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Thread: Aussie wood for electric guitars
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29th November 2010, 01:53 PM #136Senior Member
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Merely a fad. . . like a lot of things in that time.
I guess you could consider the Steinberger the Bass Player's equivalent to Shoulder pads in the 80's . . lol
For the life of me, i just cant figure out why theyre still making them out of wood, if it dont matter.
Even the things theyve tried to replace wood with, have only been attempted because the tone was wood-like (sorta)
Why bother?
Lotta guys use carbon fibre . . stiffens the neck, but doesnt AFFECT THE TONE too much (a little) . . . obviously another con.
Boy, are we dumb
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29th November 2010, 02:00 PM #137
The type and quality of the wood is a minor part of the voice of a solid body electric instrument. The electrics play a far more dominant role.
If the wood is the main control on the voice of an instrument then why does a Fender Strat fitted with Gibson pickups no longer sound like a Fender Strat??Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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29th November 2010, 02:01 PM #138Senior Member
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Fair enough . .
You shoulda said you were a drummer, I woulda gone easy on you . . lol
sorry
as for your ash/maple guitar . . . the combination should have worked, in theory (Vic. ash or american? . . both are good)
If its an electric, maybe look at the neck join . . hard to say
One of the ideas behind the tiny headstock on the parker fly was that they found by experimenting, that leass wood at that end of the neck, gave greater sustain, so perhaps if youve left a lot of wood on it, it maybe a bit of a tone-sync.
But certainly nothing wrong with yur choice of woodsd, a pity it wasnt what you wanted
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29th November 2010, 02:09 PM #139
It was Vic Ash. It was a long time ago (I was 18) and I put it down to poor implementation. Don't know where it is now, I lost interest in playing guitar when I discovered it involved practice.
"I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."
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29th November 2010, 02:11 PM #140Senior Member
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Lets turn that around . . why does a Les Paul with strat pickups NOT sound like a strat?
Because of many things in the design difference, really . . and one of those is wood.
I already mentioned the alder body stingray vs the ash bodied one.
Thats the reason why builders that are after a "tribute" instrument quite often use the same woods as the original they are imitating..... so that the tone is the same, or similar.
And i said the wood was the main voice, not EVERYTHING.
Of course quality is important at all levels, and the choices of hardware drastically affect the tone the instrument is able to produce.
But that is AFTER the fact . . . how well the string rings, and the tone and sustain of that note (unless at high volumes, of course) . . cannot be altered by pickups or electronics . . . they can change the sound, yes . . but they cant make the string ring longer and fuller, with richer tone . . impossible.
Anyway, dont want to rpt myselfLast edited by Slapfest; 29th November 2010 at 02:14 PM. Reason: typo . . .what else
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29th November 2010, 06:12 PM #141
The Les Paul has a chambered body doesn't it? Once we get into a pseudo acoustic situation with a top acting like a soundboard the equation changes. The way a thin piece of wood like the top of a Les Paul behaves is not the same as the way the thick slab of wood that makes up the body of a solid body electric does.
IMHO, one major difference between Strats and Les Pauls that has a control on the sound of the instrument and is often neglected is the different scale lengths used in each instrument.
To clarify here is my take on wood and the sound of electric guitars:
1. Pickups and associated electronics (including amps/speakers) exert more of a control on sound of the instrument than choice of woods.
2. The choice of woods for the neck of the instrument exert more control over the sound of the instrument than choice of wood for the body. The primary effect of different wood choices for the neck is on sustain and this is controlled by the density of the wood used.
Cheers MartinWhatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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29th November 2010, 06:15 PM #142
People like wood...its pretty and theyre used to guitars being made out of wood. Its like corks in wine.....the Stelvin seal is a much better way to seal up a bottle of wine but people are just used to cork.
Wood is still relatively cheap compared to carbon fibre and other alternatives. With time of course that will change as tonewood quality wood gets totally milled out.Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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29th November 2010, 06:37 PM #143Retired
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Australian wood for Electric guitars
Well said Martin you just can not beat good looking wood.
As for your comment wood is cheap compared to carbon fibre with time this will of course change as tonewood quality wood gets milled out, if forests are logged correctly that is selective logging practise we will never run out and I know I will never run out.
Cheers, Bob
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29th November 2010, 07:12 PM #144Senior Member
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Nexst time yoiu see a les paul . . pick it ujp . .
The chambers have no effect on the sound and are to reduce weight, and adjusst balance.
I know a builder that specialises in placing many diiferent sized chambers inside the instruments he builds, purely to adjust the weight, but NOT rersonate acoustically in any way.
They are just simply not acoustic by any shade of the imagination.
And to say that we use wood because we do, is specious at least.
Very chicken and egg.....
If we had something better, we'd be using itLast edited by Slapfest; 29th November 2010 at 07:14 PM. Reason: typos
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29th November 2010, 10:00 PM #145
The guys at Gibson would beg to differ. Here's an interesting read from the Gibson website:
Chambering the Les Paul: A Marriage of Weight and ToneWhatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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29th November 2010, 11:35 PM #146Novice
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given the thickness of the top of those guitars, I would say it would be quite a stretch to say they act the same as an acoustic top. They are still quite considerably stiffer than a <3mm thick acoustic top.
You also have to add the fact that the central part of the guitar is a thick hunk of wood, and and sides a quite thick... So I would say any difference in tone has to do with some other phenomena rather than the same things that govern acoustics.
In reality it is a moot argument, some shall say that the wood makes a massive differences, and others would say that a plywood guitar sounds just as good. It is personal preference.
I would say that if anyone says that wood makes no difference, then they are just plain wrong. The question is the matter of the degree of difference it makes.
And with electrics there are just so many variables that it is impossible to really single things down.
Heck you may find the biggest difference is actually governed by where the wire is sourced to make the pickups, or what sort of plastic is used... no one will ever really know... To hard to single out.
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30th November 2010, 09:19 AM #147
I agree with this.
I disagree with those that state that the wood exerts a stronger influence on sound of a solid body than the electrics. The only part of the guitar where the influence of wood choice is perhaps more significant than hardware choice is the neck and here the critical wood property is density and the affect is on sustain. This is probably the reasons Ive always liked the sound of neck through guitars and particularly basses.Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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30th November 2010, 10:19 AM #148Retired
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2nd December 2010, 10:44 AM #149
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2nd December 2010, 10:48 AM #150Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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