Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

If you hear a difference then there's a difference. Every change you make to the wood will affect the tone; like cutting it off a tree, drying it out for a while and cutting it into slabs for instance. But by how much, or for better or worse, who knows....

 

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

I had a guy who loved a strat I made until he found out it had a pool route. Then it became overly midrangey to his ears.

I dont think it makes a real difference, the guitar either sounds good or it doesn't.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

If you hear a difference then there's a difference. Every change you make to the wood will affect the tone; like cutting it off a tree, drying it out for a while and cutting it into slabs for instance. But by how much, or for better or worse, who knows....

+1. A difference in tone doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. But a hunk of wood taken out of a guitar will make some change in how it sounds. The sound could be better, look at 335's. Lot of wood missing there.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

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[Zerberus]

Re: Does Strat Boat Routing Affect Tone?

The difference is negligible.

There are a lot of cork sniffers that will say it makes a difference, buzt if my master and I couldn`t hear a difference , acoustically or recorded, on the exact same guitar and setup (we literally just unscrewed the pickguard, loosened the strings, and routed it out, then rescrewed the PG and restrung it), then I don`t think that 99.9% of the players can hear it, either. Considering that we DID hear a difference with things where many players admit that they can`t hear a difference (zinc vs aluminum tailpieces, string brands /gauges, saddle and nut materials, ... ), I consider it safe to assume that they won`t hear that difference, either.

If we`re talking about 2 different bodies, then all comparisons are null and void, anyway, simply due to them being different pieces of wood.

PS: This is not to say that ther is NO difference. There IS a difference, basic physics dictates that there has to be.

However, when you consider the amount of wood that is already missing, and compare it to how much you`re removing in addition to it (Iirc it was about 50 grams, so just under 2 ounces, on an 3-4 poundish alder body in a 7 or 8 pound guitar), then it becomes clear that the scale is simply too small for it to have a huge effect.

I do not doubt that there is somebody out there that CAN hear the difference. I do however doubt that I will ever meet him.