Controversial Opinion

[beaubrummels]

Thinner Squier bodies are better than full sized. They are lighter and more comfortable to play. And if you believe in tone wood, rest assured that my Squier Bullets (of which I have both Strat and Mustang) both sound better than my MIM Strat with a full sized unplugged. Honestly they have some of the best unplugged tone of any of my electrics.

I have a Squier mini, a MIM Strat and 2 USA Strats. The MIM is probably the dullest sounding of the bunch. I think the Squier is a little better because with less body in this case, I'm hearing more of the hardware and electronics, and the wood that is there is bright and sturdy; the strings vibrate and sustain well. I think the MIM body and neck are sucking some of the tone out of what the pickups are picking up. I've replaced the bridge saddles, but hardware doesn't seem to overcome what the body and neck are doing.

 

[Inflames626]

Kristian Kohle posts some pretty good videos, especially for my kind of music.

That said, my comment still hasn't shown up on the video thread. I figure he deleted it.

I said I wanted 8 string guitars with Floyd Roses and high A strings that didn't break when the bar is pulled up.

I wanted this because I wanted more melodic content, not a low F# string that competes with the kick and bass (something he should know about as an audio producer). I also said that tone starts with the player.

I figured this dampened the enthusiasm for 8 string Hapas guitars, for which this video was more or less a commercial, and so my comment was deleted.

Cool dude with a lot of knowledge, but I lost a bit of respect for him after that.

How much "tone wood" does it take to be the equivalent of bumping the amp's bass knob from 5 to 6?

IMO, to keep costs down, don't worry so much about altering the physical environment as much as changing things in production and mixing. My ear can't tell what wood your guitar is made of, anyway.

 

[Inflames626]

What's important about "unplugged tone"?

Fewer variables affecting tone when unplugged. I hear this most with bolt on vs. set neck guitars.

By this standard my $200 Chinese made Hamer Scarab XT has better tone than my Floyded MIJ Jacksons. The Hamer simply resonates more because it is set neck and tune-o-matic.

But that isn't the end of the story. If I'm playing modern metal, I'm going to high pass the lows and scoop the low mids to keep it tight, frequencies "tone wood" supposedly accentuates.

For me, cheap feeling guitars with active pickups and floating bridges lend themselves more to a modern metal tone than some fixed bridge slab of mahogany.

This is even truer for basses. The snap of a bolt on bass keeps the mud out. A thru neck bass is better for things like fretless flatwound tones, IMO, YMMV, etc.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Kristian Kohle posts some pretty good videos, especially for my kind of music.

That said, my comment still hasn't shown up on the video thread. I figure he deleted it.

I said I wanted 8 string guitars with Floyd Roses and high A strings that didn't break when the bar is pulled up.

I wanted this because I wanted more melodic content, not a low F# string that competes with the kick and bass (something he should know about as an audio producer). I also said that tone starts with the player.

I figured this dampened the enthusiasm for 8 string Hapas guitars, for which this video was more or less a commercial, and so my comment was deleted.

Cool dude with a lot of knowledge, but I lost a bit of respect for him after that.

How much "tone wood" does it take to be the equivalent of bumping the amp's bass knob from 5 to 6?

IMO, to keep costs down, don't worry so much about altering the physical environment as much as changing things in production and mixing. My ear can't tell what wood your guitar is made of, anyway.

I've watched a few of his video's and always found them to be pretty interesting/informative..

Honestly the whole 8 string thing is'nt for me anyway, though it's not cool to delete comments expressing "inconvenient" views. I'd never even heard of those guitar's either & they def are'nt my kinda thing,.It's just that what the guy said about tone, I've always found to be true myself from my own experience..

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Kristian Kohle posts some pretty good videos, especially for my kind of music.

I like his videos as well. The only video I've not really liked from him was the Eminence DV-77 video. Like... were we listening to the same speaker? But that's just one particular personal opinion.

 

[Inflames626]

People associate heavier with higher quality in most instances. Since guitarist are superstitious they are more susceptible to this. This is bolstered by the fact that most lighter wood is weaker and therefore cheaper, so guitar makers use it on their mass produced budget guitars where it's per-unit savings would have the most utility. Cheap guitars also use smaller pieces of wood as a cost cutting measure.

In short, people associate NEW light guitars with cost cutting. All that goes out the window when you talk vintage.

Something needs to be said here about how well a certain wood absorbs paint/finish, as well.

I don't need a fancy wood. Basswood/poplar/alder all work for me because most of my guitars are gloss black. If I were playing a guitar with a fancy finish, maybe a maple top would be better.

So a lot of times the paint color and scheme will dictate body wood.

Edit: if I were to choose a wood based on tone from particular woods I have played, I would probably want a 100% maple guitar. Body, neck, fretboard, everything. It's brighter and, generally, brightness is good for metal.

 

[Top-L]

Ive been researching body wood and tone phenomenon...

Fender is making pine strats now...about 1-1.5lbs less than alder. These are american built guitars.

Consensus is..either people cant tell, or they think it lacks bass.

Pine, poplar. Avoid the p woods.

Only person who would buy a pine strat for 1700 bucks is someone with back problems. Nothing wrong with that. At end of day it doesnt matter.

I think turning up the bass is absolutely not the same as a guitar with good bass. Some guitars are dry and fast. Other guitars are warm and squishy.

 

[Inflames626]

The bass on this is too boomy because of how I mixed it. That said, I was going for a vintage 70s tone--like a Mo-town bass.

What was I using? Fender Original 62 P bass pickup, yes. Maple neck possibly. Roundwound nickel wrapped Ernie Ball strings. 105s maybe. Nothing special.

But the body? Pressed plywood. The bass was a lawsuit Korean P bass made probably in the 70s or 80s. Global was the brand name.

I stopped using it because the truss rod couldn't compensate for the high action sufficiently. Shame because the stain on that neck was a beautiful aged vintage butterscotch color.

What made the tone so dark? .1uf capacitor, tone knob full dark. I couldn't rescue the tone from mud in post.

https://soundcloud.com/devolve1980/beyond-the-realms-of-death

 

[beaubrummels]

My Jackson is Poplar. It's light, easy to play, and with the right pickups it screams. But yeah, it has less bass than some other guitars. But there are plenty of warm, bass-heavy pickups that balance it out.

 

[Inflames626]

Ive been researching body wood and tone phenomenon...

Fender is making pine strats now...about 1-1.5lbs less than alder. These are american built guitars.

Consensus is..either people cant tell, or they think it lacks bass.

Pine, poplar. Avoid the p woods.

Only person who would buy a pine strat for 1700 bucks is someone with back problems. Nothing wrong with that. At end of day it doesnt matter.

I think turning up the bass is absolutely not the same as a guitar with good bass. Some guitars are dry and fast. Other guitars are warm and squishy.

This has some validity. I prefer getting my tone later in the signal chain because I can dial things out vs. from my pickup or guitar, where tone is baked in.

My cap change baked in tone I couldn't correct for given my knowledge at the time.

Chasing after tone wood IMO is the same as chasing after cap material.

That said, I have a BC Rich Warlock PP bass that is tone/tone/volume/volume. I have Orange Drop caps in it. Why? They only cost a few bucks more than ceramic caps (but the ODs made the control cavity very cramped because they are so large.)

 

[Top-L]

My Jackson is Poplar. It's light, easy to play, and with the right pickups it screams. But yeah, it has less bass than some other guitars. But there are plenty of warm, bass-heavy pickups that balance it out.

I didnt think the poplar guitar was terrible, but my sabres already do that lightweight thing and im headed the other direction.

I did like the basswood soloist tone i had briefly. I like basswood. Its what i consider the middle.

 

[Top-L]

The bass on this is too boomy because of how I mixed it. That said, I was going for a vintage 70s tone--like a Mo-town bass.

What was I using? Fender Original 62 P bass pickup, yes. Maple neck possibly. Roundwound nickel wrapped Ernie Ball strings. 105s maybe. Nothing special.

But the body? Pressed plywood. The bass was a lawsuit Korean P bass made probably in the 70s or 80s. Global was the brand name.


https://soundcloud.com/devolve1980/beyond-the-realms-of-death

Avoid the p woods. Pine. Poplar. Plywood.

 

[Inflames626]

IME, basswood and poplar, the cheaper woods usually used under solid painted guitars, are quite soft. You'd think they'd sound warm and squishy.

For me, I want a lightweight, hard wood with a bright tone. All about controlling the mud.

IIR, the Ibanez guitar John Petrucci used in the "Rock Discipline" video was basswood. He says so in the section where he talks about his gear.

 

[Inflames626]

Avoid the p woods. Pine. Poplar. Plywood.

Plywood for which the .1uf cap completely compensated.

The only problem with the bass in the song was the truss rod issue. You can hear the bass dead fret whenever I go to third fret G.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Pine is fine on my Squier. It sounds thin and wiry acoustically. That's the way I've always pictured a Tele/Esquire should sound anyway. It's cheap too, so I don't really expect much from it, TBH. It's just a fun guitar to strum on when I want a radically different feel to my Gibson.

 

[Top-L]

None of my basswood guitars have been particularly light. Im guessing they are more similar to alder in density.

 

[Mincer]

I have a poplar guitar that is the most mid heavy instrument I ever tried. But it plays well, and I love the way it looks, so I keep it. I compensate by having very scooped pickups in it.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

I have a poplar guitar that is the most mid heavy instrument I ever tried. But it plays well, and I love the way it looks, so I keep it. I compensate by having very scooped pickups in it.

Yeah, but you know what you're doing.

At least, I hope you do.

That "administrator" title isn't just honorary, is it?

 

[Top-L]

Something needs to be said here about how well a certain wood absorbs paint/finish, as well.

I don't need a fancy wood. Basswood/poplar/alder all work for me because most of my guitars are gloss black. If I were playing a guitar with a fancy finish, maybe a maple top would be better.

So a lot of times the paint color and scheme will dictate body wood.

Edit: if I were to choose a wood based on tone from particular woods I have played, I would probably want a 100% maple guitar. Body, neck, fretboard, everything. It's brighter and, generally, brightness is good for metal.

An all maple guitar would weight 15-20#.

The best you can do is a maple core, neck through with whatever wings. This is why Jackson, ESP, Schecter are popular in metal guitar.

I have plenty of bolt on maple necks and currently one maple neck through. The bolt on maple necks are quite warm. I think the brightness comes from neck through, but I'm not sure.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, but you know what you're doing.

At least, I hope you do.

That "administrator" title isn't just honorary, is it?

I seem to have a knack for this.