I am not a big believer in the tonewood theory (one wood sounds better than the other), this proves my point. Probably 95% of a guitars tone comes from the pickups and the player, the rest is the strings hardware and electronics. This sounds like a strat, not a cardboard strat.
Hi Tony, solid argument there based on the cardboard guitar outcome however the level of sustain would differ based on wood density and you would have to wonder why Gibson can get so many different sounds out of the same pickup configurations across their various body shapes. For example anyone can pick a Les Paul with their eyes closed and same goes for SG yet they sound distinctly different. Likewise when compared to Explorer and Flying V where the latter has least amount of wood and therefore sounds much brighter if not brittle when compared back to the standard old LP. Most Strats have so much empty space underneath their pick guards and that may lend weight to your theory as the pickups are mostly floating and not attached to the timber. We can expand the topic to include semi hollow bodies where the amount of timber density would be reflected in the overall tone and sound. And finally, if we consider the carbon fibre Steinbergers they had a unique sound due mostly to their composite structure not just from the EMG's installed on top.Originally Posted by tonyw
Place an unplugged electric guitar away from your body then strum it, now place the guitar against your body, its been muted by your solid mass. Your playing cranked through an amp, if anyone can hear the contribution of the timber over the electrics. well thats great but i cant
Everyone is entitled to their thoughts, i have no argument, but mine will never change. I buy tonewood for looks, i buy pickups bridges electronics, strings and my nut for sound. SG's and LP's have so many different tonal possibilities it would be impossible to compare 2 exactly against each other. Is the wiring on both Vintage or modern, no 2 pickups sound the same even if machine wound, there is always subtle variations, if they are scatter wound even more so. What were the pot values in the guitars, 500k or 300k Gibson use both, and did they have matched pairs, no they wouldnt of gone through the task of finding 2 pots and 2 caps of same value, the difference can be 100k or-. What caps are in the guitars and are their values exactly the same probably not
Now you get this lovely piece of timber, tap test it and go wow, then people go on about what finish to use, need to let the timber breathe, timber is dead it dont breathe, its just a chunk of carbon. Leo Fender used Alder and Swamp Ash why? not to make the tone of the guitar different but because he was a tight arse and went for whatever was cheaper at the time, same for the Alnico for his pickups because it was scarce.
As i said no arguments from me, just my beliefs after a life time of being around guitars, any there is too many vaiables when comparing one guitar against another.
Just on the EMG pickups, they use a stronger ceramic steel blended magnet which makes tone brighter, more cutting and more powerful, i believe that would be 90% of the unique tone right there.
Anways just my thoughts, no use rambling on about it, if you like a lump of timber and in your own mind it makes your guitars sound better then more power to you
Fair comments Tony and glad that we all have differing opinions as life would be pretty boring otherwise.
Whilst talking about strumming an unplugged electric, when holding it against your body and strumming or picking notes some sound better than others and I think that might just be the timber contributing something right there. Drop in hot PUP's and then run the signal through all sorts of gadgets and you can create all manner of sounds that may have very little of that timber talk left once it reaches the speakers.
Gotta wonder how we explain why a maple lacquered fret board sounds brighter than an unfinished rose wood one as surely that is some of the timber talking too?
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