Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

ScottPearson88

ScottPearson88

New member
My strat has one of the "bath tub" cutouts for the pickup cavity and i was wondering to give my strat a denser sound (ie: like a mohogany, maple guitar) would cutting out a piece of perfectly fit maple, putting it in there, and screwing the pickups right into it give it that denser tone?
ne better ideas?

THANKS
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

I doubt you will notice much of a difference adding wood there. Blocking your trem will do more to tighten things up. If that is not enough for you, I suggest a hardtail bridge on your next axe.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Not gonna happen, the overall design of the strat from the bolt-on neck, to the scale, to the double cutaway all contribute to it's sound. Even hardtail strats sound like strats. Not only that, but even if you're theory were correct, I'd go with another wood besides maple since maple is even brighter than the alder or poplar that strats are made of. Now an all mahogany strat might begin to sound a little different, a little darker, but you'll never get Gibsonesque tone from a Fender strat.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

TattooedCarrot said:
Not gonna happen, the overall design of the strat from the bolt-on neck, to the scale, to the double cutaway all contribute to it's sound. Even hardtail strats sound like strats. Not only that, but even if you're theory were correct, I'd go with another wood besides maple since maple is even brighter than the alder or poplar that strats are made of. Now an all mahogany strat might begin to sound a little different, a little darker, but you'll never get Gibsonesque tone from a Fender strat.
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I disagree... you can definetely get Gibsonesque tones from a Strat, but I'll agree that you'll never get 100% there. That said, a Strat with humbuckers (or an HB in the bridge, at least) will get you into Gibson territory, for that 'thicker' sound you want.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

IMHO, it's a myth that the bath tub route hurts tone or sustain. I don't find that noticable of a difference in tone and sustain between the bath tub route and traditional vintage routes on strats. In fact I've heard it described as a resonation chamber in practice by some knowlegable people.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Lake Placid Blues said:
IMHO, it's a myth that the bath tub route hurts tone or sustain. I don't find that noticable of a difference in tone and sustain between the bath tub route and traditional vintage routes on strats. In fact I've heard it described as a resonation chamber in practice by some knowlegable people.
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Yeah, it's funny how some players won't touch a universal-rout Strat, but rave over the custom hollow Strats or Thinline Teles.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

ya well its already a Fried Maple Top strat, and alder body, but i belive the maple top isnt thicker than half a milimeter lol.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Lake Placid Blues said:
IMHO, it's a myth that the bath tub route hurts tone or sustain. I don't find that noticable of a difference in tone and sustain between the bath tub route and traditional vintage routes on strats. In fact I've heard it described as a resonation chamber in practice by some knowlegable people.
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I've been tossing an idea around in my head. How would using a hard maple pickguard on a swimming pool strat affect the sound? I wonder if it would push it a bit into the Tele Thinline realm?
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

I guess there's really only one way to find out. If doesn't make any difference, you still end up with a great looking pick guard. Cool idea!
 
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Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

ScottPearson88 said:
ya well its already a Fried Maple Top strat, and alder body, but i belive the maple top isnt thicker than half a milimeter lol.
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In these cases the venar is purely a cosmetic element. Warmoth claims that a top 1/8" thick, is more or less sonicaly nuetral. On their hollow bodies they say the sonic qualities are that of the back wood, not the top wood. However, when the top wood becomes 1/4" or more thick, it begins to exert it's tonal flavors to the overall sound. So in cases of guitars like Anderson Drop Tops, PRS's, EBMM EVH's, and Les Pauls......ect... the top wood is adding more brightness and sustain to the overall sound. I believe that USACG uses a minimum of 1/4" top woods on laminated top guitars as does Anderson

Of greater concern in the case of a thin vener being glued to the back wood, is that the vener may be hurting the resonance of the back wood, while not adding any sonic positives itself. Think of the vener as being a uber thick coat of paint. I know of a 90's American Standard strat that had veners put over the back and the top to make a nice wood for a two tone sunburst finish. The only way of making it sustain as good as it should have, was a replacement body.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

can't work. the only positive effect is more mass.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Ocifer said:
I disagree... you can definetely get Gibsonesque tones from a Strat, but I'll agree that you'll never get 100% there. That said, a Strat with humbuckers (or an HB in the bridge, at least) will get you into Gibson territory, for that 'thicker' sound you want.
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I disagree with your disagreement. Actually I suppose it depends on your definition of "Gibsonesque." Sure you can toss a 'bucker into a Strat and get beefier tones ala SuperStrats. But it's still a tight, focused, precise, sharp attack kind of sound.

A real "Gibsonesque" tone will be beefier, more sustainy, and almost "sloppy" feeling when compared to the tight, focused Stratty sound IMO.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Ocifer said:
I disagree... you can definetely get Gibsonesque tones from a Strat, but I'll agree that you'll never get 100% there. That said, a Strat with humbuckers (or an HB in the bridge, at least) will get you into Gibson territory, for that 'thicker' sound you want.
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You'll get humbucker tones, but nothing like a Gibson. It'll sound like a Fender with a humbucker. Especially if we're talking Les Pauls.

I currently have a USA deluxe strat with an EMG Lukather set in it, 85/SLV/SLV and it sounds like a fatter strat with a hot humbucker, sounds nothing like my Gibsons. Sounds good, but doesn't get into Gibson territory at all. If you closed you're eyes you can totally tell its a strat sound, even with the humbucker, and even with that humbucker being an EMG.
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Adding a chunk of maple that size would prob add a bit of tightness to the bass and some overall clarity to the sound. BUT, the skill needed to get a supertight, exact fit so the maple will vibrate with the body and contribute to the tone equation is considerable IMHO.

Here's what I do to get a bit darker/heavier sound:

-experiment with different mags

-Throw a breed or BBQ in the bridge. If you go with the breed radius all the poles. Convert the BBQ to double screws if you can and do the same

-Knock the pot down to 250k with two 1 meg resistors in parallel

-Screw the bridge down tight to the body and use 5 springs

-Put in a set of graphtec saddles

-Go up one gauge and switch to all nickle strings

-put sponges between the springs(the ones that come with the pups are perfect for this)
 
Re: Maple under strats pickguard for denser sound?

Gamera said:
I disagree with your disagreement. Actually I suppose it depends on your definition of "Gibsonesque." Sure you can toss a 'bucker into a Strat and get beefier tones ala SuperStrats. But it's still a tight, focused, precise, sharp attack kind of sound.

A real "Gibsonesque" tone will be beefier, more sustainy, and almost "sloppy" feeling when compared to the tight, focused Stratty sound IMO.
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I italicized the "esque" for a reason. I know you can't make a Strat sound like a Paul, but you can approximate. I assumed he just wanted a thicker humbucker tone, not specifically an LP sound. Besides, it's all in the hands anyway...

EDIT: J/K... you guys know what I mean, let's not open that Pandora's box of a thread again.
 
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