What's the current consensus on body wood's effect on electric guitar tone?

RifferMcDuck

RifferMcDuck

Inspired
Does it actually make a noticeable difference?

I think I've only ever owned mahogany, but am currently looking into some Schecters with swamp ash bodies. I don't want to give up the "warmth" of mahogany, but after looking up discussion on it, I was surprised to find that any difference at all is still considered a myth by many players.

What are ya'lls thoughts on this?
 
Everything matters. Some have more of a sonic impact on the final sound- but all the pieces can play a part in the final sonic picture.

This is the joy of having a partscaster. Playing it for a while and changing out parts and listening. The hardest part is to only change one thing at a time.
 
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iaresee said:
Huge. Wood and then pickups. Two biggest factors in a guitar's sound IMHO.
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Enormous difference. Different woods have different general tendencies. Swamp ash tends to be hard, and sounds punchy, bright and a little mid-scooped. Alder is a bit more neutral. Mahogany is warm and a little soft. Maple is harder, and is bright and punchy. Rosewood fingerboards sound a bit rounder than ebony or maple.

I have a swamp ash thinline Tele with a mahogany top. It is punchy and warm, and through a good clean amp, can get almost piano-like tone and note separation....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
Enormous difference. Different woods have different general tendencies. Swamp ash tends to be hard, and sounds punchy, bright and a little mid-scooped. Alder is a bit more neutral. Mahogany is warm and a little soft. Maple is harder, and is bright and punchy. Rosewood fingerboards sound a bit rounder than ebony or maple.
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This breakdown is of course what I have always known/felt as well, hence why I always stick with mahogany since I prefer warmer sounds.
However, like I said, I was surprised to find out there's a whole lot of debate over whether it's as prominent as we think, even to the point of some pretty scientific comparisons. I mean, google "electric guitar tone wood debate" and you'll find plenty of articles and discussions on it all over the place.

I'm not here saying "hi newbie here guyz what does wood mean", I'm genuinely wondering what some of the experienced guys here think about the debate that goes beyond the usual stock overviews that anyone can google, if that makes sense.
 
RifferMcDuck said:
This breakdown is of course what I have always known/felt as well, hence why I always stick with mahogany since I prefer warmer sounds.
However, like I said, I was surprised to find out there's a whole lot of debate over whether it's as prominent as we think, even to the point of some pretty scientific comparisons. I mean, google "electric guitar tone wood debate" and you'll find plenty of articles and discussions on it all over the place.

I'm not here saying "hi newbie here guyz what does wood mean", I'm genuinely wondering what some of the experienced guys here think about the debate that goes beyond the usual stock overviews that anyone can google, if that makes sense.
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I have a fantastic all-mahogany SG Special. Super warm, with DiMarzio Virtual P90 and P90-sized Super Distortion pickups. Throw them into parallel and there is some good clear and bright tone.

I have a swamp ash Tele with maple neck also. Snappy. Very, very punchy, even with the neck humbucker.

hawaiian-punch-punchy.jpg
 
mr_fender said:
Wood does matter in electric guitars, but not as much as many people think it does. It's one of many factors in a fairly complex system and it's impact will vary from guitar to guitar.
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This is the consensus I have found reading through several discussions elsewhere. There are also some who swear it makes the majority of the tone, and some who think it makes almost no difference at all. Each side thinks the other side is an idiot, as is tradition.
 
RifferMcDuck said:
This is the consensus I have found reading through several discussions elsewhere. There are also some who swear it makes the majority of the tone, and some who think it makes almost no difference at all. Each side thinks the other side is an idiot, as is tradition.
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Wood makes a huge difference, but so do hardware, strings, electronics (pickups, wiring, etc.), cable, amp, and speaker. A big factor in how much each one does as part of the whole is the combination of them and to a fair extent, what you are listening for...

GIGO applies. Tapping the body wood while it hangs will give you an idea of its characteristic tone....
 
mr_fender said:
Wood does matter in electric guitars, but not as much as many people think it does. It's one of many factors in a fairly complex system and it's impact will vary from guitar to guitar.
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Definitely true. Wood matters, but I can list several things that are more important to the final product (the sound) than the wood.

And as also stated by Matt, the quality of a particular piece of wood is far more important than the species.
 
guitarnerdswe said:
Definitely true. Wood matters, but I can list several things that are more important to the final product (the sound) than the wood.

And as also stated by Matt, the quality of a particular piece of wood is far more important than the species.
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Yep. That's why vintage guitars are sought after. 75-100 years ago there was a lot more quality lumber available.
 
Good wood is good wood. It might be the least impactful factor in tone when it comes to electric guitar (at least for body wood).

As M@ said, type of species isn't nearly as important as the quality of wood.

You'll get more of a difference from switching types of strings or hardware, before even talking about pickups.
 
There’s a lot involved with guitar tone. Even the acoustic properties aren’t just down to the wood type. Pickups make the biggest difference I think, then hardware type (can’t get the Tele sound without an ashtray bridge, for example), then the actual acoustic properties of the guitar itself including wood type, finish, and the actual dimensions and construction of the guitar.

Tonedeaf said:
Yep. That's why vintage guitars are sought after. 75-100 years ago there was a lot more quality lumber available.
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I think that has more to do with exclusivity and perceived value than anything else. Like Dumble amps. That said, it is indeed harder to find good lumber, but certainly not impossible.
 
iaresee said:
Or all the good instruments survived and the rest were junked over time.
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Or vintage "magic" is a myth and there are plenty of crap vintage guitars from both Fender and Gibson? Building guitars was much more of a crap shot in the vintage era due to several factors. Inconsistency has never been a bigger issue than during the "golden years".
 
iaresee said:
Wasn't the conclusion of this test that the gauge didn't make much of any different?
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I thought the conclusion was that thicker strings are overrated on electric? At least it's something I personally think. From a tonal point of view, lighter gauges have more pros than cons compared to heavier ones. Harder to play though when it comes to picking, especially crosspicking and one note per string things.
 
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