Re: Ever get sick of acquiring gear and just want one great guitar?
There are quite a few things that are not quite the same now as in days gone by. The 2 key criteria of chassis and pickups have elements which cannot easily be reproduced with modern manufacture.
Having had 'identical' pickups made using modern and 50's wire it is clear that this parameter is certainly key to tone. Plus in the a/b-ing of modern pickups with vintage magnets installed versus modern mags, plus modern mags vs vintage mags in vintage pickups there are certainly tonal differences in both cases.
Then there is the wood. Maybe your type of music doesn't highlight small differences as referenced by your other thread. My type does. In this case I have found the chassis does indeed influence how any low output pickup works.
In my qualification as a horticulturalist I also know the growing condition of wood from the time where virgin forest could be harvested will produce a different structural outcome to ones force grown in plantation where the 3 main conditions for growth are all altered. This is not to say that you will not find an overlap, as there are not 'specs' for wood like you would find in a man made item. More that the average is 'tweaked'.
The main thing that modern manufacture has given is consistency and accuracy to physical dimension. As neither of these are in any way a tonal attribute, and more effect playability, I cannot see as a major contributor to 'better tonality'
I would of course welcome your thought on what actually has become a slight diversion to the main thread.
There are quite a few things that are not quite the same now as in days gone by. The 2 key criteria of chassis and pickups have elements which cannot easily be reproduced with modern manufacture.
Having had 'identical' pickups made using modern and 50's wire it is clear that this parameter is certainly key to tone. Plus in the a/b-ing of modern pickups with vintage magnets installed versus modern mags, plus modern mags vs vintage mags in vintage pickups there are certainly tonal differences in both cases.
Then there is the wood. Maybe your type of music doesn't highlight small differences as referenced by your other thread. My type does. In this case I have found the chassis does indeed influence how any low output pickup works.
In my qualification as a horticulturalist I also know the growing condition of wood from the time where virgin forest could be harvested will produce a different structural outcome to ones force grown in plantation where the 3 main conditions for growth are all altered. This is not to say that you will not find an overlap, as there are not 'specs' for wood like you would find in a man made item. More that the average is 'tweaked'.
The main thing that modern manufacture has given is consistency and accuracy to physical dimension. As neither of these are in any way a tonal attribute, and more effect playability, I cannot see as a major contributor to 'better tonality'
I would of course welcome your thought on what actually has become a slight diversion to the main thread.
