Interesting comments and this lines up with what I expected. I have a weight relieved Les Paul that sounds very bright and resonant acoustically. It sings sweetly when plugged in, but it lacks the girth and weight of the Traditional. That might be down to pick ups, but I do think that the heavier wood also contributes.
Completely agree on the comments about listening to a guitar acoustically. If it doesn’t ring out and sing sweetly unplugged, it’s never going to work? I’ve got a Tele that sounds totally dull unplugged. No matter what I’ve done to it (new hardware and pickups) it doesn’t change the essentially muddy character. To get any twang I’ve got to put it through a very bright amp and EQ it carefully.
Funny you mentioned Teles regarding this as back in the 80’s in AZ I had a stock ‘71 Tele (at first - was fortunate to get a 50’s bridge pickup wound by Seymour personally that was a monster!), and my best friend had a ‘68 stock Tele & pretty much the same experience you’ve described,
Compare sustain of E/e vs D/g strings, I've found that the longer the string overhang beyond nut and saddle the more the strings stretch and have friction over nut and saddle that robs sustain as the string moves. Compare a headless guitar to a mandolin sometime. The plinky one has a lot of excess string and long sustainer has nearly none.
That is an amazing top!!!
Much older, but I have a 2008 Traditional (9lbs. 4oz.) that I’m very pleased with, bought it used a few years ago & it had some after market mods including stainless frets & new bridge/electronics, loved the frets but changed out the bridge & tailpiece to Faber & a harness made by Jonesyblues with Mojotone ‘59 Clone low output pickups, this one probably gets played more than any of the others including my CS models, partially because I’m less worried about leaving it out & it’s close at hand, really a good solid guitar that is well worth the money I have into it.
