“Michael Watts doesn't so much play songs as sculpt moods... He is a beautiful musician” - Jon Gomm
“Michael Watts's skills as a composer, arranger and performer build upon one another creating an aural masterwork” - John Thomas - Fretboard Journal
“Michael Watts sings with a human voice through the guitar... I have not heard a guitar sound more beautiful than this” - Michael Chapdelaine
Buy the debut album Vetiver here! www.michaelwattsguitar.com/music
Michael Watts is a guitarist based in London UK. He is a previous winner of the Guitarist Magazine Acoustic Guitarist of the Year award and has shared a bill with some of the greatest musicians in the world. He is known for his onstage charisma, exquisite touch and the depth of feel and colour in his playing and writing.
Nice guitar. Sounds fine fingerstyle. I cannot remember if you ever did an SJ back to back with a Martin J40. If not, that would be a nice test like the ones you are currently doing. I note they are around the same price new. I have the latter and use it extensively for fingerstyle. Rosewood SJs are really rare! I may have mentioned on your channel that a mate of mine asked Stefan Grossman what Rev Davis's was like. Stefan said it sounded 'like a washing machine', but I doubt Rev Davis was super-picky about changing strings. Apparently he had several of the back in the 50s and early 60s. As an aside, if £5k is a bit steep, a well-known guitar shop is selling the Epiphone J 200 variant in ALL solid woods (flame maple/sitka) at under £800! If I didn't have too many guitars for my personal safety, I'd get one tomorrow.
The SJ200 sounds exceptional when played fingerstyle. The only problem, as a guitarist who plays mainly without a pick, I would have to dislocate my shoulder to play that thing regularly. It's just a huge guitar and would become rather uncomfortable after a while of playing. But what a guitar it is. Truly legendary.
I’ve heard some strummed that sounded lovely but I’ve been disappointed by the ones I’ve fingerpicked. Maybe a rosewood version would be more satisfying, particularly a 12-fretted…
Michael Chapman played an SJ200 on his "Rainmaker" and "Fully Qualified Survivor" albums in 1969/71-ish - or at least he's photographed using one on the album covers. It was this influence that drew me to Selmer's (remember them?) in Charing Cross Road around that time to play a real one which cost around £450 in those days. In 1974 I settled for a very good Antoria J200 ( seem to recall the Gibsins were branded J200 in those days rather than SJ, but I may be mistaken - or is that another model?) for around £100 from Guitar Village, then in Shaftesbury Avenue. Happy days!
Love the guitar flourishes and tapping great imaginative playing. What a big bruiser the Gibson SJ200 is , nice subtle tones , not what I expected from such a big guitar. The pick guard decoration and bridge has always put me of this type guitar but now I will have to try one out .
Great exposition of a wonderful instrument. I must admit to being biased against rosewood instruments in the Gibson line-up but that one sounds fantastic. I had an early example of a natural finish maple one shortly after Gibson opened the Montana factory and it was one of the best guitars I ever owned. And you could play pretty much anything from Jazz standards to 60's Folk Club tunes on it. Much more versatile than you would think.
Gibson do a really nostalgic Gibson thing for me. Lefty Frizell and Melba Montgomery who paired up with George Jones to the Everly Brothers that were more percussive with their pick guards. This J200 is something different
Michael, Lowden got me thinking Celtic fingerstyle guitar, which got me thinking about Stephen Wake, one of my favorite players I discovered a year or so ago. I'd love to see you chat with him. I appreciate all your content so much.
With its Indian rosewood body and adirondack spruce top, this custom-shop prewar j200 model is a lot more attractive for fingerstyle than the more familiar mid-range forward, maple-bodied versions of Gibson's jumbo.
Nothing like a good Gibson. The SJ200 vintage was my first “why is this incredible?” experience with a modern day Gibson acoustic. Then came the J45 Vintage…
Sitka spruce + Indian rosewood 12,000 Euros, seriously? It's a bad joke. There are many equally good guitar models at a quarter of the price; Yamaha, Alvarez, Cort, Furch, Takamine etc. What matters is what you play on this guitar. Bullshit with this guitar.
Could we see your fretting hand when you’re playing, Michael? It’s not the full picture just seeing your right hand. Thanks for a great channel and your beautiful technique.
