What Guitars are the loudest unplugged?

[glip22]

What solid body guitar maker has the loudest guitars unplugged as far as resonance and consistency in the builds?

Nik Huber, Collings, Ruocangas, Hartung, etc.?

 

[Exo-metal]

Acoustics

 

[japetus]

Acoustics

zinngggg

 

[glip22]

Acoustics

That's why I wrote "Solid Body"

 

[romanianreaper]

Acoustics

That's why I wrote "Solid Body"

LOL!!! Don't mind those guys. Even though their responses are what I'd expect from a drummer, they probably didn't get alot of sleep last night.

 

[glip22]

Acoustics

That's why I wrote "Solid Body"

LOL!!! Don't mind those guys. Even though their responses are what I'd expect from a drummer, they probably didn't get alot of sleep last night.

 

[braintheory]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

 

[Exo-metal]

Let's not take ourselves too seriously...I know for some that's way too much to ask

 

[glip22]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

 

[godgrinder]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru.

Yep my EGC is the loudest guitar I have too. My koa body/aluminium neck Travis Bean is quite loud as well but not as loud as full metal.

 

[braintheory]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

I guess in that case I’d say McInturff Carolina Custom, my EGC and Ogre and my Mario Martin is great in that respect too, but it’s a tele. Also, I meant that my Huber and Barlow sound great unplugged, but just quieter than other solid bodies, while my Knaggs is louder unplugged, but still not as good Tone unplugged imo

I remember when I was last at the Axe Palace they had a very fancy looking, expensive Framus that Nick said sounds super loud and rich acoustically, but admitted that for whatever reason he could never get it to sound how he liked plugged in

 

[braintheory]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru.

Yep my EGC is the loudest guitar I have too. My koa body/aluminium neck Travis Bean is quite loud as well but not as loud as full metal.

Yeah it’s definitely my loudest guitar. I only tried one Travis Bean before. It was also Koa body/aluminum neck, but I remember it being quiet acoustically. I compared it with my Knaggs Severn and the Knaggs was much louder

 

[ibzprestige]

My R9’s....why haven’t you bought one yet!?

 

[Racerxrated]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

So, are you saying that those brands (Suhr, Charvel etc) sound terrible unplugged?? Wow, I've had some VERY resonant Charvels (USA Promods and Customs) and the last Jackson USA Soloist was HUGE sounding unplugged. I guess these exotics are even more resonant? LPs are pretty resonant and the Charvels and the Jackson were right with the LP (78 Custom). And, every single really resonant Charvel or Jackson had killer tone plugged in as well. I have played some dead sounding guitars, and if they were dead unplugged they were pretty lame plugged in as well.
For me, my experience it usually goes together.

 

[errrrrl]

My guitars with hardly any clear coat are the loudest for me. I have a black faded Gibson flying V that just resonates loudly when unplugged.

 

[braintheory]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

So, are you saying that those brands (Suhr, Charvel etc) sound terrible unplugged?? Wow, I've had some VERY resonant Charvels (USA Promods and Customs) and the last Jackson USA Soloist was HUGE sounding unplugged. I guess these exotics are even more resonant? LPs are pretty resonant and the Charvels and the Jackson were right with the LP (78 Custom). And, every single really resonant Charvel or Jackson had killer tone plugged in as well. I have played some dead sounding guitars, and if they were dead unplugged they were pretty lame plugged in as well.
For me, my experience it usually goes together.

I completely agree that dead guitars tend to sound unimpressive plugged in too and that the experience goes together. For what it’s worth, I don’t consider late 70’s Les Paul Customs or most Les Paul Customs for that matter to be the best or most resonant sounding guitars. They tend to sound dense and punchy which I like, but lacking in tonally complexity and detail to the notes. They’re a completely different sound than the standard late 50’s style Les Pauls, which tend to sound warmer, sweeter high notes, more growl, complexity, but not as dense or rock solid sounding, maybe more airy sounding

I wouldn’t go as far as to say any of those guitars sound terrible, but I’ve found most Suhr’s to sound quite sterile/not lively at all acoustically. The Charvel’s and higher end Jackson’s I’ve played I thought sounded ok, but nowhere near as good as some of the other boutique makers. I didn’t like the way the Guthrie Govan Charvel sounded at all, but I liked the other custom shop ones I tried better, but still nothing that special too my ears

I know Nik Huber’s are very pricy, but I got a good deal on my Dolphin ($3200) and honestly I don’t think any of those guitars can hold a candle to the Huber. It may come off as snobby, but to my ears there’s a richness and resonance to its acoustic tone that those guitars just don’t have and the high notes are just so sweet and musical. I find the McInturff’s and Woody Phifer’s to sound similarly impressive and sometimes you can find very good prices for used McInturff’s

I recommend trying some of those guitars if you can come across them. They can be priciy and you may not agree with me and still prefer the Charvel’s or Jackson’s, but still worth checking out imo if you get the chance. For what it’s worth, I’m not too picky about playability or things like fit, finish, attention to detail, but I’m super picky about a guitars acoustic tone. That all being said, my friends Woody Phifer guitar is possibly my favorite guitar I’ve tried in both sound and playability

 

[glip22]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

So, are you saying that those brands (Suhr, Charvel etc) sound terrible unplugged?? Wow, I've had some VERY resonant Charvels (USA Promods and Customs) and the last Jackson USA Soloist was HUGE sounding unplugged. I guess these exotics are even more resonant? LPs are pretty resonant and the Charvels and the Jackson were right with the LP (78 Custom). And, every single really resonant Charvel or Jackson had killer tone plugged in as well. I have played some dead sounding guitars, and if they were dead unplugged they were pretty lame plugged in as well.
For me, my experience it usually goes together.

