Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

[Phantasmagoria]

I'm specifically talking about star shaped guitars...Has anyone else noticed this?

I used to have an old Ibanez DT350 Destroyer (still do..it's in peices though) which was basswood, but far from sounding 'soft' or lacking attack, it had a really well-defined/tight, chunky, deep, attacking low-mid/low-end punch.

Though not technically a star shaped guitar maybe, my old NJ Warlock (mahogany) sounded quite similar....very tight punchy, full-sounding palm mutes.

I noticed the same thing with my friends Epi Explorer (alder/mahogany) a while ago and my new BC Rich Ironbird pro (Maple neck through/mahogany wings) has the same big punchy low-end chug going on as well.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the body shape?....since with pointies/star shaped guitars it seems like those palm-mutes from hell get hammered out no matter what wood the guitar's made of...

 

[karpathion]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

I've got a beater, LTD FX-260, and no matter what pup I put in it, it just sounds way thicker than my other guitars.
I use a C8 in it, and I've had it in both the LTD, and my Explorer Pro, and found that it is the guitar, not the pup, (not the saying the C8 lacks anything), It's just the 2 guitars with the same pickup sound completly different.

The Explorer Pro, is a slimmed down verion, with a maple cap.

I'm inclined to believe that size does a make difference, and I'm sure a maple top vs no top, makes a difference too.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

I believe so.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

I believe so.

Thickness seems to play a role, specially when you compare gibson designs, say an SG vs a LP JR or Special.

Some would also argue that there is a difference in single vs double cutaway.

I never really stopped to ask myself the question to be honest. Looking forward to opinions in this thread.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

In my experience single cutaway guitars sound bigger

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Easy to find out: record, saw off the sides of the star, record again.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

I think it does.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

In my experience single cutaway guitars sound bigger

Yup, this is what I was gonna say. Single cutaways tend to be a bit stiffer and thicker sounding (ie Tele, LP) vs double cutaways which tend to have a more midrange airiness to them (strat, sg). Neither is bad or good, just different. I don't have enough experience to say anything with odd shaped guitars.......

 

[wyldeguy]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Yup, this is what I was gonna say. Single cutaways tend to be a bit stiffer and thicker sounding (ie Tele, LP) vs double cutaways which tend to have a more midrange airiness to them (strat, sg). Neither is bad or good, just different. I don't have enough experience to say anything with odd shaped guitars.......

On the reverse single cutaways have less attack and bite

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

On the reverse single cutaways have less attack and bite

Not necessarily - a Tele in no way shape or form lacks attack or bite. I think it's just Gibson singlecuts and guitars like them.

 

[wyldeguy]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Not necessarily - a Tele in no way shape or form lacks attack or bite. I think it's just Gibson singlecuts and guitars like them.

The tele is bolt on. I should have said set neck single cutuways

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

The amount of mass will always have an effect on sound, so the short answer is yes.

However, so many other factors come into play.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Well, mass will obviously affect tone (thickness, whether it's a double or single cutaway etc..) but what about the actual shape of a guitar. I'm saying this because I think shape itself actually does influence the way a guitar body resonates....ie the way sound is transferred down the body ....and with X shaped guitars it seems to give them that chunky tight lower-mid push. I can feel the resonance along the inside of my right forearm/elbow..where it rests against the the upper horn/point...obviously with a traditional shaped guitar there's nothing there to feel resonate.

I don't think my Ironbird has more (or less) body mass than the average superstrat or LP...it certainly weighs about the same as they do. My Destroyer was'nt over heavy either..

The same thing with my Ibanez Saber. It's an inch or so thick at it's thickest point , but it sounds like a far larger guitar ...and again, I think that has to do with the way the body is contoured and the way sound (resonance) is tranferred through it...

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Easy to find out: record, saw off the sides of the star, record again.

Exactly!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

hmmm :scratchch ....Looks like that worked with your LP....

lol...so what's the verdict? ...any real difference between double and single cuts?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

All else being equal, a double cut doesn't sound as full/thick as a single cut.

 

[marvelous_seven]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

What about Vs? I hear those shape are midrangey and have alot of bite. Is that true?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

I'm specifically talking about star shaped guitars...an old Ibanez DT350 Destroyer...my old NJ Warlock... my friends Epi Explorer (alder/mahogany) a while ago and my new BC Rich Ironbird pro (Maple neck through/mahogany wings) has the same big punchy low-end chug going on as well.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the body shape?....since with pointies/star shaped guitars it seems like those palm-mutes from hell get hammered out no matter what wood the guitar's made of...

Don't you have any normal guitars?

Palm mutes probably seem to sound better with a pointy guitar; just wouldn't look right with a 335, would it, no matter what it sounded like. I think the image of a pale guy with tatoos and a pointy guitar tricks the human brain into thinking any associated palm mutes sound better. Logically, the type and amount of wood (mass) have much more to do with the sound produced, than things sticking out of the body.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

What about Vs? I hear those shape are midrangey and have alot of bite. Is that true?

I'd rather say fat.

My Explorer sounded very aggressive no matter what pickups, and it disliked many pickups.

The V on the other hand is more full and rounded. If you listen to Scorpions you can hear Rudolph Schenker play hard rock with a PAF style bridge pickup and it doesn't sound thin at all. Michael Schenker can use a V to really fill up a DC.

The two were nothing alike, although from a wood perspective they were "spec-identical".

 

[Snoogles]

Re: Does a guitar's "body shape" affect it's sound?

Easy to find out: record, saw off the sides of the star, record again.

i think that is more of a matter of body mass, rather than body shape

in response to the OP, i've read some propaganda from Minarik Guitars about this very subject. and its why they have such whacky-shaped guitars.

whether its true or not is another issue