Members Brainfertilizer Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have a friend who actually owns a guitar design patent who told me that a scientist had run experiments and had actually *proven* that it doesn't matter what wood you use to make an electric guitar, it doesn't affect the tone to any noticeable degree. A quick google search doesn't find much to support this notion.I did find this forum discussion that refers to an article claiming tonewood doesn't exist...but the actual conclusion from the article is just the opposite: wood does affect tone significantly...but not consistently. There is often significant variation even among identical types of mahogany, and significant tonal differences between different types of mahogany, but that some other wood samples from a different type of wood may have identical sonic properties. In any case, I'm 100% convinced that I love the tone that Swamp Ash gives to single coil pickups, so I come down squarely on the side that the scientist is wrong. But is he wrong because he did a bad test? Or is it possible his ear (or the ears of his testers) weren't experienced enough to be able to tell the sonic differences? To tell the truth, I don't have an assertion to challenge or a question to answer...I just think the idea of tonewoods is an interesting topic, so I'd like to hear all thoughts/anecdotes about how tonewoods affect tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 But is he wrong because he did a bad test? Or is it possible his ear (or the ears of his testers) weren't experienced enough to be able to tell the sonic differences? If his tests were scientific, ears should not be in the equation at all. Measuring gear should make the facts concrete and undeniable. Later, if a difference in woods is found, we'd have to know how much of that would detectable under a "real life" scenario. Personally, I don't care what was used to make a guitar, as long as it feels, sounds and looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Who's this scientist your friend is referring to? Is he able to produce this fabled study for your perusal? Not to dis your friend, but I think he's full of fecal matter. I think pups, bridge, switching and the like have far more effect, but type of wood does add to the equation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beckman Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I think what the real question is, for me anyway, how much does the acoustic sound of an instrument affect the tone through the same amp. The wood choice and finish make a guitar sound a lot different. But, what affect does this have through the amp? After all, what do the pick ups actually pick up? Just the string vibration, acoustic sounds. Vibration of the body. I think we all agree that an all mahogany LP sounds darker, muddier than a maple cap version with the same pick ups. I believe it makes a difference, but I still believe the amp, effects, and pups have a bigger role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Concrete is the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 This is a fave topic for discussion/argument around these parts. IMHO the term "tone woods" originated, and is properly used, when referring to acoustic instruments. What effect does the wood play in solid body electric guitars? Some argue the fretboard wood makes a difference. I argue the color of your pickguard [black for dark/white for bright] has more impact on the tonal qualities of a solidbody electric guitar than does fretboard wood. It is an ELECTRIC guitar being played through an amplifier. The type of cord you use will have more impact on tone than the woods, IMO. There's an interesting article on page 58 of the January 2011 issue of Premier Guitar - "OCD about an OMC". It's written by a luthier and is an exchange between him, his rep and an OCD customer. It's an entertaining, if not informative read on how an honest luthier feels about this very subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I simply know that wood affects tone from having bought well over 100 electric guitars. Some guitars are just DOA and you can't resuscitate them if they don't have some decent:good resonance in the wood. But no doubt, spec'ing the wood doesn't always ensure success. It's kind of a "no duh" that different pieces of the same species may have better sonic properties, but that's part of what you're paying for with upper end guitars, i.e that they will select better pieces to give you a better running start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Art is art and science is science. There will always be overlap, but I do not believe that the properties of how a piece of wood respond to being made into a guitar will ever be strictly reduceable to a string of "1s" and "0s"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 The thing about science is its self limiting. I mean, there are a lot of things science falls short of. Not everything has been discovered so science can only measure what it is capable of. My ears tell me there is a difference so I don't care what science has to say about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueSteam Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have 4 SGs. One of them is all maple... it sounds completely different than the others and there is a snap and brightness to the sound I get out of it that is reminiscent of a Tele. I will never believe that woods don't make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 I simply know that wood affects tone from having bought well over 100 electric guitars. Some guitars are just DOA and you can't resuscitate them if they don't have some decent:good resonance in the wood. But no doubt, spec'ing the wood doesn't always ensure success. It's kind of a "no duh" that different pieces of the same species may have better sonic properties, but that's part of what you're paying for with upper end guitars, i.e that they will select better pieces to give you a better running start. Even though I'm not in the tone wood believers ranks, I do have to agree 100% with you about some guitars being duds. Since I had a Hagstrom Deluxe F that was incredible, I bought one of their HJ600 hollow models. Dang, what a dog! Terrible! The definitive water logged oar! I changed pups to ones I knew sounded terrific and even those couldn't bring that sucker to life. I can't think of anything besides the bridge or the wood that would do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members niceguy Posted January 31, 2011 Members Share Posted January 31, 2011 Who's this scientist your friend is referring to? Is he able to produce this fabled study for your perusal? Not to dis your friend, but I think he's full of fecal matter.I think pups, bridge, switching and the like have far more effect, but type of wood does add to the equation. Agreed. I don't believe the mystical, wood-testing, guitar-playing scientist in this case actually exists. Let's see some proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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