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Guitar tone mojo or reality??


BHz_econo

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So I've been researching new pickups for my strat. So of course every thread and review was about blues etc. Even though I play a strat I don't play that kind of stuff. Strat was the guitar I learned to play on so it has the right feel for me.

 

Anyway so while I was looking I saw all these nerds arguing and going nuts over John Mayer's The Black One strat and his sound. So today I watched the below videos with Mayer explaining the sanding and tweaking until they found the right sound for him. So it got me wondering how much of it is actually truth and how much was mojo.

Sanding?

Spring cover?

Strings?

NOS caps?

Pickups?

 

[video=youtube;4g7J9q8ePkg]

[video=youtube;ElCa5xaay5Y]

 

renula: come at me bro!

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Its all crap I have been playing strats for a long time. You crank up any decent amp and plug in sometimes the cheapest strats and they sound pretty decent if you know how to play. Their is way too much thinking going on with people and their tones.

How many people complain about your live sound probally none because 99% don't care. Studio stuff is a different thing tho I will put some thought into what I need to use.

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Sanding?

Spring cover?

Strings?

NOS caps?

Pickups?

 

Sure - all of those* can make a difference IMO, but some are certainly more subtle than others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Okay, maybe not the spring cover. :facepalm:;):lol:

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I agree with some of it. While the audience may not give a crap, some guitars totally "speak" to me. Some strats and tele's just resonate and sound awesome for some reason. I've got an older american tele body that is near 8 lbs by itself that resonates like a mofo. It makes for a ridiculously heavy guitar with everything else on it, but I can feel every chord, its way cool.

 

The biggest thing I took away from the video however, is the John Mayer was a bit weirder than I was expecting. Pretty talented, despite the haters.

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I had a long response I painstakingly typed out on my phone only to drop it and delete the message.

 

Anyway, I have no way to back this up with science but I think that the most important factors in tone are the points at which the string touches. As long as you have a decent slab of wood that is resonant, a good connection to the neck, a clean nut slot, sturdy bridge and saddles and good fretting-hand technique, you will sound reasonably similar on an array of guitars. Of course pickups are a big factor too, but I tend to think that pots, caps, and all that other stuff has very little to do with the tone. As far as trem cavity covers and stuff - I think that's just getting a little obsessive.

 

This reminds me of an example were I went to a newly opened restaurant/wine bar a few weeks ago. They offered a wine flight of 3 wine samples for $15. I ordered 3 different Pinot Niors. I tried each and enjoyed them but wasn't blown away by them and had better Pinot Nior at other establishments that weren't wine bars. After I finished the wine flight, I ordered another Pinot Nior and specifically asked the server to pick the driest one they had. I get the glass and give it a swirl and bam - it is the best wine I ever had. Sip after sip and I enjoyed it more and more. A few minutes later the server comes over and apologizes that she actually gave me the wrong wine and it was a duplicate of one that I had sampled on the wine flight. :facepalm: I think the mind has a way of tricking you into believing that there is a vast difference when really there may not be.

 

TL;DR: Eric Johnson'd

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ahem, #2...

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Aug/10_Easy_Strat_Mods_to_Improve_Primary_Tone.aspx

 

 

With all due respect to whomever wrote that... I find it highly doubtful. True, I've never tried to do a direct comparison of the sound with it on and off, but I've had plenty of Strats over the years, and plenty of occasions where I've played them with the string cover off and I've never noticed any change in the sound of the guitars when the spring covers were removed. And if someone claims they can hear the difference with the spring cover removed, I challenge them to do so in a double-blind listening test with someone else playing the guitar.

 

I also found this piece of advice somewhat questionable:

 

4. Take care of your neck cavity. Uninstall the neck and check the cavity; it should be absolutely free of any paint, dirt and other things. Over the years I've found a lot of funny things there -- credit cards, paper, cardboard, etc.

