Members Knottyhed Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by StringSnapse you just need to get a good coat of sweat and grim on your neck then its safe . Haha, i reckon scientists could clone me from the gunk left on my guitar necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by onewhiteduck I haven't read the whole thing yet, but maple vs. rosewood fretboards is a good example. I can't see how anybody truly "hears" a difference, since you're playing off the frets and not the actual wood. Well, while I'm not saying that there is or isn't a difference, consider what the frets are attached to. If maple and rosewood have different resonant responses, and if those differences are "significant" then I can see that the different woods could make a difference to the sound. Also a separate fingerboard and neck, or a one-piece with a stripe on the back could contribute to tonal differences. As I said, though, I honestly don't know if it makes a difference - I prefer the looks of rosewood necks though, and I think I prefer the feel (how much that is influenced by the looks I'm not sure). The problem seems to be isolating plausibilty from actuality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MONGOOZ Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 i can hear the difference between a sunburst les paul and a gold top les paul, blind folded and with the guitar unplugged so there....!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by MONGOOZ i can hear the difference between a sunburst les paul and a gold top les paul, blind folded and with the guitar unplugged so there....!!! I can hear whether the tuning pegs are plated or plain chrome... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 That's nothing. I can smell what day of the week it was made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skilo885 Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot That's nothing. I can smell what day of the week it was made. Pssshht....I can tell you the name of the person who made it by merely touching the body. But only on Poly finished guitars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by Skilo885 Pssshht....I can tell you the name of the person who made it by merely touching the body.But only on Poly finished guitars... I like poly better because it stops the guitars tone from leaking out of the body... laquer is too porous so all the tone will escape over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 If it was half poly and half nitro would only part of the tone leak out, making it thinner. Would it omly warp in one direction.. God , I am worried now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 What you want is poly on the back, nitro on the front. That way all the tone is directed towards the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot What you want is poly on the back, nitro on the front. That way all the tone is directed towards the audience. And you'd be able to top up your guitar's tone by playing whilst facing the amp when practicing at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by Knottyhed And you'd be able to top up your guitar's tone by playing whilst facing the amp when practicing at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Finally, we believe that Stradivarius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by guitarcapo In conclusion I would like to mention that I finding it extremely obnoxious when I read gear articles and journalism pieces that use the first person plural "WE" point of view. Who the {censored} are you? The queen of England? Maybe he has a mouse in his pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walt0915 Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by Knottyhed Well you can't scientifically evaluate 'good tone', because it's not something you can measure. You can work out how many people can tell the difference between rose-wood fretboards/maple fretboards and tube/vs. solid state etc. I'll hold my hands up and say with the first I wouldn't stand a chance and with the second I'd have no idea unless the tube amp was slightly cranked and the SS amp was trying to replicate that sound (and then I may get it wrong). Pile on effects or play totally clean and I'd not have a clue. Having said that, when I actually play through a tube amp it does seem more 'responsive' to my playing and pick attack - but perhaps that is cos I expect it to be? I agree totally - and unless I read it wrong, the Fender guy made a point of saying that "good tone" is subjective. I can only assume then that the tests were more recognizing one thing over another. One could certainly ask for tone preference, and see if there is any strong correlation. It might be (assuming many people can tell the difference in the first place) that some woods are more likely to sound "good" to most people. There have cetainly been research studies done that way showing that various other things have either hard-wired or cultural norms of "good" in them. But I suspect that even if most could hear a consistent difference (which I'm not sure I believe) the notions of "good" will vary to such an extent that the only reasonable conclusion is "you have to hear it for yourself." Which is why I don't buy guitars sight-unseen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walt0915 Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by StringSnapse alot of things are poreous , ceramics , cement , bone , they dont "breathe" . I think the "breathing" thing is also a holdover from acoustic guitars and how the tops vibrate and somehow that got carried over to solid bodies? Wood not only is porous, it contains water and tends to exchange water with the air. If the air is wetter, it absorbs it, if the air is drier, it loses it. As it absorbs and loses air, the fibers swell, and the wood moves - if it moves a lot we call it warping - it even a small amount of movement can be measured in most wood objects. Any finish (including shelac and laquer) will restric the movement of air and water in and out of the wood. Some finishes allow moisture to mvoe through them faster, but all of them allow some movement (put a wet glass on a wood table for a few days and you'll see). Some finishes can be damn near perfect. Does any of this really matter with guitars? I'm sure it makes a difference, and if you TRY you can hear it. Probably most of us can't, and frankly are't you happier NOT having to worry about it? The vast majority of the folks who listen to you don't hear it. And if you play a solid body electric with some distortion or other pedals, it REALLY doesn't matter. But yes, especially on an acoustic, if they have a enough experience, I'm sure some hear the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OaklandA Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 RE: boutique stuff. Well, a lot of it is better because it's made better. Pure and simple. A quality issue. Will it make a difference in the average players hands? Nope. On the original post....very interesting. I really wish someone would publicly debunk a lot of this stuff. I'm really tired of hearing gear queers go on forever over how much nicer Ash sounds than Bubinga, or how they can't have a Maple necked guitar because it's too bright, etc. I believe Scott at Harmonic Design has already done a blind test on fingerboard wood and found that among a number of players, no one could really pick a difference. I know someone who is always on the quest for the Holy Grail of tone. He's tried every pickup, tuner, bridge, nut combination possible in his poor old Strat. In the shop he tells the tech that most of what he gets seems to hit it close ("chimey, bell like tone") when he first gets it installed but after a few days it's "just not there". The tech asks, "Could it be that you're putting new strings on right after installing something new?". Got a big laugh....but probably true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StringSnapse Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot What you want is poly on the back, nitro on the front. That way all the tone is directed towards the audience. lol now thats a quotable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StringSnapse Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 How about "vintage" pickups? At what point of magnet strength decay are we talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walt0915 Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by StringSnapse How about "vintage" pickups? At what point of magnet strength decay are we talking about? The vintage thing is load of crap. Old stuff was no better than new stuff and "Aged magnets" are a myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NashSG Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 I always figured some of those aged pickups are really more for the look, so they would look like stock on an older instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrSteed Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Great post! I agree 100% with the myth site. 99.99% is just gear hype, myth hear say, rumours, unsubstantiated fact. HOW you PLAY actually is important. Imagine that. Still, it will never stop the quibble to death threads about why wood X is better than wood Y, or PUP X, better than Y, or more versatile, or better for shred.... whatever.... That is, after all, the purpose of this forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChrisGansz Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Get a vintage guitar case to hold all those vintage tones in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bumrunner Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Originally posted by walt0915 Wood not only is porous, it contains water and tends to exchange water with the air. If the air is wetter, it absorbs it, if the air is drier, it loses it. As it absorbs and loses air, the fibers swell, and the wood moves - if it moves a lot we call it warping - it even a small amount of movement can be measured in most wood objects. THIS, my friends, is something called osmosis. water will always try to balance out into an area where there is less water,especially with wood. but its most talked about at the cellular level amongst biologists and chemists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vigilante76 Posted October 26, 2005 Members Share Posted October 26, 2005 Good read...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1561583588/103-9910394-2118228?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted October 27, 2005 Members Share Posted October 27, 2005 Originally posted by Chris Gansz Get a vintage guitar case to hold all those vintage tones in. Good point Chris, if you put a vintage guitar in a modern case the tone will slowly leak into the case. Tone will always try to balance out into an area where there is less tone. This is called "tonemosis"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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