You must first find and know your preferred tonality in a instrument. In reality looks have nothing to do with good tone from a player. Looks of a well crafted instrument are somewhat high art. On the other hand looks are an intriguing sales gimmick ,appealing to our inward vanity and have become a ststus symbol of wealth. I could play the worlds ugliest guitar just as long as it was crafted from exelent tone woods,played like butter,and had angelic like sonics ,tone and projection.
Two taylors on the rack. Four martiins, one hand made bozung dreadnought,three eastmans, and one atkin guitar . Now which of these guitars never get played,and treated like the red headed step children
It's no doubt a beautiful instrument, by sound and looks. The only problem is not many people can afford it. And even those, who can afford it, mainly put it behind a bulletproof glass cabinet as an investment. I would buy a Chinese copy any time, they're so good.
You also cannot tell the story of the story of the tree without Jay Howlett. The tree had been all used up for decades by the time it started being used by luthiers. Jay and his wife go literally all over the world finding desks, armoires, dining room tables, whatever it is, made out of the tree and resaw it into instrument sized sets.
@@corvusmonedulas4895 well they were all still students at the time I made this film but there will be an update on one of them soon. The rest are mostly on instagram and easy to find
I do own a wooden and a carbon fiber cello and I can clearly hear the differences, even if I use the same strings and the same bow. I can hear the differences, because I know both very intimate, but I would never claim, to be capable to distinguish unknown instruments with unknown strings, bows, players… There is a gorgeous recording of the Bach cello suites but played on a viola da gamba (Paolo Pandolfo) and I am sure, that almost nobody may recognize while hearing, that it is played on a different instrument.
@@MichaelWatts Another example: Dahmane El Harrachi played many of his songs on a banjo, but most of his listeners (especially from oriental origin) are hearing only an oud instead of a banjo…
Good test of the ears. I got one wrong. The first one because it was softer. I have an X20 and my next favorite guitar is a Maton TE808. Although I prefer the Maton tone and ease of playing, I have been mainly been using the X20 because it won't crack in the Arizona heat and low humidity. Also, the X20 does sound good and is fairly easy to play. Much better than a couple other carbon fiber brands I tried. Plus, the wood veneer looks amazing! I like it enough that I'm considering getting the Emerald Virtuo, which is more of an electric than acoustic.
Not huge differences between the two but I’d have to say I prefer the warmth of the 00. I’m a bit biased though, I’ve always loved the 00 designs. Thanks again Michael for another very professional and high quality video. I always learn something new.
I think the main factor behind the differences in sound is not the size in this case. I think it is the bridge location. The 12th fret neck joint vs the 14th fret neck joint on the dread. This resulted in the dread having a tighter sound, less pronounced high notes, while the other smaller guitar bridge placement was closer to optimal which meant richer higher notes. So many other differences between the guitars, so we are comparing apples to cars in a way but to my ear this sounded like the main reason.
Some years ago Michael at the Nth American Guitar you suggested I try a Kostal 00 German/Wenge. It’s still a guitar I tell people about. I only wish I could have afforded it at the time.
I had a perfect score. I guessed that the Emerald would be bassier and that the Gibson would have more high end sparkle. That got me the first example correct and then the second was easy. The strumming example was more difficult. The difference was easier for me to hear in the fingerstyle examples. I prefer the Gibson, and I almost always prefer a excellent wood guitar over carbon fiber, but the Emerald does sound excellent.
No spoilers allowed, so I can only say that on each occasion I thought "yes, that must be the XXX", then when the other instrument came on I went "oh wait, this sounds ..... so ..." until you the other registers came in. I didn't find this one all that difficult really, IMHO both behave exactly like one would predict from their size in these samples. It would become a lot more interesting if you could do a comparison where you also don't know which is which while recording. I wonder if Isaac from Cranmer guitars still has his parallel/x-braced twins at home, for instance.
I got rounds 1 & 3 correct and was fairly confident. Not a fan of strumming and got that one wrong. Oddly, the smaller guitar seemed to have more separation in the strumming which I wouldn’t have expected?
Very different from your comparison of the other day with the carbon fiber guitar. On that one I was listening more to the trebles, their upper midrange. On this one I was listening more to the bottom end, to hear that typical 'dred' tone. On the CF comparison I got 3 for 3, today I only got 2 right! I'm very impressed with his 00, although that dred is no slouch at all! Where in AZ is he?
