Tonewood....or not...Caution...geetar related subject!

Honda tone engines.

 

Just goes to show how much more of a factor the pickups are than what species of wood is used on a body.
Also, the fact that 3 different builders, had 3 completely different answers, should be telling.

 

And pickup height.

Some builders need us to believe certain things make a difference in order to stay in business.

 

Marketing 101. Create a need for the customer that only you can fill.

 

Sample size shmample shmize.

 

Ned Steinberger found the best sounding bass neck was the one he bolted to his workbench... and then proceeded to make a bass that was as close to that as possible. 40 years ago. It doesn't matter how convincing that video is, or the many other videos demonstrating more or less the same thing: it's mostly the strings, pickups, and electronics, with body and neck wood counting for a tiny segment of the the tone, maybe so tiny most people can't hear it at all in a blind test, which is what the guy in the video should have done. Knowing he's playing 2x4 makes it potentially "sound" different... to our eyes. If the last few years didn't make people realize that instinctive Tribal association and ingrained desired belief are far more influential than objective verifiable truth, applied to pretty much everthing including guitars, then they haven't been paying much attention. I like wood, it's beautiful and tactile in a way Carbon Fiber never will be. Using beautiful wood for aesthetic reasons alone is good enough for me. You want great tone too? Get some good pickups.

 

Bravo!

 

I had a chance to get into marketing and advertising, right out of HS.
I chose not to, because I found the psychology of marketing to be morally objectionable.
I chose the trades instead.
Knowing what I know now, I regret it.
Often.

 

This is true. You need a neck and FB made of hard, stable wood that doesn't flex a ton and rob energy from the strings. Being that the necks he used were relatively the same, that video mostly did a good job of showing that it really doesn't matter what shape the body is or whether it's exotic wood with layers of "tone" wood veneers,...or literally a 2x4. As long as it holds everything solidly in place.
I thought I heard a tiny difference in the beginning when he switched bridges, but the biggest change was when he swapped the PU. That was the point when they started sounding pretty much the same. I actually thought the 2x4 guitar sounded more like the Anderson than the kit guitar. Identical, actually.

 

THIS . . . .

'Ned Steinberger found the best sounding bass neck was the one he bolted to his workbench... and then proceeded to make a bass that was as close to that as possible. 40 years ago. It doesn't matter how convincing that video is, or the many other videos demonstrating more or less the same thing: it's mostly the strings, pickups, and electronics, with body and neck wood counting for a tiny segment of the the tone, maybe so tiny most people can't hear it at all in a blind test, which is what the guy in the video should have done. Knowing he's playing 2x4 makes it potentially "sound" different... to our eyes. If the last few years didn't make people realize that instinctive Tribal association and ingrained desired belief are far more influential than objective verifiable truth, applied to pretty much everthing including guitars, then they haven't been paying much attention. I like wood, it's beautiful and tactile in a way Carbon Fiber never will be. Using beautiful wood for aesthetic reasons alone is good enough for me. You want great tone too? Get some good pickups. . . . .'

. . . . . you can take to the bank. Wood just differs too much to be repeatable, for those with good enough ears (and not many of those) to hear the subtle changes. IF it were uniformly the same, all the builders who tout tone by wood would use this recipe for that tone and that recipe for this other tone, etc., it would always be the same build sheet to get that sound. It simply can't be done, because wood is a crapshoot. Looks great, feels great, but a fool's errand to think it's dependably repeatable for tone. It can be a handful strictly from the build and finishing process alone.

Thanks, Gilmour.

JW

 

I have played an upright bass-shaped (well, vaguely) object with a 2x4 neck. My left hand did not approve. Not a "tone" thing; an "ergonomically awful" thing.

 

...But only from trees that were planted by aliens.

 

I want to know what difference the air makes with the air guitar. Barometric pressure, relative humidity, CO2 levels. You know, what makes a good tone air?

What's the best air for metal?

 

Mercury Vapor.

 

For a good air guitar you need a solid regulator, no doubt. Depending on climate you may need an air dryer as well, to keep moisture from building in the lines which will cause solenoids to fail.

 

Vacuum guitar is what's next, though. Air guitar is so last century.

 

I watched the vid a second time and when it got to the part where he was switching back/forth to the 2x4, I closed my eyes. I couldn't tell which was which.
But that's probably due to being and inbred deplorable with bad hearing.