What does "can't handle heavy strumming" sound like?

[dneal]

Right tool for the job: if you're bound and determined to bang away don't purchase a lightly braced guitar built for fingerstyle.

Just to clarify, I'm saying it's the player - not the tool.

There's some assumption that bracing or build relate to use. If it's "lightly braced", or for "finger style"; it's not as loud or (back to the original idea) "can't handle" something.

The opposite could be argued - that a "heavy handed" strummer "can't handle" a well built guitar. You don't need heavy braces, strings and technique (or even body size) to get "loud". One of the loudest guitars I owned was a Froggy H12. Short scale, light strings (.12's at heaviest). A heavy hand would overdrive it and create a jangling mess of sound - but you didn't have to play it that hard to get unbelievable volume out of it.

Analogies always fall apart at some point, but I'll try anyway.

I grew up with muscle cars. Big block V8's with underrated numbers from the factory. Heavy steel frames and bodies. You could stomp the gas pedal and dump the clutch and do burnouts or donuts to your heart's delight with relative ease.

Try that with a new "performance" car and (absent computers) you will end up in the ditch pretty quickly. They have just as much (or more) power, but are much more responsive and dynamic. Power delivery is more immediate. The engine has lighter parts and spins up faster.

Old dreads are powerful. You can "stomp the gas pedal" / strum heavily. Light, responsive guitars are powerful too, but if you "stomp" them, you end up in the ditch. It's not the tool, it's the driver/player.

[rokdog49]

Plug it in to an amp and increase volume as needed.

[gfa]

Originally Posted by dneal

I'll play devil's advocate.

Why is "heaving strumming", or being able to handle that, a good thing?

One could argue that is a result of decades of over-braced dreads and jumbos with the heavy strings needed to drive the top. You're going to have to play them harder to get volume and tone.

A more responsive and dynamic guitar is lightly braced. That usually means lighter strings. "Heavy strumming" isn't required. Appropriate input is.

If someone has spent years banging away on an overbuilt guitar with heavy strings, they probably do think other guitars "can't handle" their playing style. That's just blaming a guitar for a lack of technique.

It's a matter of style and personal preference, isn't it? There's a reason Pete Townshend usually plays an SJ.

[dneal]

Originally Posted by gfa

It's a matter of style and personal preference, isn't it? There's a reason Pete Townshend usually plays an SJ.

Maybe there’s a reason he smashes them after he plays them.

[Br1ck]

When a guitar reaches it's natural limit for dynamic range, it naturally compresses the tone. You want more, it doesn't have more. You pick harder and you get no more loudness, just harshness like others have said. Size is just one of the limiting factors.

[RogerHaggstrom]

Yes, I have to write about my segmented saddle with spruce between bone posts under the strings.

One thing I got from it in comparison with a solid bone saddle was headroom. I can strum hard without reaching a limit, the guitar keeps responding and sounding pretty good even when strummed hard. Naturally, I never do this, but I know that the guitar will respond if I do.

The solid bone saddle acts more like a compressor and a limiter, making the sound mushy all the time and the volume limited and sounding bad when strumming hard.

[L20A]

As much as I love my Martin D-35, when I play it in a Bluegrass jam, it gets lost in the crowd.
I drive it harder and it sounds awful.

When I asked some of the other guitar players about it I was told that my D-35 has lighter bracing than say a Martin HD-28.

They called it headroom.
My D-35 isn't made to be played as loud/hard as an HD-28 is.

I almost sold the D-35 when I found out about this but after playing a few HD-28 Martins, I realized how much I love the tone of my D-35 and kept it.

If I use it in a Bluegrass setting now days, I just play it at the level it sounds good in and don't push it.

[Tnfiddler]

Originally Posted by L20A

As much as I love my Martin D-35, when I play it in a Bluegrass jam, it gets lost in the crowd.
I drive it harder and it sounds awful.

When I asked some of the other guitar players about it I was told that my D-35 has lighter bracing than say a Martin HD-28.

They called it headroom.
My D-35 isn't made to be played as loud/hard as an HD-28 is.

I almost sold the D-35 when I found out about this but after playing a few HD-28 Martins, I realized how much I love the tone of my D-35 and kept it.

If I use it in a Bluegrass setting now days, I just play it at the level it sounds good in and don't push it.

My D41 is loud, but it doesn’t cut through a mix like I figured it would. My Bourgeois AT Vintage D banjo killer has no problem being heard! It is LOUD and powerful!!

[L20A]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

My D41 is loud, but it doesn’t cut through a mix like I figured it would. My Bourgeois AT Vintage D banjo killer has no problem being heard! It is LOUD and powerful!!

I had a custom build made for me with an Adirondack top and braced to hold up to Bluegrass picking.
It goes with me when I need more than my D-35 can give.