben were both in agreement the whole way through and even someone completely clueless about acoustic guitars like me was able to pick it out. The others were more or less guesses, so it's pure luck I also got the D18 correct. I think I liked the sound of the second one the best - interesting that it turned out to be the Hummingbird, since I also like the look of it the best! I guess I know which acoustic to get if I ever decide to invest in one. 😀

[@kristinaelias3755]

Brilliant video, even if it was a nightmare to set the mics up for. Love the Frontier. Pete, have you got long Covid? You've been ill all summer, it might be time to go & see the Dr.

[@benmorris118]

Maybe we should get chappers to do some mad ones. Like, guess the cable, or which case was this guitar in?

[@ILuvJazzNJava]

How about “guess the guitar color blindfold challenge”? 😅

[@B__Mer]

PeteLeeBen, sounds like a place in a corner of the UK.

[@jonpark2247]

I have the Alvarez LD70e and I'll tell you... Best value for the money in an acoustic out there. You can't go wrong. It's a true Martin killer. It's better than some HD28s I've played.

[@rdhorsey9081]

No doubt that, during the past week, Lee has spent a lot of time on the phone with the Alvarez warehouse!

[@OssianEMills]

MORE! of this, please.

[@glenproctor1999]

For all of us not in the Martin league, Alvarez seems the way to go! Would be interesting to repeat with older examples of the same guitars, difficult to arrange I know!

[@JohnSmith-in1tt]

Was not expecting it, but the Alvarez sounded the best by a long shot. The clarity and overtones are amazing. Even better than the D18.

[@Big.E]

The Alvarez followed by the Frontiera were my favourite sounding guitars 🎸👍

[@picksalot1]

Big win for Alvarez! They earned their Laurels. 👏 I think that slight differences in the Mic angle/location had a big impact on the YT audio. The Alvarez didn't sound particularly good to me in the first round, but clearly sounded the best in the second round and overall. It's a big challenge to make the same model Acoustic Guitar sound the same. Hats off to Alvarez if they have mastered that. That was fun. Thanks

[@JasonCone]

I'm not shocked. I've got an Alvarez Laureate (LP70e Parlour), and after a setup it quickly became one of my favorites.

[@mmiller6873]

Why no Taylor is beyond me but excellent episode gents. Until next time.

[@thr3ddy]

Yeah, should have thrown in a 314CE, though they might be really easy to guess since they're so spanky.

[@NetVoyer]

They all sound fantastic. I have owned a J45 and a G45 from Gibson, and love them both, but the others in this line up would be welcome in my collection.

[@mylogify]

Great episode, and I hope you'll do more of these series! It's like always fun, and everyone loves these :D. For the sound I loved the Martin, and Alvarez Then J45 the most(For a song mix), but each of them are amazing... Nice playing as well!

[@mark.guitar]

2:00 "What did the Romans ever do for us..."

[@luciustitius]

For years, I have been playing a Hummingbird and an Eastman D-20 (high quality D-28 copy) as my main guitars - when it comes to strumming the Hummingbird is played with a pick as loud as the Eastman played with fingers. When recorded, the Hummingbird reveals its true quality - it may be quiet, but it is so well-balanced that recording with it is a dream. It's no wonder you hear it on so many recordings...

[@firespoon]

Excellent video, albeit an impossible challenge 😅 Just like to say I saw Ben play in my local pub in Cambridge the other day and his incredible talent was even more obvious live!

[@FlyGuy457]

Sounds so close in many ways. Does this mean it really doesn't matter, its more of a feel?

[@chriscooks9850]

That Epiphone looks amazing! But £4k! wow. The Alvarez sounds like a beauty

[@petestaint8312]

Agreed! Love Epiphone but I nearly soiled myself.

[@chriscooks9850]

@@petestaint8312 Did you have Kenco coming out of your nostrils?

[@neilbeacher17]

Didn’t get much praise in this test but I love my Gibson J45 I bought from Andertons a few months ago. Need to get an Alvarez too now though!

[@JKM395]

I actually got two of them when Cap was playing. I recognized the D-18 and the J-45. I don't have any experience with the others, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Couldn't really guess on the others.

