Why wood matters... ?

I don't know. I did a test a while back swapping necks on a pair of Strats. Both American Standard Fender maple necks, one with a maple board, one with a rosewood board. The one with the rosewood board was darker/smoother and the maple board had a brighter, snappier attack, and swapping the necks, it moved with the neck! Same pickups, same hardware, same everything else. I was actually completely shocked how easy it was to hear the difference, and even our wives could pick it out 100% accurately.

I really did not expect that at all. I thought the tone difference in the guitars was likely from other things and if wood mattered, the body wood would matter more than the neck and the neck more than the fretboard and therefore it would be very difficult if not impossible to hear anything reliably. Had to eat crow on that one, and it cost me a dinner and wine tab.
 
Chocol8 said:
I don't know. I did a test a while back swapping necks on a pair of Strats. Both American Standard Fender maple necks, one with a maple board, one with a rosewood board. The one with the rosewood board was darker/smoother and the maple board had a brighter, snappier attack, and swapping the necks, it moved with the neck! Same pickups, same hardware, same everything else. I was actually completely shocked how easy it was to hear the difference, and even our wives could pick it out 100% accurately.

I really did not expect that at all. I thought the tone difference in the guitars was likely from other things and if wood mattered, the body wood would matter more than the neck and the neck more than the fretboard and therefore it would be very difficult if not impossible to hear anything reliably. Had to eat crow on that one, and it cost me a dinner and wine tab.
Click to expand...
I wonder here if it’s because of the fretwire’s interaction with the fretboard. Maple being denser than rosewood would affect the fretboard absorbing energy from the fret, and I can totally see that resulting in a different feel for the player and in turn a different tone. So I guess that makes sense for me.
 
I don't know the physics behind it but I do know it was really easy for someone to hear while someone else played, and I REALLY hate losing bets!!!!

I have thought about doing something similar with the same neck, loaded pick guard etc, and just changing bodies, but that would be more work to make sure all other variables were eliminated, and probably would be best done by recording samples. I currently have three Strats with different wood bodies, but they all have different bridges, and even different screw patterns for the pick guards, so it's not practical without borrowing or buying another body or guitar.
 
Chocol8 said:
I don't know. I did a test a while back swapping necks on a pair of Strats. Both American Standard Fender maple necks, one with a maple board, one with a rosewood board. The one with the rosewood board was darker/smoother and the maple board had a brighter, snappier attack, and swapping the necks, it moved with the neck! Same pickups, same hardware, same everything else. I was actually completely shocked how easy it was to hear the difference, and even our wives could pick it out 100% accurately.

I really did not expect that at all. I thought the tone difference in the guitars was likely from other things and if wood mattered, the body wood would matter more than the neck and the neck more than the fretboard and therefore it would be very difficult if not impossible to hear anything reliably. Had to eat crow on that one, and it cost me a dinner and wine tab.
Click to expand...
That's interesting. I've sometimes listened to the guitar, with my ear right next to the neck, and it's surprisingly resonant.

PRS had a display for a couple weeks in my town many years ago, and on the opening night Paul was there doing a "Ted Talk", if you will. I remember him discussing how he educated himself by studying how the older instruments, like violins, were made. He remarked that the wood choices were pretty much a done deal. Like, the science of it had been determined, and settled. And that that was a big part of how he decided where to start.
 
Everything matters


[In your mind]



And affects how you dial in and play



I never left a good show and said it would have been better if the guitar was a different type of wood. I never left a bad show and said it would have been good if the guitar was a different wood.
 
I watched the first half of the video this morning, I don’t think there’s anything particularly controversial even towards “wood doesn’t matter” folks. I’m sure a few folks will get triggered by hm tapping wood for 30 seconds tho.


The majority of the video that I saw was about drying and ensuring stability of materials of construction. Which absolutely matters and isn’t a “does wood impact tone” debate


I’m sure this thread won’t discuss what’s actually in the video tho :cop
 
Chocol8 said:
I don't know. I did a test a while back swapping necks on a pair of Strats. Both American Standard Fender maple necks, one with a maple board, one with a rosewood board. The one with the rosewood board was darker/smoother and the maple board had a brighter, snappier attack, and swapping the necks, it moved with the neck! Same pickups, same hardware, same everything else. I was actually completely shocked how easy it was to hear the difference, and even our wives could pick it out 100% accurately.

I really did not expect that at all. I thought the tone difference in the guitars was likely from other things and if wood mattered, the body wood would matter more than the neck and the neck more than the fretboard and therefore it would be very difficult if not impossible to hear anything reliably. Had to eat crow on that one, and it cost me a dinner and wine tab.
Click to expand...
This has been my experience as well. Neck is the biggest factor in what voices a solid body guitar. The scale length of a guitar is mostly over the neck wood. The base tone profile follows the neck every time I've switched them, and I've done that quite a lot over the years. 1 piece necks seem to have the boldest tone impact. Just ime. Bodies do subtle enhancements and may even compliment a particular neck for that extra 5% improvement.
 
I'm not sure of this in any way since ive never compared, but i can say for certain every little part of the chain impacts tone, From the electrical outlet right down to your fingers and everything in between.
 
It does have some value. While I believed and still believe that a guitar purchase should be based on feel and playability first, and upgrading pickups and electronics can then make the tone good, I now pay a lot more attention to the unplugged acoustic sound as well.
 
madeofwood.gif
 
Everything matters.
Wood is the reason we get dead spots if you get it wrong.
The biggest moron argument is an electric guitar is ALL pickup. If this was true putting a paf in a plywood guitar would sound exactly like a 59 LP.
 
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