More mass = more resonant guitar??

[ArtieToo]

Christopher Columbus was originally named Cristofer Colon.

Yup. Just read that. Makes you wonder what his ancestors did for a living, given that names were originated from the family profession.

[solspirit]

Hahaha

[beaubrummels]

Going completely off topic . . . it was only in the last year that I learned, that way back when, someone would "Latinize" their name when they accomplished something notable.

Stradivari became Stradivarius, and Christopher Columbo, (like the Peter Falk detective), became Christopher Columbus.

I've eclipsed 10k posts on a guitar forum, so I'm now going by beauvarius maximus.

[ArtieToo]

I've eclipsed 10k posts on a guitar forum, so I'm now going by beauvarius maximus.

And I'll be Artemus. But NOT Gordon.

[solspirit]

Solspiritus
lol


Mincer, Jeremy?

[LesStrat]

Given my post count, I must be LesStrativarius Magnum

[LesStrat]

IME, if the guitar sounds good unplugged, the probability that I will like the plugged in sound increases dramatically.

So . . . wouldn't hollow body and semi-hollow guitars all be much better sounding than solid body guitars then? They're much louder acoustically.

They are

[RanchManSandy]

IME, if the guitar sounds good unplugged, the probability that I will like the plugged in sound increases dramatically.


They are

nah

[GuitarDoc]

Yeah.

[Securb]

A guitar could sound fantastic unplugged and have the most God-awful electronics wired up in it.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Sustain sucks!
tight chugs are my true love language!

[Chistopher]

It's occured to me that the effects of wood are generally way more obvious if you have your amp set fairly quiet, allowing you to hear more acoustic noise.

[Zerberus]

How does a heavier sustain block increase resonance of a guitar if increased mass leads to increased inertia leading to the vibrations being less included to leave the block and vibrate into the rest of the guitar?

As a general rule, No.

The problem with this reasoning is that it ignores that for that inertia to be generated in teh first playce the string has to put more energy into the heavier block, which in turn necessitates the resonating mass to lose that inertia faster by returning energy to the string sooner, making the net result effectively zero in 99.9% of the situatios you´ll come across.

The widespread misconception that more mass = better resonance and /or sustain started in the 70s when people used more and heavier brass hardware... but amplifier technology also advanced by leaps and bounds during that time, especially in the realm of gain and distortion, which in and of iteself can give the impression that a note sustains longer, especially when more often than not what´s really going on is that you´re standing so close to the amp that the overtones are all feeding back, giving the impression of more sustain.

If you need more proof, look at all the custom exotic boat anchors people made in teh 80s (much to their chiropractor´s delight) that were made from Zebranho or other seriously heavy woods.... if those guitars sounded that awesome and sustained for that long just as a result of their mass, people would be playing them and not decorating thair walls or filling landfills with them

Also while I'm here, why should I care about resonance? The energy that goes into vibrating the wood isn't being picked up by the pickups, so I would think more vibrationally dead wood would be better for guitar.

In pure theory yes, and with enough distortion and gain you can circumvent a lot.

But the vibrating wood in turn vibrates the pickups, which influences how they´re picking up the magnetic fields of the string´s vibration...... Analogous to that, If you look at the forum normally, it´s clear and easy to read.... now shake your head vigorouosly from side to side while you try to read... completely different experience, even though the only change was that the platform the sensor (eye /Pickup) is mounted in is vibrating. :beers:

[Zerberus]

The only place where it "seems" to hold water on a regular basis is with tremolo sustain blocks. But all the evidence I´ve seen in that area is anecdotal at best, if not horrifically misinformed.... for ex "oh it´s better than an OFR block because it´s brass"..... So was the original block you muppet, it was just electroplated to not turn green from your sweat and fingerprints.:rofl:

Couldn´t edit the otiginal post, 403 error, sry.

PS: Just for teh record, I´m not saying there is /can be "no" difference. If you change one factor of any system, it can throw the entire system completely out of whak, do absolutely nothing, or anything in between. But that´s also exactly why most blanket statements like "mass = sustain" are iffy at best, because they ignore all the other factors.

[solspirit]

Welcome back Zerb