Is Eddie van Halen right about this?

[lincoln40]

I saw an interview with Eddie talking about the making of his new EVH Wolfgang's. He mentions that he leaves the cavities of the bodies unpainted so that the wood can breathe while they age. Somehow he thinks it will affect tone. Is he right about this? Is there any scientific proof of some of the theories that Eddie says about building guitars? He also thinks direct mount pickups sound different than pickup ring mounted guitars.

[bsman]

I'm sure that Eddie's PhD-level knowledge of physics, materials science, acoustics, and electronics all came to the fore in that interview...

[Prages]

He also thinks that keeping a metal pick in his mouth is what gave him tongue cancer.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love EVH's playing and he's had some excellent tone for most of his career, but I wouldn't put any faith at all into any of his beliefs.

['s mel gibson]

Scientifically, I don't know for sure but, I think it's a good thing for the body woods to dry out.

 

It doesn't seem to have hurt the Stradivarius violins. Or any of the really old 20th century guitars we all covet.

[tim gueguen]

It's not an idea he came up with. Lots of people have made similar claims. But it's not something you can scientifically prove with any ease given that "sounds better" is subjective and no two guitars of the same construction sound the same anyways, so you simply can't say build one with paint and one without and state that's why one sounds better than the other.

[Promit]

He also thinks that keeping a metal pick in his mouth is what gave him tongue cancer.

Addendum -- he's a chain smoker who thinks that. He's a brilliant player but I wouldn't pay too much attention to these kinds of things.

[mrbrown49]

..aren't we all a bit superstitious about tone?

[MAX OD]

TO REFLECT STAGE LIGHTS IN A COOL WAY

[cratz2]

Well, I'm sure leaving the cavities unpainted has some affect on tone, but I'm pretty sure if you snuck into his studio one night, grabbed the last guitar he recorded with and painted the cavities and put it back together, he wouldn't come in the next morning and say, 'What the {censored}! This guitar sounds like it had its cavities painted last night!'

 

[sgt mukuzi]

it would help the wood to dry over time but could it also let the wood absorb moisture?

[Elias Graves]

Wood breathes? Wow!

 

EG

[TruSlice]

Eddie's shat has hit the fan again

[d_dave_c]

Well, I'm sure leaving the cavities unpainted has some affect on tone, but I'm pretty sure if you snuck into his studio one night, grabbed the last guitar he recorded with and painted the cavities and put it back together, he wouldn't come in the next morning and say, 'What the {censored}! This guitar sounds like it had its cavities painted last night!'

 

Someone needs to do this with Eric Johnson's batteries.

[Pope on a Rope]

 

Wood breathes? Wow! EG

 

 

Why yes, it does.

[GilmourD]

 

Wood breathes? Wow! EG

 

 

I think it's just common vernacular for "wood expelling moisture from within its cellulose by open contact with air."

 

Honestly, being that I do believe that wood does indeed effect tone (I've had the same neck, hardware, and electronics on different bodies and heard different tones) and that two different examples of the same species of wood can sound subtly different, I don't think it's so far fetched to believe that as a piece of wood dries and becomes less dense that the tone will change subtly.

 

However, such a change would be quite subtle. Some people pick up on it, some don't. EVH is somebody who's been tested and can always, without a doubt, tell what's been changed. Just ask Hartley Peavey about when Hartley tried to replace a particular piece of wood in the 5150 cabinets with something different than what EVH specified. Every time Hartley did it, EVH could hear it while even Hartley and most of the other guys couldn't.

[linthat22]

Well, it's just his opinion as to what his ears tell him.

[sgt mukuzi]

true about the batteries in Germanium fuzz pedals, they DO sound different. I don't like EJ music but he is right about the batteries.

hearing the wood in a cabinet is pretty spectacular

[Spudro]

I strongly believe that fact and I have believed it before I heard that His Eddieness made this statement. Eric Johnson believes it. That is why the Eric Johnson Signature Strat has unpainted wood in the trem cavity.

 

The revelation came to me when I picked up an '04 Gibson Melody Maker in their "faded" finish - pretty close to no paint at all. I already owned my Les Paul '54 Historic Reissue. That Melody Maker DOMINATES in tone vs the 'Paul, and that 'Paul is no slouch!

 

I think that the gloppy shiny finish smothers the wood. Without being slathered with all of that paint, the wood gets to party with the vibration of the strings. If I was just a little more insane I would strip the finish off my Historic R4. If money were really no object I'd do it just to test my hypothesis.

 

I believe it.

[realtree71]

Does this look like a man you can believe?

 

[katillac]

Well, I'm sure leaving the cavities unpainted has some affect on tone, but I'm pretty sure if you snuck into his studio one night, grabbed the last guitar he recorded with and painted the cavities and put it back together, he wouldn't come in the next morning and say, 'What the {censored}! This guitar sounds like it had its cavities painted last night!'

He'd be able to smell the fresh paint

[Flatspotter]

 

...had its cavities painted last night!

 

 

That just sounds nasty...

[Doctor49]

 

Someone needs to do this with Eric Johnson's batteries.

 

 

Duane Allman believed the same about discharged batteries.

 

I would bet that there was a tiny harmonic characteristic in the sound they heard that would change between batteries. As with the wood tone arguments, if you are alert and sensitive to something like that, you can spot the changes.

If you are not listening for that characteristic, it sounds the same.

[mdog114]

I think there's some truth to where he's going with that. As a young man I worked as a carpenter through school and a basic premises was you need to seal wood.

 

As a real simple example, look at the wood doors in your house. Even if they're painted/stained, it's not likely the top/bottom have paint on them (more likely the bottom due to cutting). In the summer, when it gets' humid, the door swells-up because of the humidity. The way the door absorbs the humidity is through un-finished surfaces. In the winter, when the heat comes on and drys-out the rooms again, the doors shrink-up and fit again.

 

Seems like he may have a slight point, wood will definitely breath over time. In addition, lumber used to be dried much longer in the salad years, compared to now. You can buy lumber now that's so fresh, it''ll splash you when you hit it with a hammer. By keeping the cavity unfinished, the wood may consistently dry further over time.

[JohnnyRaincheck]

I'm probably wrong here but aren't the Wolfgang guitars made with Basswood? And isn't that supposed to be a cheap wood for guitars?

[Just A Box]

 

I'm probably wrong here but aren't the Wolfgang guitars made with Basswood? And isn't that supposed to be a cheap wood for guitars?

 

 

Steve Vai never seemed to have a problem with basswood. ........