[@Shovel-om7kn]

Fun video. Thank you. Paradiso! Semper Fi

[@harleywhatman1493]

You guys should have thrown in a Cole Clark or Maton something to really trick Danish Pete.

[@Akapickles]

That Alvarez sounded amazing. Quite the bargain. For all the Taylor fanboys out there, they all sound the same, it would be too obvious.

[@vicenteochoa6498]

Lee can’t even get a 5/5 without the blindfolds! That’s how hard this test is!

[@anthonyward8587]

Great review guys, cheers from Oz. :)

[@arqoo1907]

As someone who, 45 years ago, was bought a Yamaha CJ818 by my parents as an 18th birthday present from a shop on Guildford high street called Andertons (still in pristine condition and still my go-to acoustic) I am somewhat disappointed that you never use or promote Yamaha guitars (electric or acoustic) in any of these tests. Their A3R would stand side by side with any of the test/demo units in this test.

[@ILuvJazzNJava]

Biggest takeaway - Chappers still holds the title as the man with the golden ears. To be fair - I didn’t do any better than these two. Now I want to see Rob do this same blindfold test 😁

[@B__Mer]

Before they played them, Pete with a clogged right ear (likewise) is 4 times more correct than Ben.

[@theendofblue2225]

oh yes, cool video, we did a similar test (we have the luck of having some nice guitars at home) it's so hard....but cudos to Ben and Pete (i was most impressed by Pete: this sounds rosewoody...) great job, guys...

[@user-ww6sd1zu5b]

Great episode guys!

[@alexcox3943]

Had to go with something quieter since you went all out on the amp challenge video? Lol

[@user-ux1bm2br7u]

The problem with this experiment is that modern "Hummingbirds" and "Frontiers" are not Hummingbirds or Frontiers. They are just tarted up square shouldered Southern Jumbos or Country Westerns. In the 60s the Hummingbird and the Frontier had a scale length of 25.5", while the J-45 was 24.75" In the 21st Century the J-45, Hummingbird & the Frontier all have a 24.75" scale. So all that this comparison shows is the variation of different woods and one with sloped shoulders. Back in the 60s the real difference was the effect of the longer scale length of the Hummingbird and the Frontier that added such a snap and spank to the sound. (check out any Stones track from teh mid 60s to the mid 70s that had an acoustic on it.)

[@seane27]

The alvarez win 😎 hahaha gibson martin and epi🤒🤣

[@Walking_Death]

27:49 a cheeky shoulder feel from Ben.

[@thomasnissen1402]

I am planning to buy my first high end acoustic soon, this video is interesting :) I will still be driving around to the different stores and try out 100s of them, but this is opportune either way ^^

[@tinystar3010]

Guitars are really difficult to judge blindly in a scenario like this. Everyone has a different play style, dynamic touch. Example the J45 sounded thin and bright in Pete's hands, but full and warm in Ben's. Ben was also thumb picking and finger picking, which also greatly effects tone. It's a fun challenge but to anyone shopping, just go to a store, and try guitars yourself to see what speaks to you with your specific play style.

[@benja1378]

C'mon just three different manufacturers? 😅

[@werewolf2003002]

Agree, could have added another budget option like a Cort in or something

[@casssieboy]

Yes and a Yamaha

[@benja1378]

Really waiting for the day Andertons finally stock Furch!

[@B__Mer]

I like a challenge, add another Martin.

[@andreborges2881]

The Gibson dreadnoughs sounded best, timbre-wise; although I distinctly recall they felt quieter when I’ve played. A bit stiffer than your average acoustic, too. But the recorded sound is very good.

[@stevelalande4698]

You guys gotta try a Boucher bluegrass goose series or studio goose series, guaranteed the best sounding guitars!

[@MichaelBassVideos]

No Taylor is crazy! Is their some drama I don't know about?

[@DeltaJazzUK]

Yes. In a similar blind shootout a few years ago a Taylor was beaten by a dirt cheap acoustic. I think Taylor must have protested because the video mysteriously disappeared from Andertons channel.

