Eagle
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,803
Here is a quote that pretty much sums it up correctly.
“For me, the species is less relevant than the qualities of the wood. Those qualities are: length of time the wood rings when you hit it, the amount of water remaining in the wood after it is dried, the resins in the wood being crystallised/not gooey, the ability to have strength as necessary (i.e., a fretboard needs to be resistant to sweating, whereas back wood doesn’t), its ability to not warp over time, and its aesthetic appeal.
“A magic guitar can be made of many different types of wood, but those woods need to have certain qualities and need to be handled correctly throughout the manufacturing process. So to me, woods matter.”
He adds, “To me, if wood doesn’t matter, then logically it follows that the material the bridge is made of doesn’t matter and the material the nut is made of doesn’t matter. What I believe, because of scores of experiences, is that if we make two identical guitars out of different woods, the guitars will sound different from each other. Then, if we exchange all the parts from guitar A and guitar B – the tuning pegs, nut, electronics, bridge – they would sound almost the same as they did, and still different from each other…
“Bottom line, to throw away one of the main ingredients for making instruments because the internet says ‘it doesn’t make any difference’ is, to me, like saying dead strings, rubber bridges, soft finishes, and wet woods make no difference. With all due respect, I don’t buy it.”
The misinterpretation of the meaning of “tone wood “ being a particular group of types of wood is the main problem when this comes up as an issue.
If a guitar doesn’t ring out and sustain no amount of pickups is going to make it.
Everything Matters.
“For me, the species is less relevant than the qualities of the wood. Those qualities are: length of time the wood rings when you hit it, the amount of water remaining in the wood after it is dried, the resins in the wood being crystallised/not gooey, the ability to have strength as necessary (i.e., a fretboard needs to be resistant to sweating, whereas back wood doesn’t), its ability to not warp over time, and its aesthetic appeal.
“A magic guitar can be made of many different types of wood, but those woods need to have certain qualities and need to be handled correctly throughout the manufacturing process. So to me, woods matter.”
He adds, “To me, if wood doesn’t matter, then logically it follows that the material the bridge is made of doesn’t matter and the material the nut is made of doesn’t matter. What I believe, because of scores of experiences, is that if we make two identical guitars out of different woods, the guitars will sound different from each other. Then, if we exchange all the parts from guitar A and guitar B – the tuning pegs, nut, electronics, bridge – they would sound almost the same as they did, and still different from each other…
“Bottom line, to throw away one of the main ingredients for making instruments because the internet says ‘it doesn’t make any difference’ is, to me, like saying dead strings, rubber bridges, soft finishes, and wet woods make no difference. With all due respect, I don’t buy it.”
The misinterpretation of the meaning of “tone wood “ being a particular group of types of wood is the main problem when this comes up as an issue.
If a guitar doesn’t ring out and sustain no amount of pickups is going to make it.
Everything Matters.