1952 Gibson ES 350 versus 1998 Gibson Tal Farlow

My last entry from august was about the vintage ES 350 that I purchased last winter. I have always been fascinated by this model ever since I heard Tal Farlow's classic trio recordings from the mid 1950s. 

We all know that Tal designed his own "Gibson Tal Farlow"signature model in the early 1960s in collaboration with the Gibson company. It was modeled after the ES 350 that he had played until that time. 

I have owned a Gibson Tal Farlow for 15 years and always loved it. At the time it was the closest I could get to a vintage Gibson ES 350, a model which was pretty rare in Europe and totally unaffordable for me at the time. 

Back to the present day. So I have had the 350 - the "original Tal Farlow" one could say - since early spring and have made several recordings with it already. It is of a much lighter build than my Tal - which is very typical of 1950s ES guitars -  and therefore more resonant. It actually has a very nice acoustic sound for a laminate guitar. The Tal is heavier and of a stiffer build but .... still sounds great plugged in. Of course the question I have always asked myself is "how does my (contemporary) Tal Farlow compare with the "real" thing, my 1950s ES 350? 

Firstly, one has to consider the fact that the Tal's specs are not exactly the same as the 350's. The body of Tal's signature model is of a heavier build, is slightly less deep and it has humbuckers whereas the 350 is fitted with P90 pick ups. There is a wooden bridge on the 350 and the Tal has a TOM. Secondly, one could argue that sound is "in the fingers" and that the same player will sound more or less the same on different guitars. And then there is the "vintage" thing, old woods dried in the open versus later oven dried woods and different production methods ... There are many variables in the equation that probably make it impossible to isolate the influence of one particular variable. All that is true. Still, it is very interesting to me and fun really to find out how they sound in a side by side comparison. 

I recorded both guitars through my Mambo 10 jazz amp with the same settings and with all EQ flat, both on the guitars and the amp. I have the same strings on them (0.12 TI Jazz swings) and I used the same pick even. I was especially interested in tonal differences in a bop style of playing so I went for single lines over a loop on the progression of "Some Day My Prince Will Come."

Tell me what you think. From listening to the tracks, I think that Gibson did a very good job on the re-issue Gibson Tal Farlow. The differences are there yes, but the similarities in sound are even more prominent. Amazingly so really, 1952 versus 1998 ... O yeah, for a realistic assessment use some real speakers dudes ...