[@benja1378]

​@@DeltaJazzUKsounds about right for Taylor 😂

[@thedoyleharcavy]

I’m a Martin guy buy damn that frontier sounded amazing to me

[@KarstenJohansson]

Since they are both blind folded, I wish there was an A B C labeling. It would have made this easier to follow along. Eventually they're remembering guitars that we mere mortals don't remember since they mostly all sound great.

[@myguitarsandme]

It would have been nice to put a Sire into the mix. I will say that I helped a friend by an Alvarez a few years ago as a swap for a Breedlove that she had bought, but wasn't getting on with. She almost didn't get the Alvarez because I liked it more than the Breedlove, which I had only played once.

[@andrefornia]

fun video to watch, guys 😊

[@rtracy01]

Looking at the 'Taylor' comments makes me laugh. I bought my first Taylor in 1999, a 710 Rosewood dreadnought. It was loud and fabulous. I'm truly thinking the Avarez won because of the Rosewood being louder. I bought Taylor because it truly sounded better and specifically louder than a Martin than a Martin D18 after playing them side by side. I'm a Taylor fan for life. My 814 was purchased in 2001, sounds fabulous and plays great.

[@Joare916]

Sad to say the Gibsons were on the bottom in all cases. The Epiphone shocked me it sounded amazing and very close to a Martin. The Alvarez was really nice too seemed closer to a Taylor sound. Still the best of the lot was the Martin as it is just simply the best in most cases to my ear.

[@andrewalderman]

Do they not have Taylors at Andertons?

[@gusharrison6284]

Would like to see Yamaha red label.

[@williamharrod6686]

All this has proven is no one is as good at this game as chappers. Rob says with great conviction exactly what it is. And is then mostly right. Which explains why chapman guitars are so good.

[@NikkoAus]

Ben is like the acoustic version of Pete 😊

[@TheGospelGuitarist]

Next up, Guess the acoustic amplifier! Special bonus round of -guess the strings!

[@IBIIGWOIRIM85]

6:13 anyone else hear Hold My Hand by Hootie & The Blowfish? Made me go listen to the song 🤘🏻

[@emittg]

Chappers would go 5/5 and be able to tell you what day of the year they were built.

[@JDP-we9hk]

Martin 1st Alvarez 2nd

[@cirisirpula152]

Rob is just blindfold master, he notices all the small things and is able to focus very well blindfolded. Like Pete instantly noticed that the Alvarez has V neck after the blindfold is off, even though that is something that they could have noticed blindfolded and is a dead giveaway that it is alvarez and not d18.

[@wheelie07030]

Extra points for jokes in Latin... 😂

[@ZenoIV]

Big scratch plates are death to an acoustic.

[@ThakkMylde]

This would be an almost impossible challenge for most.

[@dogsbodyish8403]

Only the Martin, I'm afraid.

[@sordel5866]

If anyone's sitting at home thinking "wow these guitars are bright" ... it's time to change your strings!

[@evalonious]

Gibson vs. Epiphone vs. Alvarez vs. Martin.... but the guitars are handed off by Taylor.😂

[@Matt_Barkley]

I know as much as about acoustics as I do women, so of course I got them all...wrong.

[@ronchorivera]

Funny, Alvarez have always been the best acoustics I've played imo.

[@footfaultdiscgolf]

new video idea, Rob Chapman can only smell the guitars and has to guess the brand and model

[@wildesage4172]

I was definitely able to tell that each guitar played was different from the last. P.S. Likus Subscribus had me rolling.

[@LuiPau]

@Andertons The SDC microphones are not audible in the video! Please fix! ...unless you forgot to press record...

[@LukeMegginson]

The lesson here is: if your ears are blocked, all acoustics sound like Alvarez.

[@basiltiffani8850]

Pete still has a cold?! Man, I hope he's at least feeling better everyday.

[@1rwjwith]

Very very hard test but if you had included some finger picking it may have helped…especially to pick the Martin .

[@johnschroeder3072]

Can you do some Aussie acoustics?

[@robpratt6126]

Do you mean play them upside down?

[@godfreyfreeman7754]

Perhaps the longer scale lengths of the Martin and Alvarez make them them bit louder