electric guitar body resonance?

[rdpar]

I feel stupid asking but how do you tell if your guitar resonates. they say if it resonates nicely you can achieve the tone you want with out it you can't quite get there . any help please.

[Emory]

Play it unplugged... give you some idea about the resonance. That's why I like hollow or semi-hollows. Adds a little extra to overall sound....

[Clinically Deaf]

If you can feel vibrations through the body and/or neck that is resonance, and is good.

[soundcreation]

 

I feel stupid asking but how do you tell if your guitar resonates. they say if it resonates nicely you can achieve the tone you want with out it you can't quite get there . any help please.

 

 

Sit down and play your guitar unplugged in your lap. If you can feel it vibrating through your mid section then it probably has good resonance. My best guitars absolutely resonate like crazy. They just feel so alive. I wouldn't say you can't get the tone you want without a guitar that resonates well, but they definitely carry that "lively feel" over when they are plugged in. My best guitars are the ones that resonate the most...I don't think that's a coincidence.

[Armitage]

First, a few simple to understand generalizations;

 

The first biggie, good tone is an opinion, not a fact. And even cheap guitars are made following the same laws of physics. Nowadays, even cheap guitars are actually made pretty well. And the difference in the details is getting smaller every day. People seem to think there is some conspiracy to sell them expensive tone woods, when the truth is, most tone woods are actually pretty cost effective to use. Guitar manufacturing is a pretty small market for wood.

 

Now let

[Dr. P]

Some people say it doesn't matter. But have two resonant and two not very resonant guitars, and I would say, yes, it makes a very big difference, even with solid bodies. The resonant ones usually sustain more, and just sound better plugged in.

[Jkater]

 

First, a few simple to understand generalizations;   The first biggie, good tone is an opinion, not a fact. And even cheap guitars are made following the same laws of physics. Nowadays, even cheap guitars are actually made pretty well. And the difference in the details is getting smaller every day. People seem to think there is some conspiracy to sell them expensive tone woods, when the truth is, most tone woods are actually pretty cost effective to use. Guitar manufacturing is a pretty small market for wood.   Now let

[soundcreation]

I love armitage's post. It shuts all the "wood has no influence on an electric guitar" people up..with logic and science. And further to that it lends credence to the arguments that multi piece bodies are a bad idea and that finish will have an effect on resonance.

[Bmajor]

First, a few simple to understand generalizations; The first biggie, good tone is an opinion, not a fact.

 

JFC people.

[Brewski]

Tone is in your fingers!!

 

but each guitar reacts to you differently andf some folks love the open sounding of a guitar unplugged. I notice that a Floyd Rose equipped guitar has less resonance and sustain. So I krank up the amp to adjust to get that amp/guitar vibration link.

 

So for me it doesn't matter what it sounds like unplugged - you can make a dead guitar sound good with the right pups and a good AMP.

 

it's really all about the amp (lesson learned last night)

[brewgoodbeer]

+1 to Armitage.

 

Good tone is an opinion, and, just like anything else, there are many ways to get there. A nice resonant guitar is one way. Others choose the amp for resonant guitars. Some choose effects of technique, and some choose guitar hero over actually playing.

 

Today if you cannot find a guitar you like, and produce the tone you choose, at the price you want to pay, you are doing something wrong. So brew what you like and like what you brew.

[Dr. P]

 

I love armitage's post. It shuts all the "wood has no influence on an electric guitar" people up..with logic and science. And further to that it lends credence to the arguments that multi piece bodies are a bad idea and that finish will have an effect on resonance.

 

 

I agree with the first sentence, but not the second. I think you can have a very resonant guitar body that is made from more than one piece. My most resonant has a two piece body, and the second most resonant as three or four... but I agree that it is probably more likely with a single slab... but not a particularly environmentally friendly way to go about making guitars.

[soundcreation]

 

I agree with the first sentence, but not the second. I think you can have a very resonant guitar body that is made from more than one piece. My most resonant has a two piece body, and the second most resonant as three or four... but I agree that it is probably more likely with a single slab... but not a particularly environmentally friendly way to go about making guitars.

