big kurka
New member
eclecticsynergy wow that was very helpful. Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Help me understand guitar wood tone
- Thread starter big kurka
- Start date
alex1fly
Well-known member
Noooooo if you can skip the "philosophy of tone" and "descriptive language" and "reading everything online" part of this hobby then you'll save yourself so much time and money.
It's been summed up well already but here's my method for choosing pickups, if I'm going to try a new pickup:
-Read the description on the manufacturer website and make a purchase.
Or
-Post on a forum with a description of the pickup I have, and what I'd like it to sound like instead. Try something somebody suggests.
Or
-Try a well-loved pickup just for grins.
Acoustic/unplugged sound is important, though. If you have a couple of guitars play them back to back unplugged - which sounds brighter? Which sounds fatter? Is one more articulate than the other? This is a good exercise to understand the sound that goes into the pickup which then gets amplified.
It's been summed up well already but here's my method for choosing pickups, if I'm going to try a new pickup:
-Read the description on the manufacturer website and make a purchase.
Or
-Post on a forum with a description of the pickup I have, and what I'd like it to sound like instead. Try something somebody suggests.
Or
-Try a well-loved pickup just for grins.
Acoustic/unplugged sound is important, though. If you have a couple of guitars play them back to back unplugged - which sounds brighter? Which sounds fatter? Is one more articulate than the other? This is a good exercise to understand the sound that goes into the pickup which then gets amplified.
Last edited:
uOpt
Something Cool
In addition to what everybody else said I also want to throw in that necks make a bigger difference than bodies. At least in my experience of cross-swapping necks on bolt-on guitars and basses. If something gets "fired" for being a clear dud then it is usually a neck.
It makes sense since you have the truss rod and all the differences that can bring with it in the neck.
Les Pauls are kind screwed in this regard. You have a bad neck you can't do much about it.
It makes sense since you have the truss rod and all the differences that can bring with it in the neck.
Les Pauls are kind screwed in this regard. You have a bad neck you can't do much about it.
Tubes
New member
For me it's the opposite. I notice the wood the most when I'm playing quiet or unplugged even. I usually judge an electric first by how it plays without being plugged in. Some just give off vibrations through the body and neck in a way that others don't.
It's when the gain and volume goes up that I think the tonewoods matter less and less and it comes down to just the pickups primarily then.
IMENATOR
Well-known member
The only thing I care when playing unplugged electric guitar is how much it resonates and sustains. I am not an expert but in my little experience the wood of a solid electric guitar is not a big factor, it may count but not as much as other things. The string themselves along with anything that touches them is a factor (pick, technique, bridge, nut, strong construction), of course pickups and the amp (circuit, speaker, cab) are biggest factors. Even cables can suck tone.
Last edited:
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
This thread has been genuinely informative, not the dumpster fire I was expecting. Thank you all.
DCikes88
New member
This made me think of something my father told me. He was a guitarist in the 70s-80s shortly for a really famous singer in my country. He used to say to him that his Les Paul sounds like a piano. To this day I don't know what to think about that. My dad would just flick the volume knob down a tad and "issue" solved.
Yes, yes, and yes! All Hail Lord Neck! Quite literally, neck is half of a guitar, but it feels so much more. It's tension, it's shape and comfort, it's contact, resonance, sustain, playability. It is objectively the only piece of a guitar that is in your hand while you play. And that is everything.
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Yep. The neck is what you come into contact with the most frequently, and it's much harder to mod. You can change strings, swap pickups, upgrade nut and saddles, and install locking tuners, but if you don't vibe with the neck, that's kind of a dealbreaker IMO.
big kurka
New member
weepingminotaur I must agree with you this thread has been informative and interesting.
So it seems that the basic consensus is to try the guitar with known pickups and go from there. Makes perfect sense but also seems like it could be a little costly.
So here’s a big question. What pickup should I try??? The guitar in question has a set of Duncan distortions in it. The guitar sounds very thin and bright, upper mids are stronger than the lower mids and the lows are weak. My buddy described it like if the eq had I linear line with the highs full boost to the lows full cut. Hopefully this make sense. Going through the SD pickup and there eq graphs and dimarzios pickups at seems like the dimarzios might suit this guitar better. Idk though, what do you guys thinks???
So it seems that the basic consensus is to try the guitar with known pickups and go from there. Makes perfect sense but also seems like it could be a little costly.
So here’s a big question. What pickup should I try??? The guitar in question has a set of Duncan distortions in it. The guitar sounds very thin and bright, upper mids are stronger than the lower mids and the lows are weak. My buddy described it like if the eq had I linear line with the highs full boost to the lows full cut. Hopefully this make sense. Going through the SD pickup and there eq graphs and dimarzios pickups at seems like the dimarzios might suit this guitar better. Idk though, what do you guys thinks???
uOpt
Something Cool
It is worse than that since subtle difference in guitars keep you from mounting the same pickup. For example, most direct-to-wood mechanisms do both use oversize screws for the leg and require a triangular leg bottom. And that is just for guitars that all supposedly take standard size and mounting humbuckers.
My standard set is a APH-1b and a Jazz neck. With experience gained I would probably do it now with a Pearly Gates bridge and an Antiquity neck.
I don't do Dimarzio.
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
It's hard to say without knowing what kinds of music you want to play, though the Distortion suggests that you're in metal territory. If you want stronger lows, you might try the Custom, or if you're looking something with an upper-mid spike that excels at chugging, the Nazgul is an option. I'm a big fan of the Black Winters, so that might be what I suggest if you're looking for a high-output pickup with prominent mids and tight bass that is also very versatile. It is absolutely not a thin-sounding pickup.
