What guitar companies don't want you to know...

[Billyboygretsch]

Hey let's not forget the type and thickness of paint. I am sure sunburst vibrates more than red.

[Graylion]

Whilst there is obviously going to be a lot of hype in 'selling' the merits of a guitar made from an expensive timber, the laws of physics also play an important part. The entire construction of any particular guitar will have a fundamental resonance frequency - like structures do. If that frequency coincides with some sweet notes on a guitar it will probably have a negative effect by dampening the note(s). Very generally speaking, the denser/heavier a timber is, the less it will resonate and the more it will encourage sustain - little frequency dampening effect. It's why in the old days we used to build HiFi speakers out of concrete pipes! (I kid you not!) Less coloration of the sound. You can find out the density (Weight per cubic foot or metre) by asking Mr. Google. Frankly I can't be bothered to check but I imagine there were some merits making a solid body from Perspex/Plexiglass because of its density. On the other hand it may well be that it's this coloration given by certain timbers that people are attracted to. There is no right answer except to say that it should be obvious not to use soft, low density timber like pine or balsa-wood (which ironically is classified as a Hardwood!) or anything that has inadequate structural strength. All-steel or cast iron should do the job!

[Uncle Fiesta]

Graylion, many guitars HAVE been made from Plexiglass (or as we Brits call it, Perspex) and they all look fantastic, particularly the ones with lights inside, although playing one for extended periods is unlikely to be much fun!

Guitars have indeed been made from all sorts of materials including metals, plastics, fibreglass, carbon composites, etc, and they all work perfectly - although of course the tonewood lobby don't want us to know about that.

[Gary Allen]

This thread should have been called "What Shitty guitar companies dont want you to know" Anyone disagree ??

[dave robinson]

This thread should have been called "What Shitty guitar companies dont want you to know" Anyone disagree ??

I just think that anyone with a bit of talent, experience and some common sense would consider the thread a total waste of time. By trying and comparing different instruments it should become apparent that the bloke in the original video just likes to hear his own voice. A guitar is what it sounds like, or what it is. If it delivers what you require then it's right for you. There really is no need to go through all of that crap.

[Uncle Fiesta]

Yes his videos do tend to be a bit verbose. Could be worse though. Have you seen Scott Grove?

[JimN]

If the body and neck made no difference to the sound of a guitar, the Gibson Les Paul Custom, Les Paul Standard, SG Standard, ES-335 and ES-175 would all sound the same,

But they don't.

[bor64]

Robbo again with you on that.
Jim that's my point too...
It seems that Uncle Fiesta/Steve is now changing strategy ....first he tried to embrace the fairy-tale "it doesn't mater what kind of combination of wood is used "tone" or normal wood ..... ash is ash etc."
Well most of us (like Robbo wrote) have a different point of few because they experienced it themselves because of the multitude of guitars they handled or owned...
In my reply to Steve, I can disprove his remarks......same guitars made in the same few days or maybe a week... just 100grams apart with the blue warm sounding one just 0.5 mm fatter measurement on neck....electric specs so identical that only two decimal places you cold read the difference......
I exchanged the pick guards with all parts and the sound stays with the guitar...so disproving his statement enough I think....
Steve doesn't commends on my reply, but now all of a sudden he stated ......even Plexiglas guitars work also fine but the tone wood lobby doesn't want us to know....
Sure they work and they have a sound, but I've played multiple plexi guitars, all of them didn't have a nice tone...rather dead..
I still regret not buying one for about 150 gbp, years ago....that transparent strat would be a nice conversation starter in my collection..

The threat was about tone wood and normal cheap wood are the same and it makes no difference in sound......now it changed to "they all work".....

Sure some suppliers of wood know there clients and make a extra buck or two in regards the tone wood/quality etc. but isn't that the case on every deal "you want it... I have it... so you pay or your not getting it"....


Cheers Rob

[dave robinson]

To be fair you cannot include the ES175, ES-335 or any of the Gibson or similar arch tops because they are semi acoustic Jim and we were talking solid bodies here. Getting back to the argument about tone woods, I do think there's a lot of rubbish spoken about 'special' woods being this, that or the other, eg, I have a beautiful pink/red Strat body from a cheap Johnson guitar that is made from very thick MDF or ply, I've forgotten which, but it sounds terrific when assembled.
I've also had ash and alder bodies that sounded 'dead', one was a Fender from 1963, the other an eighties Squier, but I do agree that other timbers may do the job just as well. The guy is right about the Alder,Ash and Mahogany being plentiful, but those three woods do add different characters to the overall sound, as I said before I have heard it first hand. Also the difference an all maple neck makes, compared to a rosewood or ebony fingerboard is very obvious.
A few years ago I was a big fan of Fender 57/62 pickups and had a couple of Strats fitted with them which sounded great. One day I did a bit of swapping around and put them on another Strat and they didn't sound anywhere near as good. I did the same with some Fender Custom Shop 54s and had similar results, so it is the sum of the parts that gives you the desired tone. You have to match the bits and pieces carefully which is why it's difficult to comment when people ask the questions like, is this type of pickup or this type of neck any good. The answer is I can't tell without trying them on the body first.
I found that 57/62 pickups sound good on Alder bodies but I ditched the Custom Shop 54s as they were too bright, I'd tried those on an Ash body and didn't try them on Alder as I hadn't learned what I now know.

[stephen]

I recently bought a very cheap used strat body from a member of this site and when it arrived it turned out to be plywood. It's the basis of a project I'm putting together for one of my sons birthday's in April. I'm not expecting it to be an uber tone machine, but it will be interesting to hear how it sounds on completion.
This post had me looking back to when I was 12 or 13 and with the wild optimism of youth, was attempting to build my own red strat. I searched out a wood yard in Birkenhead and after much rummaging around to find a piece of timber that was both thick & wide enough, settled on something that turned out to be.........pine! (Parana pine to be exact)
Until recent times when I read about Leo Fender's use of it, I hadn't heard of this wood ever being used for a guitar body.
Can't say what it eventually sounded like, as sadly, I never got to finish it.
Stephen.