 

 

But that is essentially what I'm saying. I'm not saying there are not multi piece bodies out there that managed to find four pieces that resonate well together and end up being better than a one or two piece body that is dead wood. But I don't believe for a second that there are as many as someone might believe based on the love for cheap guitars on HC. I've played probably 30 or 40 mexican multi piece strats and tele's and never have found one that comes close to my two piece bodied guitars.

 

All I'm saying in the end is that a great guitar is the some of it's parts and features. Sure the stars align occasionally on some low ends and don't on some high ends but those are the exceptions NOT the rule. And careful selection of wood and features will end the end nine times out of ten, give you a better guitar.

[rocknhard]

Armitage's post should be a sticky!

[hshaitan]

 

First, a few simple to understand generalizations;   The first biggie, good tone is an opinion, not a fact. And even cheap guitars are made following the same laws of physics. Nowadays, even cheap guitars are actually made pretty well. And the difference in the details is getting smaller every day. People seem to think there is some conspiracy to sell them expensive tone woods, when the truth is, most tone woods are actually pretty cost effective to use. Guitar manufacturing is a pretty small market for wood.   Now let

[metallica_00]

He's right - good tone is definitely an opinion. But there is still a science behind how wood affects sound, and to simply deny that wood matters (as some seem to do) is idiotic. And remember, pickups can't create frequencies that aren't there in the first place.

 

One interesting thing I hear people say is "this guitar is really loud unplugged and has tons of acoustic sustain - it's really great acoustically". Out of the solidbodies I have owned, the one that is loudest unplugged and sustains the most is my first guitar, a Squier Affinity Strat which I refinished myself. It is also interesting to note that its the WORST sounding guitar I own by far, even after pickup and electronics swaps.

 

Comparing this guitar to a G&L Legacy (strat, so an apples to apples comparison) I own, the G&L, while not as loud, has far better string to string balance unplugged and you can even tell there is more harmonic complexity and ZING to the notes. And that translates to the plugged sound. The Squier is just one big loud fundamental tone, and it sounds blah plugged in.

 

In other words, don't listen for unplugged volume and sustain. Listen to the TIMBRE. That's what makes a guitar sound good. In my opinion.

[soundcreation]

 

He's right - good tone is definitely an opinion. But there is still a science behind how wood affects sound, and to simply deny that wood matters (as some seem to do) is idiotic. And remember, pickups can't create frequencies that aren't there in the first place. One interesting thing I hear people say is "this guitar is really loud unplugged and has tons of acoustic sustain - it's really great acoustically". Out of the solidbodies I have owned, the one that is loudest unplugged and sustains the most is my first guitar, a Squier Affinity Strat which I refinished myself. It is also interesting to note that its the WORST sounding guitar I own by far, even after pickup and electronics swaps. Comparing this guitar to a G&L Legacy (strat, so an apples to apples comparison) I own, the G&L, while not as loud, has far better string to string balance unplugged and you can even tell there is more harmonic complexity and ZING to the notes. And that translates to the plugged sound. The Squier is just one big loud fundamental tone, and it sounds blah plugged in. In other words, don't listen for unplugged volume and sustain. Listen to the TIMBRE. That's what makes a guitar sound good. In my opinion.

 

 

Yeah that makes sense. Could it just be the fact of the Squier's wood? Is it cheap? I had a plywood Epiphone les paul special and it surprisingly resonated decently but yeah when plugged in the sound was all highs and lows. Not round and warm at all.

 

It's that zing in the notes I'm talking about. I could rank my current guitars from high to low based on that factor, and that would probably be the same list if I were to have to choose my list of favorite to least favorite...even though I love them all.

[BoneNut]

 

 

 

TIMBRE

"The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume".

 

That makes more sense to me than extremely minute pickup movements caused by body vibrations.

[csm]

One of the major problems with the legendarily dreadful Fender Strats of the late '70s was their utter lack of body resonance. It might have been the woods they used at the time, the horrible 'ThickSkin' finish (yep, they actually boasted about it and claimed it was a feature!) or a combination of both factors, but those guitars rang deader than the 8-track cartridge.

