Tonewood is BULLS*T!!!!

Alan Hoover said:
A few years ago I picked up a used PRS SC/HBII--my first hollowbody. When I play this guitar near the sound source (PA or FRFR) I can feel the guitar vibrate in my hands. I'm sure this is a unique characteristic of most hollowbody guitars.

This is the wood responding to the sound waves, which adds an additional dimension to the playing experience. I wonder how a similar guitar made of plywood or aircraft aluminum would perform in the same situation?

So if construction material doesn't matter, why do guitars FEEL so different?

View attachment 88504
Click to expand...
Being able to feel a guitar's resonance is not unique to hollow bodies. Construction absolutely matters. Misapplying the expression "tone wood" from the world of acoustic instruments to suggest that a particular guitar will sound better or specifically different in a tone-full way through pickups, that's the issue. And curse the OP for starting this thread. And yes, nice axe!
 
Remember that the vast majority of woods used in guitar building were chosen to do the structural job at the price point and availability first and only changed if they caused a problem somewhere else . The term "Tonewood" is pure marketing BS but wood matters enormously to the tone of a solid bodied guitar. It can make some notes ring too loud and sometimes dead frequencies . Tone wood SHOULD be wood that works structurally and harmonically not mattering at all what species it is. Take Alder for example; Fender only started using it because it was easy to paint and very cheap only being used for pulp at the time.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Remember that the vast majority of woods used in guitar building were chosen to do the structural job at the price point and availability first and only changed if they caused a problem somewhere else . The term "Tonewood" is pure marketing BS but wood matters enormously to the tone of a solid bodied guitar. It can make some notes ring too loud and sometimes dead frequencies . Tone wood SHOULD be wood that works structurally and harmonically not mattering at all what species it is. Take Alder for example; Fender only started using it because it was easy to paint and very cheap only being used for pulp at the time.
Click to expand...
All of this. A guitar made from any kind of wood will produce a tone, so it’s all “tonewood.”

@Andy Eagle also touched on a broader issue. People who worship and pursue Leo Fenders’s early design choices assume that Mr. Fender got everything right on the first try, and spent the rest of his career fecking up his design, But Leo didn’t set out to build the best guitar in the world. He set out to build a competent, affordable guitar that could be mass-produced by people with limited skills. At that, he was wildly successful.
 
I agree with the points above, ie any wood makes tone. Just like any string makes tone. My point is that, once you identify what substance makes what tone, it isn’t unreasonable to continue that discovery to certain substances producing a more desirable tone. Certainly, much of this was discovered accidentally. But once discovered, it can be understood and utilized to refine sound producing properties. We don’t put one kind of string on all guitars, because not just any tone is the target. The materials in the guitar work the same way. If that doesn‘t matter to you or you can’t hear a difference, that’s fine. But it doesn‘t mean it doesn’t exist or matter to others.
 
la noise said:
It's those "some do not" guitars that cost us a lot of money trying to put
Mojo into them with pickups and bridges and tuners and new nuts.

Some fiddles just ain't got no nuts.
Click to expand...
That's true. I have an Ibanez on its 4th set of pick ups. Not throwing any more money at it. Well built, set neck, all mahogany....but no mojo.
 
Budda said:
Not always true, and it's not the best test for something designed to be plugged in.
Click to expand...

My best sounding guitars all sound good unplugged. The unplugged tone comes out in the amp, depending level of clipping. This is one of those opinion things. Not everyone will agree.
 
Budda said:
Not always true, and it's not the best test for something designed to be plugged in.
Click to expand...
You’re right. This is a “sometimes” thing. Wood makes a difference, but pickups make a bigger difference. A lifeless chunk of wood with pleasing pickups can sound better when plugged in than a resonant piece of wood that has pickups with an ice-pick resonant peak.
 
I remember going to Garrett Park Guitars and trying several PRS Custom 24's. The was definitely one or 2 that just absolutely sang unplugged. But to actually hear that sonic difference when plugged in...? Maybe today I could, knowing more of what to look for as far as sustain and dead notes go. But I do remember that day not being able to tell a difference.
 
Budda said:
Plug in any electric you plan to buy + the unplugged test. :)
Click to expand...
Most of the time if I'm buying and electric I don't plug it in at all (unless it's vintage .) I'm looking at things that matter far more than a pickup or pot. I usually know what a particular pickup is going to sound like when everything else is good.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I remember going to Garrett Park Guitars and trying several PRS Custom 24's. The was definitely one or 2 that just absolutely sang unplugged. But to actually hear that sonic difference when plugged in...? Maybe today I could, knowing more of what to look for as far as sustain and dead notes go. But I do remember that day not being able to tell a difference.
Click to expand...
The ones that sustain unplugged sustain plugged in.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Most of the time if I'm buying and electric I don't plug it in at all (unless it's vintage .) I'm looking at things that matter far more than a pickup or pot. I usually know what a particular pickup is going to sound like when everything else is good.
Click to expand...
I do the same. I look for good resonance, playability, feeling, and absence dead notes. If it sounds good unplugged, it sounds good at the Axe-FX

~~~~

Tonewood deniers! can you explain to me where the dead notes go? 🧐
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom