Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

[SepultuRick]

Hi, i am looking for a new guitar and have started a couple of other threads recently on the issue. However i now have 2 other questions;

1) I am looking for that thick warm mahogony sound. Does the thickness of the mahogany body effect this at all? For example a mahogany sg vs a les paul.

2) How important is neck scale? Whats are the pros and cosn of the main scales 24.75 and 25.5. Should neck scale be something where i should choose a scale thats suitable and then cancel out everyhing that has a different scale?


Thanks

 

[H8Red442]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

1.) I think so. I think weight and thickness has a huge impact on tone. I have three guitars all the same materials all the same scale different weights and thicknesses. The lighter and thinner the brigter and tighter the tone gets.

2.) I think the shorter scale has a looser string feel and probably due to that a fatter or fuller tone.

Take it for what it's worth because now someone will tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

H8red is dead on.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

The scale length doesn't have as much impact on tone as the body thickness and the wood type. I have a Custom made thin line Tele that has a Mahogony body with a Maple cap and has 2 HB that can be coil tapped. The scale length is 25.5" but this guitar sounds more like my 335 than it does a Tele. I believe this is primarily because its body is Mahogony!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

i think both have a noticable effect.

the longer scale length seems to have a stronger fundamental and maybe a punchier tone and a shorter scale length has a little more density to the tone. if you are detuning you want a longer scale length

 

[aleclee]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

1) I am looking for that thick warm mahogony sound. Does the thickness of the mahogany body effect this at all? For example a mahogany sg vs a les paul.

Only to the extent that a Les Paul sounds different from an SG. There's something that you get from a large piece of timber that can't be duplicated any other way. Unfortunately, that means more weight because IMO weight relief tends to diminish the effect.

2) How important is neck scale? Whats are the pros and cosn of the main scales 24.75 and 25.5. Should neck scale be something where i should choose a scale thats suitable and then cancel out everyhing that has a different scale?

Neck scale definitely makes a difference.

As for whether you should avoid considering a guitar with the "wrong" scale, I don't think there's a cut-and-dried answer. It's a personal thing about how much you value the distinctive traits imparted by the scale. A 24.75 guitar will sound different from a 25.5 but how close is close enough?

Your rig is a system and focusing on (or ignoring) a particular design quality diminishes your chances of finding the tone you seek. There's generally more than one way to get a particular style of tone. Which one is best for you is up to you.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

In a nutshell:

A shorter scale will give a looser feel and a fatter, looser tone, wheras the longer scale will be clearer and tighter but the strings will be harder to bend.

A thinner body will lose fatness and gain in definition and brightness, while a thicker body will sound fuller and thicker.

Otherwise a +1 to most of what has been said already :beerchug:

 

[shogunlegend]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

i have an ibanez s520ex and it's a thin mohogany body, but the sound is real thick. i put a dimarzio norton in the bridge and it sounds real sweet. here's a sound clip:

www.soundclick.com/fistofdeath

 

[Markk]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

In a nutshell:

A shorter scale will give a looser feel and a fatter, looser tone, wheras the longer scale will be clearer and tighter but the strings will be harder to bend.

A thinner body will lose fatness and gain in definition and brightness, while a thicker body will sound fuller and thicker.

Otherwise a +1 to most of what has been said already :beerchug:

And +1 to this.

Just get 4 guitars with different scale lengths and woods. You'll have the best of all the possible situations!

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

Everything affects tone, slightly... from your tuners, to your bridge, to the wood and shape of the guitar.

 

[hwiho2002]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

I think 24.75 scale and 25.5 scale will make no difference in tone if you use the proper string gauge for them. lighter strings for 25.5, heavier strings for 24.75. Then again 24.75 might sound more thicker, because even if a 25.5 scale guitar is tuned the same as a 24.75, the 24.75 scale guitar would use heavier strings to keep the same tension as the the 25.5 scale guitar, and I think heavire strings, even if tuned the same as lighter strings, sound thicker

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

no, but it AFFECTS tone! :headbang:

 

[JeffB]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

should also mention neck construction...

bolt-on necks apples to apples will be a bit punchier and have slightly more clarity as well. Set necks will be a little smoother sounding...more "even" toned..and *generally* will produce more sustain.

 

[Redmist]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

I agree and dissagree ;- this age old debate can get complex if you let it.
Two guitars with same wood type but different thicknesses will have the same density but different mass. Just as shogun mentioned, a thin body will have a lower fundamental frequency and resonate accordingly, a fatter body will have the same density but the extra mass will raise the resonant frequency. Try tapping two pieces of wood with the same area but different thickness. The THICK piece will sound at a HIGHER pitch every time. So a lighter and thinner body will actually sound quite dark!
Heavier body for same thickness = more dense and will be brighter also ( think maple vs mahogony )
It all depends on the construction. If the thick body is resonating with higher frequencies then it is robbing less of the lows from the string. Depending on the coupling of the construction, this can alter the overall effect of the body on tone. Wood density affects tonal characteristics independantly of thickness.So it can go either way depending on body wood stealing frequencies from the strings or not.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Does body thickness effect tone? and neck scale questions

Hi, i am looking for a new guitar and have started a couple of other threads recently on the issue. However i now have 2 other questions;

1) I am looking for that thick warm mahogony sound. Does the thickness of the mahogany body effect this at all? For example a mahogany sg vs a les paul.

2) How important is neck scale? Whats are the pros and cosn of the main scales 24.75 and 25.5. Should neck scale be something where i should choose a scale thats suitable and then cancel out everyhing that has a different scale?

Thanks

Thickness of the mahogany makes a difference in my opinion. More mass means more sustain for the strings (see my engineering thread).

As for neck scale and thickness, I'd say get what your fingers like. I thought for sure, for a while, that 25.5" would be too big for me, and so far it's not. However, while the modern C shape is nice (Fender necks), I tried a Les Paul with the 50s style neck, and that neck is too thick for me. Neck is about playing comfort: don't ever buy a cheap guitar if it means sacrificing comfort. You can get by with a smaller / cheaper amp, effects, etc, but not with a guitar that makes your hands tired.