The other issue is pickup height. Those Distortions might sound quite different if you play with pickup and pole piece height.
big kurka
New member
weepingminotaur Oops I should have mentioned the type of music. More 80's-90's hard rock type stuff and a lot of power chords don't do the whole soloing stuff. The chugga chugga stuff with big huge dive bombs. I had the DD's in a 26.5 scale guitar tuned to C before and I found them to tight for my liking. I guess you could say I like strong lows but not tight. For comparison the JB is to flubby in the low end for what I want. If that helps. Oh and as for the p/u height I've tweaked the heck out of them.
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Gotcha. If you skew more toward hard rock, the Custom would be a nice fit IMO. If you're willing to go medium output, the Screamin Demon is also a good choice, but it may not have the kind of strong lows you're craving. On the DiMarzio side, a Super Distortion seems like it would be the obvious choice.
big kurka
New member
Isn't the screamin demon more of a brighter p/u. If so then wouldn't that work against my guitars characteristics of being bright and thin sounding.
Another member recommended the dimarzio breed p/u I believe because it had a lot lows and less highs to help with my guitars characteristics.
Am I wrong on thinking that if you the guitar is bright/ thin sounding you want a p/n that has stronger lows and if the guitar is dark and warm you would want a brighter p/u with less lows???
Another member recommended the dimarzio breed p/u I believe because it had a lot lows and less highs to help with my guitars characteristics.
Am I wrong on thinking that if you the guitar is bright/ thin sounding you want a p/n that has stronger lows and if the guitar is dark and warm you would want a brighter p/u with less lows???
This is the way I've always done it.
Juanhanglo
Active member
as you can see from the tons of varied responses, there are no concensus type answers. I have observed the following.
Wood species matters less than weight does. To me, it mahogany, and everything else. Mahigany is very distinct to me. Is it the wood or the heavier weight? Heavy alder sounds more mahogany like than lighter alder for instance.
Every guitar has its own timbre. Some sound better than others. The best sounding unplugged is not necessarily the best one plugged in either. The unplugged timbre does come through the pickups, so IMO it's kinda important.
Try this experiment:
plug your guitar in and turn the volume all the way down, then up just enough so the amped sound is the same volume as the unplugged guitar volume. When strummed.
now turn the volume knob up and down slightly to hear either the amped or unplugged sound better.
they sound similar right? Pickups can only do so much. They adjust the eq of the sound your hear thru the amp. That's all.
for instance, my ibanez rg520qs (mahogany body and maple/rosewood neck sounds better than all my other guitars with any pickup I've tried.
when choosing a guitar, or even guitar pickups there are a few things I look for.
1 the response of the quitar. Is it quick to respond to my picking or does it feel a bit slow?
2 does the unplugged sound lack anything. Bass? High end? Too much mids? Whatever.
I choose pickups that either enhance or balance out what I hear from the above teat.
another for instance. My rg921. It was somewhat thin sounding (low bass and mids compared to highs)., and very fast responding. I tried full shreds in it and they screamed! Not.a good choice. The FS is a bright and quick responding pickup. Lol. These sound amazing in the 520 though. After doing copious amount of research, I got my choice down to a tone zone/air norton set, and a breed set.
I went with the breeds. Why you ask?
Simple. They are middy and bassy pickups that balance really well in that guitar. They make up for whatever is missing from the natural eq.
What I can't describe is a dead sounding guitar. I just know it when I play/feel/hear it.
No amount of pickup swapping will ever fix a dead guitar. I've tried.
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Yeah, the Demon is definitely brighter and doesn't have a lot of lows, so like I said, it might not be what you're looking for.
I agree about using pickups to balance out the guitar's tonal qualities, as a general rule.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
After a page and half, I kind of skipped to here. I did catch many saying you can't tell bright, thin, fat, whatever without plugging it in. True, but I'll add one thing:
In my experience, all my guitars tend to sound acoustically opposite of what they sound like plugged in. For example, if I strum it unplugged and it's bright, thin and snappy with little bsss, those are the ones that seem to have a full thick sound but can be a little rolled off or dark on top. Similar, other guitars I have that if they sound dark, muddy, wooly, murky and dead unplugged, usually those ones are bright and even plugged in, for me. My only guess on that is perhaps there's something about whatever frequencies are getting lost through the vibration of the wood are not making into the pickups. But I don't know, and don't really care. I've just noticed that correlation, which I can use to help guess which electrics might sound like I want, and I've learned you really just have to plug it in to find out for sure. Just like you can't test drive a car by pushing around the sales lot. You just have to drive it.
In my experience, all my guitars tend to sound acoustically opposite of what they sound like plugged in. For example, if I strum it unplugged and it's bright, thin and snappy with little bsss, those are the ones that seem to have a full thick sound but can be a little rolled off or dark on top. Similar, other guitars I have that if they sound dark, muddy, wooly, murky and dead unplugged, usually those ones are bright and even plugged in, for me. My only guess on that is perhaps there's something about whatever frequencies are getting lost through the vibration of the wood are not making into the pickups. But I don't know, and don't really care. I've just noticed that correlation, which I can use to help guess which electrics might sound like I want, and I've learned you really just have to plug it in to find out for sure. Just like you can't test drive a car by pushing around the sales lot. You just have to drive it.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
You might try swapping A8 magnets into the Distortion set you already have.
This tames the fizz a little bit in the highs, and makes the overall feel bouncier.
Still a big sound, but not as tight as ceramic, especially in the lows.
I concur with Juanhanglo that The Breed set could be a very good choice here.
They were specifically designed to fatten up thin sounding trem guitars.
This tames the fizz a little bit in the highs, and makes the overall feel bouncier.
Still a big sound, but not as tight as ceramic, especially in the lows.
I concur with Juanhanglo that The Breed set could be a very good choice here.
They were specifically designed to fatten up thin sounding trem guitars.
