What does a “Dark” guitar sound like?

[laxu]

To me dark is just lack of highs, which can be what you hear when playing the guitar acoustically.

I feel my 8-string Skervesen with BKP Mule/Juggernaut is on the darker side as far as my guitars go. It's not dark when playing acoustically though, just the pickups tend to be pretty fat which makes it lean on being perceived as darker.

I compensate with amp EQ but might end up experimenting with the electronics at some point to give it more brightness. It just never gets the kind of bright where I want to roll the tone knob back, which is something I do on most of my guitars.

The DiMarzio Pre-B1 tele bridge pickup I had in my KDC Tele was also pretty dark. I swapped it for a Cavalier Nocaster Holy Grain Lion and that's more like the brightness I expect from a tele bridge pickup.

 

[Achilles]

If one guitar out of 14 doesn't work...

Hell, each time a guitar is identified as a special needs case it gets returned or sold.
Don't even need to plug into an amp to tell if a bunch of wood just ain't playing together nice.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Its just the word people who prefer a more treble forward tone use instead of "warm"

 

[davesultra]

Night.

 

[Abe]

For years I had done most of my electric guitar playing on a Gibson Les Paul Studio which I no longer have.
Recently I acquired a hollowbody PRS which I knew might be a little 'dark'. My first Hollowbody electric.
However, with the action set right and with pickup height adjustments and EQ and amp settings I was able to dial in the tone balance I was looking for with the bridge pickup, neck pickup, and both combined. It was an improvement and now I no longer lack the ability to achieve a range of bass and treble with this guitar.

But in general what I'd say a 'dark guitar' sounds like is jazzy HH humbucker sounds, (the opposite of what a Stratocaster sounds like on the single coil bridge pickup.)

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

 

[Eagle]

Does it have a tone control? If it does try one the rolls out of the circuit like a fender delta pot. It pulls a bit more top end.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Does anyone else only buy or keep guitars which sound good plugged in and acoustically? I just won't keep a guitar which I think sounds poor acoustically.

if it can’t sound good while I fiddle on the couch unplugged while my wife watches her tv, then it’s not for me.

 

[Desertdweller]

To me dark is just lack of highs, which can be what you hear when playing the guitar acoustically.

Yep and sometimes it's the pickups too. Ibanez sold a lot of guitars with IBZ variants and darker, lower output DiMarzios, which causes a lot of players to replace pickups on these guitars. I prefer brighter, higher output pickups myself and recently have absolutely loved the DiMarzio Igno. It's perfect.

 

[laxu]

Yep and sometimes it's the pickups too. Ibanez sold a lot of guitars with IBZ variants and darker, lower output DiMarzios, which causes a lot of players to replace pickups on these guitars. I prefer brighter, higher output pickups myself and recently have absolutely loved the DiMarzio Igno. It's perfect.

Oh absolutely. I swapped a Dimarzio Pre-B1 tele bridge pickup because to me it was too dark sounding. It sounded good, but it didn't have the range I wanted for using the tone knob. Someone who uses a very bright amp at lower settings might love it tho.