 

Matchbook covers, pieces of credit cards... has this author ever heard of neck shims? :confused::idk:

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With all due respect to whomever wrote that... I find it highly doubtful. True, I've never tried to do a direct comparison of the sound with it on and off, but I've had plenty of Strats over the years, and plenty of occasions where I've played them with the string cover off and I've never noticed any change in the sound of the guitars when the spring covers were removed. And if someone claims they can hear the difference with the spring cover removed, I challenge them to do so in a double-blind listening test with someone else playing the guitar.


I also found this piece of advice somewhat questionable:


4. Take care of your neck cavity. Uninstall the neck and check the cavity; it should be absolutely free of any paint, dirt and other things. Over the years I've found a lot of funny things there -- credit cards, paper, cardboard, etc.



Matchbook covers, pieces of credit cards... has this author ever heard of neck shims?
:confused::idk:

 

I've heard a few people complain about this too, I don't see what the heck is wrong with a neck shim. I usually just stick in a thin pick and it works wonders for action/setup.

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Matchbook covers, pieces of credit cards... has this author ever heard of neck shims?
:confused::idk:

 

Whomever wrote that sounds dumb, but a good wooden shim is structurally better than a squishy piece of cardboard.

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I've heard a few people complain about this too, I don't see what the heck is wrong with a neck shim. I usually just stick in a thin pick and it works wonders for action/setup.

 

 

The part I found funniest was that he writes this sentence saying to take everything out, then follows it by saying if you have trouble with the fit of the neck you should take it to a qualified luthier so he can shim the neck. It's like he has no idea what shimming means and just thinks of it as some kind of mysterious luthiery voodoo.

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With all due respect to whomever wrote that... I find it highly doubtful. True, I've never tried to do a direct comparison of the sound with it on and off, but I've had plenty of Strats over the years, and plenty of occasions where I've played them with the string cover off and I've never noticed any change in the sound of the guitars when the spring covers were removed. And if someone claims they can hear the difference with the spring cover removed, I challenge them to do so in a double-blind listening test with someone else playing the guitar.


I also found this piece of advice somewhat questionable:


4. Take care of your neck cavity. Uninstall the neck and check the cavity; it should be absolutely free of any paint, dirt and other things. Over the years I've found a lot of funny things there -- credit cards, paper, cardboard, etc.



Matchbook covers, pieces of credit cards... has this author ever heard of neck shims?
:confused::idk:

 

:lol:

 

I like how his name is Dirk Wacker. I had a guitar teacher who swore up and down that the spring cover made a huge difference. Said that Eric Johnson clued him onto it back in the 90s and he hasn't had one on any guitar since. Personally, I didn't hear a difference and put the cover back on for fear of getting stomach hair caught in springs. :eekphil:

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:lol:

I like how his name is Dirk Wacker. I had a guitar teacher who swore up and down that the spring cover made a huge difference. Said that Eric Johnson clued him onto it back in the 90s and he hasn't had one on any guitar since. Personally, I didn't hear a difference and put the cover back on for fear of getting stomach hair caught in springs.
:eekphil:

 

No shirt, no shoes, no Stratocaster? :idk:

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Yeah, I dunno about the impact of finish. My most resonant guitar is a strat that has lace sensors and a thick thick thick polyesther finish on it. Oh and the spring cover is on. And I've also written all kinds of {censored} on it in paint marker that nobody can see cause it's black on black thus adding even more finish to it. Still sings like a mofo and will sustain for like 30 seconds unplugged

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I'll tell you one thing I do think makes a difference, though. Playing a guitar all the time for years. Not only does wood tend to stabilize after about 5 years or so, but I feel like playing a guitar in so to speak tends to make the parts settle and wear in a way that's both more comfortable to play (as in the neck finish and fretboard) but also sort of puts them to the test. After a few years of crap that comes loose being re-tightened i feel like you'll either have fixed the problem or it will settle in place.

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- Tremolo Bar: The material of the inertia bar is crucical for a Stratocaster's tone. Even here diecast is the standard today; historically correct and awesome sounding is steel. This mod is highly recommendable for all Strats!

 

 

What? Is a whammy bar's material that crucical?

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