[Doctor49]

 

TIMBRE "The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume". That makes more sense to me than extremely minute pickup movements caused by body vibrations.

 

 

The only qualities a sound has are the frequencies that make it up and their relative amplitudes. Thats all that ears hear.

 

The frequencies of a vibrating string depend on the length, tension, string mass, string construction, fixing at string ends etc etc and the way it is struck or plucked.

 

In a guitar, all parts ie nut, bridge saddles, pickups and strings etc, move relative to each other as the entire guitar vibrates and that movement affects what is detected by the pickups. Maybe minutely but still there. This is also detected by piezo systems on bridges.

 

So the minute vibrations affect the timbre and are one of the main reasons for differences in the sound between seemingly identical guitars.

 

Also think resonators or dobros and semihollows vs solids. Properly made non-microphonic pickups do not register airborne sound so the effect of hollowbody "airiness" comes from the different body vibration c/w solids.

[Runn3r]

 

He's right - good tone is definitely an opinion. But there is still a science behind how wood affects sound, and to simply deny that wood matters (as some seem to do) is idiotic. And remember, pickups can't create frequencies that aren't there in the first place. One interesting thing I hear people say is "this guitar is really loud unplugged and has tons of acoustic sustain - it's really great acoustically". Out of the solidbodies I have owned, the one that is loudest unplugged and sustains the most is my first guitar, a Squier Affinity Strat which I refinished myself. It is also interesting to note that its the WORST sounding guitar I own by far, even after pickup and electronics swaps. Comparing this guitar to a G&L Legacy (strat, so an apples to apples comparison) I own, the G&L, while not as loud, has far better string to string balance unplugged and you can even tell there is more harmonic complexity and ZING to the notes. And that translates to the plugged sound. The Squier is just one big loud fundamental tone, and it sounds blah plugged in. In other words, don't listen for unplugged volume and sustain. Listen to the TIMBRE. That's what makes a guitar sound good. In my opinion.

 

 

...highly concur....

 

...imo too many ppl judge the elctric guitar as if it is an acoustic ...

 

...ie if according to the paradigm of acoustic guitar judgement the electric guitar appears to be 'good' ...then this automatically translates to being a 'good' electric guitar ....

 

...e.g. one of the key qualities to look for in an acoustic is the quality of 'resonance' and 'volume projection'

 

 

....and similarly for the quality of 'badness' (if 'bad acoustically, it must surely be a bad electric guitar)

 

....imo this is a FALLACY and totally misses the point of wht an electric guitar is relative to an acoutics guitar

 

...they are not the same and sometimes the opposite attribute is the more desirable depending on PICKUPS and THEIR inherent TIMBRE 'filter'....

 

...AS WELL AS...the AMP you are plugging said electric guitar into...

 

...tht AMP ALSO has timbre characteristics which may be particular to the specific amp's design...

 

 

...all these components ought not be neglected and forgotten in 'judging' an electric imo

[Doctor49]

[quote=Runn3r;38303526

...all these components ought not be neglected and forgotten in 'judging' an electric imo

 

Absolutely.........all part of the chain that reaches the ear.

Then at the brain, opinion becomes dominant.

 

 

If Truth equals Beauty and Beauty is Truth, but Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, where then is Truth? Just askin'

[Runn3r]

Absolutely.........all part of the chain that reaches the ear. Then at the brain, opinion becomes dominant. If Truth equals Beauty and Beauty is Truth, but Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, where then is Truth? Just askin'

 

...indeed....

 

...however, might i elaborate a touch further...

 

....those 'parts of the chain' go to form the SOUND heard and it is the combination/mixture tht produces tht sound ...not just one of the components

 

...and usually the whole is greater than the sum of its parts as well ....

 

...which produces conundrums ...

 

 

 

....beauty is indeed in eye of beholder as is truth but it takes courage to remove the disguise we put on it to suit our own purposes ....to see it .....

[Emory]

"Armitage's post should be a sticky!" ...amen Brother.

[tiltsta]

Resonance is regarded as an important component of what many consider a great guitar...unless it is coming from a chambered Les Paul, because then it sucks.