The finish on the Suhr is amazing.
I notice at times during concerts guitarists jump from traditional styles to ones styled like your red one above.
The sound change is very noticeable. How is that change described in music terms? As you can tell I know little about guitars and hope this doesn't sound like to dumb of a question
Thanks man!!
IMHO the biggest factor in the way a guitar sounds is the player him/herself - all of the other things in similar (if slightly different) words to RedWolf, change the vibe/mood/style/attack but don't fundamentally change ability/sound/acuity/etc.
I'm not sure where you are on your guitar journey, but if you're interested in some of the ways that, for example, pedals affect tone, there's a great YouTube channel called JHS Pedals where he does great breakdowns of some of the science and playthrough of various types of pedals.
In some ways, it's incredibly nuanced and sophisticated. In other ways, a lot of the adjectives that people use to describe tone variation can feel like people commenting about "notes" in tasting various types of alcohol. There's for sure something there but there can feel like way too much pretense (or bullshit!) in the whole thing.
Same goes for amplifiers and guitars.
If you're in the market and looking to buy something, I'd go to a guitar store near you that's got good reviews and just play lots and lots of different guitars from different manufacturers and in different price points. If you have the time, make a day of it to find the "right" thing for you.
I happen to love the body style of the Fender Telecaster (and I like the way they sound too!) so that's where I spend 80-90% of my time - playing the ones I have. The hollowbody that I have is modelled after an iconic Gibson design - the ES-335. It's a beast and sounds great, but I don't find myself playing it that often.
Same goes for amplifiers. They definitely can sound different and there's a huge amount of rabbit holes to dive into between tube/valve amps and solid state and modeling amps and on and on. Honestly, find one that you like the sound of, that fits your needs (e.g., how loud do you need it, how often are you going to be moving it around, is a headphone jack helpful, is a built in attenuator helpful, etc., how much space do you have, etc.) at your price point after playing a bunch of them.
The great thing about new gear is that it can - but does not always - inspire new sounds/musical ideas. I've found that especially with some of the modulation pedals that can really have major effects on the way the guitar sounds and open up new things.
But it can be a red herring too and just sit in a box on a shelf as most of my pedals do right now. But maybe that won't be the case for you.
All really depends on what you're looking for out of the whole thing and how you want to spend your time and have fun. Ultimately that's the most important thing - is what you're doing bringing you joy. If so, you're on the right track!
Hope that helps even if it meandered a bit!
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