I completely agree that dead guitars tend to sound unimpressive plugged in too and that the experience goes together. For what it’s worth, I don’t consider late 70’s Les Paul Customs or most Les Paul Customs for that matter to be the best or most resonant sounding guitars. They tend to sound dense and punchy which I like, but lacking in tonally complexity and detail to the notes. They’re a completely different sound than the standard late 50’s style Les Pauls, which tend to sound warmer, sweeter high notes, more growl, complexity, but not as dense or rock solid sounding, maybe more airy sounding

I wouldn’t go as far as to say any of those guitars sound terrible, but I’ve found most Suhr’s to sound quite sterile/not lively at all acoustically. The Charvel’s and higher end Jackson’s I’ve played I thought sounded ok, but nowhere near as good as some of the other boutique makers. I didn’t like the way the Guthrie Govan Charvel sounded at all, but I liked the other custom shop ones I tried better, but still nothing that special too my ears

I know Nik Huber’s are very pricy, but I got a good deal on my Dolphin ($3200) and honestly I don’t think any of those guitars can hold a candle to the Huber. It may come off as snobby, but to my ears there’s a richness and resonance to its acoustic tone that those guitars just don’t have and the high notes are just so sweet and musical. I find the McInturff’s and Woody Phifer’s to sound similarly impressive and sometimes you can find very good prices for used McInturff’s

I recommend trying some of those guitars if you can come across them. They can be priciy and you may not agree with me and still prefer the Charvel’s or Jackson’s, but still worth checking out imo if you get the chance. For what it’s worth, I’m not too picky about playability or things like fit, finish, attention to detail, but I’m super picky about a guitars acoustic tone. That all being said, my friends Woody Phifer guitar is possibly my favorite guitar I’ve tried in both sound and playability

Have you played a Hartung? Thanks

 

[braintheory]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

So, are you saying that those brands (Suhr, Charvel etc) sound terrible unplugged?? Wow, I've had some VERY resonant Charvels (USA Promods and Customs) and the last Jackson USA Soloist was HUGE sounding unplugged. I guess these exotics are even more resonant? LPs are pretty resonant and the Charvels and the Jackson were right with the LP (78 Custom). And, every single really resonant Charvel or Jackson had killer tone plugged in as well. I have played some dead sounding guitars, and if they were dead unplugged they were pretty lame plugged in as well.
For me, my experience it usually goes together.

I completely agree that dead guitars tend to sound unimpressive plugged in too and that the experience goes together. For what it’s worth, I don’t consider late 70’s Les Paul Customs or most Les Paul Customs for that matter to be the best or most resonant sounding guitars. They tend to sound dense and punchy which I like, but lacking in tonally complexity and detail to the notes. They’re a completely different sound than the standard late 50’s style Les Pauls, which tend to sound warmer, sweeter high notes, more growl, complexity, but not as dense or rock solid sounding, maybe more airy sounding

I wouldn’t go as far as to say any of those guitars sound terrible, but I’ve found most Suhr’s to sound quite sterile/not lively at all acoustically. The Charvel’s and higher end Jackson’s I’ve played I thought sounded ok, but nowhere near as good as some of the other boutique makers. I didn’t like the way the Guthrie Govan Charvel sounded at all, but I liked the other custom shop ones I tried better, but still nothing that special too my ears

I know Nik Huber’s are very pricy, but I got a good deal on my Dolphin ($3200) and honestly I don’t think any of those guitars can hold a candle to the Huber. It may come off as snobby, but to my ears there’s a richness and resonance to its acoustic tone that those guitars just don’t have and the high notes are just so sweet and musical. I find the McInturff’s and Woody Phifer’s to sound similarly impressive and sometimes you can find very good prices for used McInturff’s

I recommend trying some of those guitars if you can come across them. They can be priciy and you may not agree with me and still prefer the Charvel’s or Jackson’s, but still worth checking out imo if you get the chance. For what it’s worth, I’m not too picky about playability or things like fit, finish, attention to detail, but I’m super picky about a guitars acoustic tone. That all being said, my friends Woody Phifer guitar is possibly my favorite guitar I’ve tried in both sound and playability

Have you played a Hartung? Thanks

No, but I’ve heard very good things about them

 

[Racerxrated]

