More mass = more resonant guitar??

[BadAspen]

How does a heavier sustain block increase resonance of a guitar if increased mass leads to increased inertia leading to the vibrations being less included to leave the block and vibrate into the rest of the guitar?

Also while I'm here, why should I care about resonance? The energy that goes into vibrating the wood isn't being picked up by the pickups, so I would think more vibrationally dead wood would be better for guitar.

 

[Securb]

Here we go. Everyone buckle up and enjoy the ride.

 

[ICTGoober]

This has been discussed by violin makers since before Amati, Guaneri, and Stradivari.
Do we really need to go there again?

 

[RanchManSandy]

This has been discussed by violin makers since before Amati, Guaneri, and Stradivari.
Do we really need to go there again?

but pickups aren't a key factor in the tone of a violin like they are electric guitar

 

[Chistopher]

This has been discussed by violin makers since before Amati, Guaneri, and Stradivari.
Do we really need to go there again?

Do violins even have sustain?

 

[solspirit]

Do violins even have sustain?

No

 

[Securb]

If there was no sustain you would not hear a note

 

[GuitarDoc]

I think it would be beneficial if everyone would take an extreme point of view and dogmatically defend their position.

 

[Mincer]

I think it would be beneficial if everyone would take an extreme point of view and dogmatically defend their position.

This is the only way this discussion should proceed.

 

[Clint 55]

Also while I'm here, why should I care about resonance? The energy that goes into vibrating the wood isn't being picked up by the pickups.

Yes it does. The 2 possible ways the structural integrity (and design) of the guitar improves the tone is it influences the way the strings vibrate and the pickups read that, or the guitar itself resonates better, and the pickups somehow read some of that microphonically. Most likely it's both. That's how different electric guitar shapes sound differently even if the other factors are held constant.

Say you have a Tele and a Strat. You transfer the Tele neck pickup into the Strat. Would it sound identical? No, of course not. Why not? The shape of the guitar and the resonance of the trem make the guitar sound like a Strat acoustically and the pickup absolutely reads this.

 

[solspirit]

If there was no sustain you would not hear a note

Sure you would, the note wont last.

 

[Chistopher]

Yes it does. The 2 possible ways the structural integrity (and design) of the guitar improves the tone is it influences the way the strings vibrate and the pickups read that, or the guitar itself resonates better, and the pickups somehow read some of that microphonically. Most likely it's both. That's how different electric guitar shapes sound differently even if the other factors are held constant.

Say you have a Tele and a Strat. You transfer the Tele neck pickup into the Strat. Would it sound identical? No, of course not. Why not? The shape of the guitar and the resonance of the trem make the guitar sound like a Strat acoustically and the pickup absolutely reads this.

To me Strats are usually quieter than Teles because on the Strat I accidentally bumped the volume knob and didn't notice.

 

[BadAspen]

Yes it does. The 2 possible ways the structural integrity (and design) of the guitar improves the tone is it influences the way the strings vibrate and the pickups read that, or the guitar itself resonates better, and the pickups somehow read some of that microphonically. Most likely it's both. That's how different electric guitar shapes sound differently even if the other factors are held constant.

Say you have a Tele and a Strat. You transfer the Tele neck pickup into the Strat. Would it sound identical? No, of course not. Why not? The shape of the guitar and the resonance of the trem make the guitar sound like a Strat acoustically and the pickup absolutely reads this.

I couldn't tell you, I don't really play my guitars unplugged all that often. Do they really sound all that difference acoustically? Outside of mass of the body and bridge the only real acoustic difference between a stratocaster and a tele is saddle material and a Strat has a bit of a banjo effect going on with its goofy pickguard and large route combo.

My strat doesn't have a trem, but I'll have to do a side by side back at the house.

 

[RanchManSandy]

Yes it does. The 2 possible ways the structural integrity (and design) of the guitar improves the tone is it influences the way the strings vibrate and the pickups read that, or the guitar itself resonates better, and the pickups somehow read some of that microphonically. Most likely it's both. That's how different electric guitar shapes sound differently even if the other factors are held constant.

Say you have a Tele and a Strat. You transfer the Tele neck pickup into the Strat. Would it sound identical? No, of course not. Why not? The shape of the guitar and the resonance of the trem make the guitar sound like a Strat acoustically and the pickup absolutely reads this.

lol, there's literally no way to prove this kind of rhetoric.

you'd have to, like, start with the neck and electronics in a strat shaped body and then somehow re-rout and re-shape that same piece of wood to be a tele... which you can't because the routs are different and most strats have contours while teles don't.

just having two alder bodies and moving the electronics and neck over doesn't prove anything because many people will tell you not every piece of wood from a species sounds the same. Are they the exact same weight? Did they come from the same tree? Do they have the same moisture content and density?

 

[solspirit]

The only way to know for sure is, acoustic resonance imaging.

 

[Securb]

Does it even matter? I wouldn't care if my guitar was made of caramel corn as long as it played and sounded great.

 

[solspirit]

Does it even matter? I wouldn't care if my guitar was made of caramel corn as long as it played and sounded great.

That would be a problem for me, I would certainly be nibbling on my guitar, and changing the sound.

 

[Clint 55]

lol, there's literally no way to prove this kind of rhetoric.

you'd have to, like, start with the neck and electronics in a strat shaped body and then somehow re-rout and re-shape that same piece of wood to be a tele... which you can't because the routs are different and most strats have contours while teles don't.

just having two alder bodies and moving the electronics and neck over doesn't prove anything because many people will tell you not every piece of wood from a species sounds the same. Are they the exact same weight? Did they come from the same tree? Do they have the same moisture content and density?

Read my post correctly you spaz. I said the neck pickup.

Say you have a Tele and a Strat. You transfer the Tele neck pickup into the Strat. Would it sound identical (to a Tele)? No, of course not. Why not? The shape of the guitar and the resonance of the trem make the guitar sound like a Strat acoustically and the pickup absolutely reads this.

​

 

[Clint 55]

I couldn't tell you, I don't really play my guitars unplugged all that often. Do they really sound all that difference acoustically? Outside of mass of the body and bridge the only real acoustic difference between a stratocaster and a tele is saddle material and a Strat has a bit of a banjo effect going on with its goofy pickguard and large route combo.

My strat doesn't have a trem, but I'll have to do a side by side back at the house.

That's one of the reasons why different guitar designs sound differently. The guitar itself plays a part in the amplified sound.

 

[ICTGoober]

That's one of the reasons why different guitar designs sound differently. The guitar itself plays a part in the amplified sound.

Thank you! It's why I tell my clients that an electric guitar is an acoustic guitar FIRST, and then everything else filters that sound.
Basically - a Tele and a Les Paul sound very different when played unplugged.