Orangewood Guitars - Rey Mahogany Demo/Review

[Old Guy]

Really loving this guitar! Enjoy!

 

[Oldjock]

I have read good things about Orangewood guitars, giving a great return for your buck. This is a video I watched on the Acoustic Guitar Cabin. It really brings into perspective how much you think you should be paying for a guitar.

Henk

 

[Old Guy]

If you have owned and/or played a higher end guitar, up close and personal, you can totally tell the difference.

The Taylor I had that I really never played definitely felt like a sturdier instrument and had much better tonal variation. I am hardly an acoustic guitar aficionado, so for me, the Orangewood is the perfect option.

People who really love acoustic guitars should probably shy away from these. The will not scratch that itch of that full bodied, rich sound which the higher end makers like Martin, Taylor and GIbson are known for. And I totally get that. But for beginner players, and for those like me, that just like to crash around with an acoustic guitar  here and there, I really don't think there is a better value on the market right now.

[Six String]

To my ear the Collings blows the Orangewood away listening to a Youtube vid.  There is little doubt in my mind that the difference would be far more apparent listening in person.

That said, acoustic guitars are not my main thing, and as much as I enjoy playing guitar, I don't think I'll ever own any guitar costing even 1/2 what that Collings sells for. 

From this comparison, I think I'd be pretty happy with the Orangewood if I was shopping for an acoustic.

[Old Guy]

14 hours ago, Six String said:

To my ear the Collings blows the Orangewood away listening to a Youtube vid. 

One thing that's really hard to convey is the how the clips are recorded. I was not recording mine with the optimum set up. If you look at the Orangewood produced adverts, they are using a $2K condenser mic with pro audio recording equipment. That is truly the way to get the real sound out of an acoustic guitar to a DAW.

As I mentioned in my vid, I used two dynamics mics, decent ones, but not nearly top of the line by any stretch. I mentioned that in the vid so people will consider that with my recording. It was also the first time I ever attempted to record an acoustic guitar, so I'm sure if I experiment more with mic placement, the sound would be better for those listening. There are also other factors involved when recording an acoustic guitar, like size and shape of the room, and acoustic treatments to minimize how the sound bounces around.

Basically what I'm saying is to take my vid and the sound with a grain of salt, as it was hardly a "pro" caliber recording and mostly for fun.

Thanks for watching!!

[Six String]

36 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

One thing that's really hard to convey is the how the clips are recorded. I was not recording mine with the optimum set up. If you look at the Orangewood produced adverts, they are using a $2K condenser mic with pro audio recording equipment. That is truly the way to get the real sound out of an acoustic guitar to a DAW.

As I mentioned in my vid, I used two dynamics mics, decent ones, but not nearly top of the line by any stretch. I mentioned that in the vid so people will consider that with my recording. It was also the first time I ever attempted to record an acoustic guitar, so I'm sure if I experiment more with mic placement, the sound would be better for those listening. There are also other factors involved when recording an acoustic guitar, like size and shape of the room, and acoustic treatments to minimize how the sound bounces around.

Basically what I'm saying is to take my vid and the sound with a grain of salt, as it was hardly a "pro" caliber recording and mostly for fun.

Thanks for watching!!

My comment was predicated on the comparison video Oldjock posted with the guitars back to back, so whatever shortcomings are in the recording, they are presumably the same for both guitars.  Even if professional studio gear was used to capture the recording, I'm still listening on tiny laptop speakers so never the best way to evaluate any piece of gear but the Collings seemed to have a fuller, more nuanced tone or timbre or however you describe it.  That is generally what I hear when anyone compares a top end guitar like a Collings, Taylor or Martin to one of the many really nice more reasonably priced options.  I'm able to discern the difference, just not willing to pay the difference for my playing. lol

I did watch your video, and thought the recording was as good as you are likely to find on Youtube.

I'm not in the market for another acoustic, but if Orangewood offered a smaller body, with cutaway and electronics I would be sorely tempted to buy one.

[Old Guy]

1 hour ago, Six String said:

I did watch your video, and thought the recording was as good as you are likely to find on Youtube.

Thank you!!

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

well it's hard to tell on this type of comparison video as they even said they compensated for the difference in sound of the guitar.

if one projected more,, so you eq'd them , so you could make a tonal judgement.. they just lost they comparison.

while the Orangewood sounds pretty good, I can hear the difference between the Collings even though it's eq matched in the video; Collings sounds fuller with a larger bottom end

if you gave Joe Bonamassa a $275 guitar and you gave me one of Joe's $200,000 Les Paul's.. Joe would still sound amazing.. I'd still sound like poo.
real story is.. go to the store, try as many as you can regardless of price. and pick the tone you can afford