The loudest I’ve ever tried acoustically hands down is my EGC, which is all aluminum (no wood to be found). It’s technically not a solid body since that would make it insanely heavy being all metal, but it sounds solid enough imo and a neck-thru. My Ogre guitar (all magnesium) is also very loud, but the EGC even a bit more. I remember them being even louder than the 1958 Gretsch Country Club hollow body I used to own (was my dad’s guitar). The EGC and Ogre are among my top 5 favorites in my collection, even though they’re pretty unusual. The EGC though I think of as more of a blues, classic rock guitar, but the Ogre is very tight and metal imo. They’re very rare though

For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s that important how acoustically loud a guitar is. My two most tonally complex and best sounding guitars acoustically imo are my Nik Huber Dolphin and Barlow Falcon. Both guitars are very quiet acoustically, but have great tone. My Knaggs Severn might be my next loudest guitar to my metal ones, but I don’t like it’s tone nearly as much as the Huber or Barlow. And for whatever reason most of the other knaggs I've tried (I’ve tried many, even their hollowbody) were quieter than mine.

One of my friends had a Ruokangas. I thought it was nice and definitely high quality, but overrated and overpriced and average in volume. Huber or Barlow are in another league imo. The Huber is my favorite in my collection. One of my friends has a freakishly good ‘56 Les Paul that may be the best sounding guitar I’ve played both acoustically and plugged in and again it’s average in acoustic volume. He got rid of a really 59 because of it if that says anything! When you play it acoustically every note sounds so rich and textured and rings out. Very special guitar!!

It is though funny to me how most guys these days talk about almost everything with a guitar from fit, finish, attention to detail, playability, frets, etc., yet barely talk at all about how the damn thing sounds acoustically. If they cared more about that, I think brands like Suhr, Charvel, Jackson, and Anderson would probably go out of business, but to each their own I guess

Oh and also all the McInturff guitars I’ve tried have been loud and great sounding acoustically. Those are awesome and quite underrated imo. I think though that most guitars that have the qualities we want for metal and hard rock (like being tight, focused and punchy sounding) tend not to be as loud acoustically most of the time

I know a loud one acoustically could possibly not sound great plugged in. I was more interested in a builder that nails both. Loud acoustically and it sounds great plugged in.

So, are you saying that those brands (Suhr, Charvel etc) sound terrible unplugged?? Wow, I've had some VERY resonant Charvels (USA Promods and Customs) and the last Jackson USA Soloist was HUGE sounding unplugged. I guess these exotics are even more resonant? LPs are pretty resonant and the Charvels and the Jackson were right with the LP (78 Custom). And, every single really resonant Charvel or Jackson had killer tone plugged in as well. I have played some dead sounding guitars, and if they were dead unplugged they were pretty lame plugged in as well.
For me, my experience it usually goes together.

I completely agree that dead guitars tend to sound unimpressive plugged in too and that the experience goes together. For what it’s worth, I don’t consider late 70’s Les Paul Customs or most Les Paul Customs for that matter to be the best or most resonant sounding guitars. They tend to sound dense and punchy which I like, but lacking in tonally complexity and detail to the notes. They’re a completely different sound than the standard late 50’s style Les Pauls, which tend to sound warmer, sweeter high notes, more growl, complexity, but not as dense or rock solid sounding, maybe more airy sounding

I wouldn’t go as far as to say any of those guitars sound terrible, but I’ve found most Suhr’s to sound quite sterile/not lively at all acoustically. The Charvel’s and higher end Jackson’s I’ve played I thought sounded ok, but nowhere near as good as some of the other boutique makers. I didn’t like the way the Guthrie Govan Charvel sounded at all, but I liked the other custom shop ones I tried better, but still nothing that special too my ears

I know Nik Huber’s are very pricy, but I got a good deal on my Dolphin ($3200) and honestly I don’t think any of those guitars can hold a candle to the Huber. It may come off as snobby, but to my ears there’s a richness and resonance to its acoustic tone that those guitars just don’t have and the high notes are just so sweet and musical. I find the McInturff’s and Woody Phifer’s to sound similarly impressive and sometimes you can find very good prices for used McInturff’s

I recommend trying some of those guitars if you can come across them. They can be priciy and you may not agree with me and still prefer the Charvel’s or Jackson’s, but still worth checking out imo if you get the chance. For what it’s worth, I’m not too picky about playability or things like fit, finish, attention to detail, but I’m super picky about a guitars acoustic tone. That all being said, my friends Woody Phifer guitar is possibly my favorite guitar I’ve tried in both sound and playability

Hey no worries, we all have our preferences, for me the 2 biggest are playability and tone...how does it feel, smooth, slinky, easy to play...and does it have good resonance. The Plum USA SoCal I have now just blows away anything I've ever played...just an incredible easy playing guitar. Effortless. Resonant too. I had a '90 USA Soloist not too long ago that was even more resonant...and just sounded killer...best I've owned in that category. But it didn't have the Charvels' slinky feel.
My issue or rabbit hole are amps...and always will be. I find one or two guitars that are keepers and then it's a battle to hold the amp GAS down...

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Anderson (Don't know what model) I tried at a local shop was the loudest solid body I've ever heard.